Why Project Managers Can Be Creative
Inspire, Innovate, Create?
That’s Project Management.
It’s easy to assume that Management Consulting firms lack a creative element in its work process. Comprised of the work done by engineers, accountants, project managers, schedulers, estimators and many other technical skills sets, management consulting tasks are often labeled as “dull” or “regulatory.” Lost in an ocean of status and specification reports, spreadsheets and timelines, a key ideology behind project management that is often forgotten; innovation is what drives efficiency.
Everyday, we are confronted with innovative, design-centric thinking. Designers, Architects and Builders are constantly on the cutting edge of modern ways of doing things better.
Instead of sitting on cruise control, it’s the responsibility of Management Consulting firms to match this innovative mindset and create along side these developers.
What’s the secret? Modernist Thinking
The world is becoming increasingly design conscious. More efficient, aesthetically pleasing, modern solutions are considered for virtually any design related entity that is accessible to the masses.
By adding these variables, the architectural design and construction process is becoming increasingly complex.
Think of the products and structures you interact with each day.
The interior and exterior components of your home, the local coffee shop, a bus shelter, your iPhone.
Products and structures no longer simply have a utilitarian purpose, but are meant to make people feel something.
Just check out these modern bus shelters developed by Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto and Wang Shu’s Amateur Architecture Studio from China.
More locally, the condo market is booming. The modern condo buyer now views state of the art lobby’s, party rooms, pools and gyms as raw essentials. DNA Condominiums by Canderel quite possibly offers the most amenities of any developer by also including a rain room and a “living green” roof.
Both instances take mundane aspects of everyday life and turn them into an experience. As the demand for experience from design grows, so to will the responsibilities of project managers.
What do Modern Design Concepts Mean for Project Management?
Complex designs, that were once more simple, raise the decision-making process in the project development stage to a more strategic level, requiring further consultation for considerations like project cost evaluation, strategic planning to constructability reviews.
The demand for these kinds of Project Management expertise will continue to increase as design conscious thinking seeps into every product and structural development process.
Project development is no longer as simple as seeing a project through to completion, developers and investors that support creative projects expect the development process to also be innovative and creative. Out of the box thinking is what landed EPS involvement with Tim Horton’s Restaurant One, the only modern, two story location in Canada.
