7 Reasons to Attend the Symposium on Technology for Design and Construction

Following the overwhelming success and enthusiastic feedback from the 150 plus participants and dozen vendors in the 2011 event, the 2012 symposium will feature even more timely subjects in the industry and provide more opportunities for networking, knowledge-building, and exposure to cutting edge developments.

7 Great Reasons to Attend this Year’s Symposium

Reason 1: The real advantage in attending an event like this is to enhance your understanding of the current and future role of technology in design, construction, and facilities management from industry experts and those working at the cutting edge of their fields.

Reason 2: Included in the program will be such topics as augmented reality, legal insights on Integrated Project Delivery, GSA’s approach to facility management and technology usage in heavy construction. The assembly of world-class speakers promises to challenge your imagination.  Check out the schedule and presentation abstracts.

Reason 3: AIA continuing education credits will be available. Attend all three days and earn up to a total of 16 CEUs.

Reason 4: Professional discount extended for those who register by Friday, July 20. Architecture, engineering, construction, and facilities management students attend for just $25! Find complete registration fees here

Reason 5: The primary focus of this year’s Symposium is to improve project efficiency by reducing costs, accelerating delivery, improving quality, minimizing risks, and leveraging resources. In the spirit of the event, the presentations will be quick, short, and more concentrated with plenty of time for interactive Q/A.

Reason 6: Location. Chicago, on Northwestern University’s downtown campus on Lake Michigan, near Michigan Avenue. Here’s a map and list of nearby hotels.

Reason 7: All conferences boast the chance to rub shoulders with colleagues in an informal setting. The Symposium affords attendees the rare opportunity to network with researchers, academics, practitioners, software and building developers, vendors, IT professionals and university students working in architecture, engineering, construction, and facilities management – as well as leaders in the industry.

Sponsored by the Northwestern University Master of Project Management Program http://www.mpm.northwestern.edu/, and the newly created Executive Management for Design and Construction program, the 2012 Symposium on Technology for Design and Construction will assemble design and construction researchers, academics, and practitioners to discuss the present state-of–the-art and the prospects for future advancements in this field.

Check out the Symposium brochure.

Detailed information about the Symposium is at www.techforconstruction.com or inquiries can be sent to me, Randy Deutsch, at randydeutsch@att.net.

One last thing: Northwestern University’s School of Engineering would greatly appreciate your mentioning this content-laden Symposium to your colleagues.

Thanks!

…

The facts: Symposium on Technology for Design and Construction

August 15-17, 2012

Northwestern University, School of Law

Thorne Auditorium

375 East Chicago Avenue, Chicago

www.techforconstruction.com

Again, if you have any questions, feel free to contact me, Randy Deutsch, via email randydeutsch@att.net

Educating Project Managers for the AEC Industry

With the increasing complexity of constructing and maintaining facilities, there has been a growing need for architects, engineers and constructors to supplement their technical and managerial skills through advanced degrees in management.

The means to acquire additional technical expertise has been addressed quite adequately by a variety of master’s degree programs at many universities throughout the country, but the challenge to impart the requisite managerial skills has not been satisfied very effectively.

The latter is based on the premise that an MBA education is not ideal for managing large public and private projects, which require managers with considerable technical expertise, as well as managerial skills.

The Master of Project Management (MPM) program at Northwestern University has been established in response to this specific need in the construction industry.

The program’s multidisciplinary approach combines essential components of design, engineering and construction with business management and behavioral science to develop technically qualified individuals for responsible management roles in the design, construction, and operation of major engineering projects.

The six (6) features that make this program particularly responsive to today’s needs are

• courses taught almost exclusively by a faculty of more than 20 high-level practitioners
• truly global student body, to enhance the multicultural nature of the current market
• flexible and custom-designed course selections to meet the needs and objectives of each individual
• dynamic program with courses are added or deleted as the situation dictates
• courses scheduled to accommodate both full-time and part-time students
• strong emphasis placed on the development and improvement of communication skills, both oral and written.

