Life as a Project Manager - An Interview with Bryce Belden, Project Manager for Sitterle Homes

Bryce Belden is a senior Project Manager for Sitterle Homes, a luxury home builder in San Antonio, TX. He started off his career working for his father as a framer when he was only 16 years old. Learning the valuable trade of framing large custom homes taught Bryce many important rules when building someone's home: Be on time, Do good work, and Finish what you start.

In 2006, Bryce was offered a job as a builder For Sitterle Homes, on e of themost prestigious home builders in Texas. He was the Super Intendent of a hill country community, and the bulk of his job was to manage and schedule the trades (individual teams who perform specific duties on a home build, such as framers, trim out, tile, and cabinet installers). Bryce learned very quickly how important scheudling is to keep a project on time.

From beginning of slab-pour to final closing on a home takes about 16 weeks. Bryce indicated that there are many factors that can cause delays in this project schedule like weather, trades not showing up, and having to rework jobs done poorly. As he became more familiar with the trades and the build process, Bryce learned to anticipate potential hurdles and act accordingly to mitigate the delays.

Some of the more common mistakes bryce encountered were certain trades that were notorious for showing up when ever they felt like it to do their jobs. Bryce understood that Sitterle was not the only builder using these crews, and when many homes are going up around town these trades can get bogged down and backlogged. To overcome these hurdles, Bryce would plan far enough head to ensure the right trades were able to do their work with plenty of notice. "Sometimes you have to act like your back is against the wall weeks before you actually are in trouble to get things moving on time" (Belden, 2016).  Only through experience did Bryce learn how to truly manage his schedule and complete homes on time.

After a few years of working as a Super Intendent in one of the most busiest communities in the organization, Bryce was promoted to Project Manger. As a build (Super Intendent), Bryce may have managed 12-18 homes in various stages of construction at a time. As a PM, Bryce oversees 4 communities and 6 Super Intendents. His ability to manage timelines and trades became paramount as he was encouraging his SIs to work through their individual hurdles. Bryce currently is overseeing 34 homes in 4 communities, all of which are in different phases of construction.

I asked Bryce how he does it. His answer, "I live by my calendar". Bryce spends half of his time managing his calendar and the other half managing his Supes. The extra time he fits in to his busy schedule is spent on handling problems and home buyers. When I asked what advice Bryce would give to a new PM/Builder coming into this trade he stated very quickly, "be patient with yourself, and learn the process as best you can... in a hurry" (Belden, 2016).

JP

Belden, B. (2016). Interview with Jody Powell

PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct

Every major industry should have a Code of Ethics. Doctors have theirs. Teachers' Unions have one. Project Management has one as well. The COE lays out principles and standards to be adhered to by all within the industry. The cost of violating COEs can be expulsion from the organization or industry all together. Ever heard of a lawyer being disbarred? He/She broke their respective COE.

Project management COE were created to build an industry standard of doing what is right and honorable. Members of the Project Management Institute agree to the terms outlined within the established Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. "The purpose of this code is to instill confidence in the project management profession and to help an individual become a better practitioner" (PMI, 1998).

The code applies to ALL PMI members as well as non members that hold a PMI certificate, are applying for certificate, or work in a volunteer capacity. The code is divided into four separate values: responsibility, respect, fairness, and honesty. There is also a glossary to ensure definitions of common terms are identifiable within the industry.

The first value is responsibility, considered the duty of the members to take ownership for their decisions they make or fail to make, the actions they take or fail to take, and the consequences that result (PMI, 1998). this section establishes the benchmark for taking ownership and responsibility of the choices PMs make in their proefssional and personal lives. Being accountable and holding other industry members accountable for their actions and decisions is important to keep the expectations withing the PM industry consistent.

The second value is respect. Under this COE "respect is our duty to show a high regard for ourselves, others, and the resources entrusted to us" (PMI, 1998). This code states that an environment of respect engenders trust, confidence, and performance excellence by fostering mutual cooperation. Diversity in perspectives and views are encourage in this industry, and more importantly valued as an asset to the industry as a whole.

Next up is fairness, which helps to create objectivity as the standard when making decisions. self interest, prejudice, and favoritism can lead to poor choices that serve the individual rahter than the project. Transparency and continuous examination of impartiality/objectivity is vital when creating standards in an industry.

The last value is honesty. Establishing work ethics founded in truth and honestyis good for any organization or industry. Pas need to be truthful in their communications and conduct. Consideration for others and the environment require a level of honesty that may cause a PM to voice an objection to a lucrative project that may have negatively impactful consequences. Honesty helps to establish trust and respect, and is an important part of this COE.

It is a good idea to establish a COE for a specific industry. Having, and abiding by a COE holds the industry professionals accountable for how they represent themselves and their colleagues. The agreement a member makes with the industry is bound in the COE, and helps to create a bond between the who take the COE to heart in all they do.

JP

PMI COE - http://www.pmi.org/-/media/pmi/documents/public/pdf/ethics/pmi-code-of-ethics-american-english.pdf?sc_lang_temp=en 

Talent Management

Diving into the complex world of Project Management has openned my eyes to a whole new world of processes, principles, and practices. Fortunately for the young and energetic PM student there are many resources available to click through. One in particular is the Project Manager Institute. This web site is chalked full of information, links, courses and learning blocks. Everything you might need to know about PM can be found on this site or directly linked to it.

For my first blog of this course I have chosen to report on Talent Management. Discovering the TM portion of PMI led me to a page that describes the benefits of TM for organizations, career paths for project and program managers, and online training and tutorials to sharpen management tools and techniques. I can imagine the importance of not only recruiting and hiring talented PMs, but retaining the talent within an organization. After all, Processes do not drive programs... people do. The better an organization manages the talent they have the better the organization becomes.

I found an interesting conference paper written by Ellen Decker titled, People matter: Know your talent which served to identify talent management as an offshoot entity of traditional human resource management. Decker boldly states that "Without talented, motivated individuals, project management processes mean nothing" (Decker, 2014). She quoted a study conducted by Korn-Ferry that discovered almost half of global executives cited TM as the single most important corporate strategy, yet 35% have no strategy in place. It is interestng that such a high value is placed on TM with such a low percentage of execs actually incorporating TM strategies. 

Decker defines the term talent management as "the sum of strategies, processes, and systems designed to attract, develop, and retain employees in general and more specifically, project managers" (Decker, 2014). For me, the key word in that definition is retain. It is not enough to develop, train, and attract talent to an organization. That seems to me like half the battle. The other half is in retention. What good is it to build up good talent only to see them move on to your competitor?

"Success is dependent on leaders understanding that better talent management does not come from having better HR processes or department. I t comes mostly from having leaders and management at all levels who embrace a talent management mindset" (Decker, 2014). In other words, talent management is everyone's responsibility wihin an organization. Sir Richard Branson, CEO of Virgin Atlantic, was quoted, "Train your people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don't want to". His leadership philosophy can be attributed to the success of his company. Treat people well, create an environment that makes them want to stay, and continuously seek to get better at what you do. 

Decker makes a fine arguement for taking care of your people. She discusses a broad range of techniques and tools that can be employed to retain talent. In the long run, it is not enough to have good people working for you on a short term basis. Managing your talent is a vital aspect for growth and prosperity in all markets.

JP