Project management: what to know

What the job involves, what changes the price, and what to ask a pro.

What project management is

A project manager plans the scope, schedule and budget of your project, coordinates the people and vendors doing the work, tracks progress and reports risks until the project is delivered. You hire one when a project has several moving parts, several contractors or a deadline that cannot slip.

Signs you need it

  • Several vendors are working on the same project and no one is coordinating their dates
  • The project has already slipped, and you cannot say which task is causing the delay
  • You are launching something new, such as an office move or a product release, with many dependencies
  • Decisions keep stalling because no one knows who owns them or what the deadline is
  • You have a deadline tied to an event, a lender or a client, and the schedule is not clear

What the pro does

  • Define the goal, the scope and what is out of scope, and write them down for everyone to see
  • Build a schedule with tasks, owners, dependencies and milestones
  • Confirm each vendor's dates, deliverables and who they report to
  • Run a regular check in with the team and update the schedule when work changes
  • Track costs against the plan and flag any change before it becomes a surprise
  • Report risks, issues and decisions to you in a short written update each week

What changes the price

Every job is different, so we do not publish prices. These are the things that move the quote up or down.

  • The size and length of the project and how many phases it has
  • How many vendors, contractors or internal teams the manager must coordinate
  • Whether the project is one time or a series of projects that must be run together
  • How often you want updates and meetings, and whether they are in person or remote
  • How complex the scope is, including approvals, permits or regulated steps
  • How much of the project management software and reporting setup is your responsibility

What a written quote should spell out

  • The project goal, scope and the work that is excluded
  • The main milestones and the date each one must be met
  • Who the manager will coordinate and what each party is responsible for
  • How progress, budget and risks will be reported, and how often
  • What happens if the scope or the schedule changes, and how changes are approved

Questions to ask before you hire

  • Have you managed projects like mine, and what was the outcome for the client?
  • How will you track the budget, and how often will you tell me where it stands?
  • What will you do when a vendor misses a date?
  • Who makes decisions when the team disagrees, and how fast can I respond?
  • Will you own the schedule, or will the vendors keep their own?
  • How do you keep my project information private from other clients?

Red flags

  • Will not show a sample schedule, status report or risk log from past work
  • Wants control of your bank account or vendor payments without written approval steps
  • Cannot explain how they will handle scope changes
  • Promises that the project will finish by a date before seeing the scope

What you can do yourself

You can write down the goal, list the tasks you know about and keep a simple shared schedule for a small project yourself. Hire a project manager when several vendors depend on each other, the budget or deadline is tight, or the project has grown beyond one person's time to coordinate.

Licenses and permits

No license is usually required for project management. Ask for certificates from recognized project management training, examples of past schedules and status reports, and references from clients with projects of your size; check with your state or local licensing agency if the project involves construction or other trades that require their own licenses.

Project management questions

Does a project manager replace my contractor?

No. The project manager coordinates the contractor and tracks their work. The contractor still does the trade work and carries their own license and insurance.

How much of my time will it take?

Less than running the project yourself, but not zero. You will need to make decisions and approve changes. Ask the manager how many decisions they expect from you each week.

What should I give the project manager first?

Bring the goal, any contracts or quotes, your deadline and the names of every vendor. The manager can then build the first schedule from those documents.

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