One of the major impediments to the more widespread implementation of this program is the fact that the AEC industry, as a whole, is not very supportive of employee participation – both in terms of financial remuneration for tuition and time-off to attend classes.

Construction Education

In 1990 more than 150 undergraduate construction programs were in existence, and these programs essentially followed three tracks:

• an engineering base (civil engineering programs)
• an architecture base (building construction programs)
• other non-engineering or non-architecture base (construction science or construction technology programs).

In his discussion of these programs, Oglesby (1990) opined that:

“There is no chance, given the crowded curricula of any of the four-year programs, to make substantial additions to them….To cope with this problem there seem to be no alternative but to extend the curriculum to incorporate a fifth year of study, largely devoted to courses but possibly incorporating some electives when they can be made available,…”

Some years later, Goodman and Chinowsky⁵ discussed some of the challenges faced by undergraduate and graduate programs regarding managerial education and stated that:

“At the undergraduate level, university programs are charged with providing students with a broad foundation in both general and technical subjects.  With the continuing expansion of these areas, construction programs have been forced to narrow their individual areas of emphasis.”

However, it seems that needed changes are finally on the horizon for university programs.  The new criteria for accrediting civil engineering undergraduate programs states that⁶:

“The program must demonstrate that graduates … explain basic concepts in management, business, public policy, and leadership, …”

Master of Project Management Program

Motivated by the forgoing situation, the Master of Project Management (MPM) program grew from a conviction that there existed a need in the profession for a more holistic engineer with an ability to blend a modest breadth of engineering expertise and experience with the management and communication skills required to develop and execute a major engineering project from its conceptual stage through completion and even beyond into its operational and maintenance phases.

Although there existed at various universities throughout the country a variety of more focused programs generally addressing the more technical aspects of “how to construct a project”, none covered the breadth visualized by this program.

Based on the above premise and the challenge to avoid competition or overlap with other management programs on campus (e.g. Kellogg MBA program), the mission of the Master of Project Management program was established as:

“To prepare technically qualified individuals for responsible management roles in the construction and operation of major civil engineering projects.”

This mission is accomplished by customizing a multi-disciplinary combination of specialized management oriented courses and regular university courses taught by practicing professionals and regular university faculty.

From the very outset it was known that this program could not be taught completely by regular in-house faculty and that most of the faculty would have to be forward-thinking successful practitioners.

The concept and goal of this program were endorsed strongly by our external Civil Engineering Advisory Committee, who are a diverse group of industry leaders.

Within this framework, our vision is:

“To be the best program in the world wherein early- to mid-level engineers and architects can complement their technical expertise with the management skills needed to facilitate their advancement in the corporate structure.”

MBA vs. MS Degree in Project Management

MBA programs typically provide a broad-based education in business and management concepts that are generally applicable to a wide variety of fields.

In contrast, the MS in Project Management program focuses on the more specific practical business perspective and planning skills needed by civil engineering project managers to execute effectively the processes required to deliver a quality project on time and within budget.

Relative to a traditional technical master’s degree program in a specific field (structures, foundations, transportation, and so forth), the MS in Project Management program provides a more holistic overview of the civil engineering field within the business perspective needed by a project manager to integrate the variety of technical, financial, and social challenges inherent in the successful completion of a civil engineering project.

Program Components

The program has three components:

• completion of coursework
• attendance at a seminar series
• improvement of communication skills

Coursework

Students are required to take twelve courses and have a minimum B average for graduation.  The courses are a combination of

• business courses, such accounting, finance, and law
• general construction “bread and butter” courses, such as, estimating and scheduling
• construction-related elective courses

The latter group includes some traditional courses, such as business development, business strategy, and cost control, and avant-garde courses such as sustainability in construction, information technology, and e-business.

Overall, about 75% of the courses are traditional construction management courses and the remaining 25% are avant-garde courses.

The program does not include any technical courses dealing with means and methods, because its focus is to prepare individuals to work in mid-management and executive levels of the industry.

Teamwork and mutual interaction are emphasized in many of the courses.

The majority of the courses are taught by practitioners who bring a wealth of knowledge and real world experience to the classroom, and these courses are supplemented by appropriate courses from the regular University offerings.

Seminar Series

The formal courses are supplemented by a weekly seminar series to add a modicum of real world exposure to the students.

The seminars are presented by highly respected professionals and normally address issues related to the use of management skills to resolve the complex set of interactive problems associated with a particular project.  As a fringe benefit, many of the speakers represent potential sources of employment for our graduates.

Communication Skills

Improving communication skills has been a cornerstone of the MPM program from its inception.

Students are required to prepare a capstone report on a topic of their choice and present it in accordance with professional standards.  To help them achieve this requirement, a series of communication workshops that stress writing and presentation skills is offered throughout the year by communication professionals who are retained by the program.

Although the content of this report must be technically correct, the emphasis of this requirement is aimed toward the improvement of communication skills and not the establishment or formulation of some novel research finding.

Faculty

Although students in the MPM program have access to any appropriate and available course in the University, the heart of the program is the 20 plus high-level professionals who comprise our adjunct faculty.

In addition to their vast knowledge and experience, these individuals bring to the classroom an enviable degree of enthusiasm in the opportunity to give back to the profession by instructing the next generation of project managers.

Target Markets

Notwithstanding the four specializations offered in the program, the primary interest of the students to date has overwhelmingly been construction management.

The program has had relatively few students pursue the environmental management, infrastructure management, and AEC business management specializations.

Virtually all of our students undertake the program on their own initiative with little or no encouragement from many of the companies for which they work (in fact, some companies make it difficult for students to take courses and most only subsidize their employees at a rather low level).

This is a continuing manifestation of the previously mentioned lack of the construction industry investment and support for such educational programs.

In general, companies do not send students to the program, although in recent years they have readily and aggressively hired graduates of the program.

Student Body

The program is flexible enough to attract both full-time and part-time students, as well as both domestic and international students.

At any given time, part-time students comprise about half of the class and the other half consists of full-time students.  Since international students must register full-time to satisfy visa requirements, they typically complete the program in half the time of a part-time student.

Social Interaction

To create a sense of collegiality among the students with diverse cultural and educational backgrounds (domestic and international; part-time and full-time; civil, mechanical, and electrical engineers and architects) and varying levels of experience (from one year to more than 20 years, averaging about 3 to 4 years), a social committee consisting of three or four students arranges a variety of social activities, ranging from pizza parties to attending professional sports games and ski trips.

In June of each year the program hosts a brunch to which all students, graduates, faculty, seminar speakers, and “friends of the program” are invited.  A large number of alumni and alumnae maintain the relationships developed as students through their professional and social activities.

Most of our students have come to the program as a consequence of our web site and/or personal referrals.

Summary

Educating project managers for the construction industry has changed considerably with the increased complexities of the projects and the environment in which we currently operate.

While there are many construction oriented programs throughout the United States, the MPM program at Northwestern University has some attributes that make it a combination of traditional construction management education and executive managerial training.

The strengths of the Master of Project Management (MPM) program are its

• high level practitioner faculty
• germane content of the courses
• dynamic and responsive curriculum
• honing of teamwork
• synergies resulting from an international student body
• emphasis on improving communication skills
• customized program for each individual student
• frequent interactive discussions among all parties involved in the program
• prestige of Northwestern University
• benefits of the greater metropolitan Chicago area.

In contrast, weaknesses of the Master of Project Management (MPM) program are

• relatively low pay scale of civil engineers relative to other engineers
• generally weak company support for employees
• tuition at Northwestern University
• the newness of specific subject area at Northwestern University
• the need for a stronger role in fostering placement opportunities

On balance, however, our 20-year experience with this program suggests a bright future and the potential for meaningful expansion.

Blog post adapted from: Educating Project Managers for the Construction Industry by Raymond J. Krizek, Stanley F. Pepper Professor & Program Director, Master of Project Management, and Ahmad Hadavi, Associate Director, Master of Project Management

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Northwestern University, originally published in © American Society of Engineering Education, 2007

Bibliography

1. Morris, M. D. (1957). Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, ASCE, 83 (CO1).
2. Carr, R. I. (1997). “Engineering and Construction Management: Leadership and Opportunity.” Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, ASCE, 123 (3), 292-296.
3. Berger, L. (1996). “Emerging Role of Management in Civil Engineering.” Journal of Management in Engineering, ASCE, 12 (4), 37-39.
4. Oglesby, C. H. (1990). “Dilemmas Facing Construction Education and Research in 1990s.” Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, ASCE, 116 (1), 4-17.
5. Goodman, R. E. and Chinowsky, P. S. (1997).”Preparing Construction Professionals for Executive Decision Making.” Journal of Management in Engineering, ASCE, 13 (6), 55-61.
6. ASCE (2006). “Proposed Changes to the Criteria for Accrediting Engineering Programs.”
7. ASCE (2006). “Raise the Bar” Newsletter, 3 (3).

Hospital Construction in the Cloud

Upcoming Event:

Northwestern University School of Engineering:

Hospital Construction in the Cloud

May 11, 2012 at 7:30 AM – 9:00 AM

 

Northwestern University, Lurie Building/Searle Conference Rm, 303 E. Superior – 1st Floor, Chicago IL

 

http://emdc.northwestern.edu

 

Presenters:

 

Dean Julio Ottino, McCormick School of Engineering, Northwestern University;

Ken Kaiser, Manager, Facility Renovation/Northwestern Memorial Hospital;

John Goecke, President, Plans and Specs

 

Sponsored by:

 

Northwestern University’s Master of Project Management Program http://mpm.northwestern.edu 

and

Executive Management for Design and Construction Program

http://emdc.northwestern.edu

 

Space is limited; RSVP required – email emdc@northwestern.edu

The Economics of Higher Education (or Why Education Costs So Much)

Just this week I had the privilege to join the faculty and administrators of Northwestern University’s Master of Project Management (MPM) and Executive Management for Design and Construction (EMDC) programs at the bi-annual Expand Your Horizon dinner held in the Wassail Room at Hackneys on Lake in Glenview, IL.

The high point of the evening was hearing Northwestern University President Morton Schapiro speak.

In 2008, for only the 16th time in its 160-year history, Morton Schapiro was elected president of Northwestern University.

Former president of Williams College, and one of the country’s leading experts in the economics of higher education, he spoke on the topic of The Economics of Higher Education.

Or rather, in the introductory words of Professor Raymond Krizek, “Why Education Costs So Much.”

Given the make-up of those in attendance, the attention in the room was rapt.

Highlights from the President’s talk:

On how Northwestern gets along while President Schapiro travels:

“I find that the more I’m away, the better the University runs.”

(I believe a lot of managers – and their teams – can relate with this.)

…

President Schapiro gives a lot of talks about Northwestern (“The State of the University” he calls them) as well as casual chats with small groups of students (where he is affectionately known as “Morty.”)

He has a reputation on campus for being open and accessible, friendly and funny, but also seriously committed to leading the prestigious 160-year-old university roaring into the 21st century.

Here’s one example from another occasion:

President Schapiro favorite place is: Hawaii

His favorite band: Grateful Dead

His favorite musician: Bruce Springsteen

His favorite movie: Love Actually

Of what other university president can you say this?

…

President Schapiro is so enthusiastic about his new job that, according to his office receptionist, he wears the omnipresent Northwestern color to work every day. Sure enough, the evening of the dinner, under his tweed jacket he wore a Northwestern-purple sweater (no doubt per strict Adherence to University guidelines, it was the official color of Northwestern purple PANTONE ® 2623.)

…

President Schapiro on speaking: “My job is to speak. Yours is to listen. If you finish your job before I finish my job, let me know.”

…

President Schapiro on the rate of return from a college education: “I get asked a lot ‘Can we afford college?’ I say to them: ‘Can you afford not to go to college?’”

“The return on a degree is so high, you figure out a way to do it.”

…

Many don’t realize that Northwestern University spends $80,000/year on each student.

…

On becoming a professor: “What makes someone to go on to become a professor? Most are created – they find a mentor or a role model.”

…

On “yield”: College admissions officers like to talk about “yield,” the percentage of admitted students who actually enroll in a college. A school’s admissions office needs to estimate the yield in order to figure out how many students to accept. If they guess the yield wrong, they will end up with an incoming class that is either too big or too small. The yield varies widely from school to school. A prestigious university like Harvard may yield around 80% of the students they accept, while some of the less competitive colleges and state universities may yield closer to 25%.

President Schapiro has done his own research on yield. In fact, he has a yield model that he uses. “I write on the intersection of moral philosophy and economics. One example of this is, if a prospective student checks the box on the form that asks if they went on the campus tour, upon admitting the student to the school, the college might replace the grant with a loan. Why?

Research shows that you are 30% more likely to attend the school – to say ‘yes’ – if you went on the campus tour. Colleges have this information – and some will use it.” He humorously added: “If you don’t go on the tour (for this reason,) a lot of tour guides will be unemployed.”

…

On tenure: “Colleges are gradually replacing tenure track professors. Eventually, there will be one left, who’ll be place in a museum.”

…

On the future of public schools: “I worry about public schools such as the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. While ranked 23rd in the world (by one rating system) state budgets are becoming more privatized than ever.”

…

“Harvard University doesn’t need to charge tuition. With a $3.5 billion endowment, the $120 million raised annually in tuition is (a drop in the bucket.) It really could be free to attend.”

…

On STEM fields of study, the categories of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics: “The return on STEM subjects is shrinking due to offshoring. Humanities, I feel, will grow in the coming years. There will be an increasing need for people to speak and write well. We undervalue these skills.”

…

You can learn more about The Economics of Higher Education by reading any of President Schapiro’s seven co-authored books or +100 articles on the subject. And you can learn more about President Schapiro himself here.

12 Reasons to Consider Enrolling in an Exec Ed Program

If you’re an executive – or would like to be one;

If you’re employed and looking to position yourself for a promotion or a leadership role;

If you’re underemployed – or between jobs – or would like to make a career shift;

If you’re looking

• for a competitive edge
• to distinguish or differentiate yourself
• to sharpen skills
• to open doors
• to reposition yourself within your organization
• to fill gaps in your résumé with fresh skills
• to reassure employers of your commitment to your career
• to make connections with fellow students & instructors
• to step-up your professional development
• to join the next generation of ownership in your business
• for a school with a reputation as good as some of the Ivies
• to lead an architectural, engineering or construction firm
• for significance on the name of the school on graduate degree
• for enriching programs for adult learners
• to supplement your education with business skills

If even three of these bullets apply to your situation, then this post is for you.

Here are

12 Reasons to Consider Enrolling an Executive Education Program

1. To gain a competitive edge

Too often, when working in an office, we take-on habits picked up along the way that we later come to realize no longer have their intended affect. Meanwhile, the world around us has changed since we were in school and we have done little – other than attend the erstwhile continuing education program or seminar – to adjust to these changes.  Enrolling in an executive education program can help workers and would-be leaders adjust to changes in their field in a quick, efficient manner.

2. To distinguish or differentiate yourself

Over time, there are fewer and fewer ways to stand out in an organization – especially one that you have worked in for any length of time. Truly differentiating oneself often requires time spent outside the office – learning new skills and strategies, broadening one’s network – which separately can be time consuming. An executive education program concentrates these aspirational activities.

3. To sharpen your skills

There is no better way to sharpen one’s skillsets than to learn amongst – and from – others in an open, sharing setting. Students who have partaken in executive education often learn as much from one another as they do from their instructors. Best of all, skills are honed without having to learn from mistakes – the hard way.

4. To open doors where few have been open to you

Call it serendipity. School settings offer ample opportunity for fellow students from a variety of organizations within your field – as well as instructors who represent leadership their own companies – to suggest career-changing moves that you might not otherwise have been exposed to in your office. With small classes and low student to teacher ratios, students and professors get to know one another personally in executive education programs. This level of familiarity is hard to come by in the profession and industry – and can often lead to unexpected opportunities.

5. To reposition yourself within your organization

The beauty of executive education is that while you work while attending the program, your coworkers and employers both start to recognize changes: in how you carry yourself; in the perspective you bring to conversations; in the strategic stances you take in meetings. Some employees find that they have to leave organizations to get their organization’s attention: this tactic can be both risky and disruptive to the individual and organization. What better way to reposition oneself while still in the midst of working for your company?

6. To fill gaps in your résumé with fresh skills

Attending an exec ed program helps you capitalize on your strengths while adding, building or augment your skills. The more flexible programs are can recommend courses that will help make you more relevant and attractive in your organization and field.

7. To reassure your employer of your commitment to your career

Nothing sends the message to senior management that you are committed to your field – and if they are worthy, to your organization – than your investment in an advance education. It says that you are making the necessary adjustments that have been recommended time and again at your annual reviews: that you are doing something about it, and are acting on their recommendations. You’ve made the necessary effort. Next: it is their move.

8. To make connections with fellow students & instructors

As with the opening of doors mentioned above, courses taught by industry leaders expose students to new perspectives – and contextualizes activities that you may have been a part of, but perhaps only saw from the vantage of your particular trade or profession. The ability to see things through other’s eyes makes one a better collaborator and teammate – one that others seek out when it comes time to put teams together and go after work. The connections that are made in the classroom can take on a life outside the classroom: in one’s field and work. These connections can be both profitable to the future leader – and at the same time – priceless.

9. To step-up your professional development

So much of what passes as professional development today are the continuing education presentations that accompany the free lunches. Exec ed emphasizes the significance of having instructors and fellow classmates who serve as role models and mentors for the advancement of one’s career.

10. For the name of the school on graduate degree

It may seem superficial to call attention to the name of the school you decide to attend. But the truth is that name recognition and reputation does make a difference. If you are going to make the effort to attend an executive education program while continuing to work full-time, you owe it to yourself to attend a well-recognized and well-thought of university: it makes a difference.

11. For enriching programs for adult learners

An advance education should replicate the learning experience – or content – that you had as a college undergrad. Those who attend exec ed programs have worked in organizations for a decade or more. They tend to be in their thirties and sometimes forties. They tend to be responsible – especially considering they will be balancing a full schedule of coursework and office work – not to mention their lives outside the classroom and workplace. A good, well-structured exec program ought to address the whole adult individual.

12. To supplement your education with business skills

Business skills are those most frequently missing from design and construction professional’s arsenal. They’re where most feel like they are lacking. Acquiring business skills at any point in one’s professional career help to make one’s existing skill portfolio all the more relevant and sought-after. More than any other skillsets acquired during an exec ed program, business skills help to enhance talents and abilities already in place.

So, if business skills are so important, why not just pursue an MBA?

While an MBA (and eMBA) are useful for many in pursuit of an advanced degree, what has been needed for some time by those working in the AEC industry is an executive-level education focused exclusively on the design and construction industries.

One that does so in a manner that accommodates a busy professional’s lifestyle.

Northwestern University’s Executive Management for Design and Construction (EMDC) program offers such an education.

The EMDC program is fast-tracked in that it allows mid-career professionals to take classes on alternating Fridays and Saturdays.

From late September 2012 through May 2013, the Certificate Program consists of six courses that meet on the Evanston campus every other Friday and Saturday.

Students wishing to continue beyond the certificate to obtain a Master of Science degree must take six additional courses that are available through any department in the University, including Northwestern’s world-class business school, Kellogg School of Management.

How does the EMDC program differ from an executive MBA or eMBA?

Building on the 20-year success of Northwestern University’s Master of Science in Project Management (MPM) program, the EMDC curriculum is designed to that students emerge with strategic insight and enhanced skills that are directly relevant and immediately applicable to their work in the AEC industry.

The EMDC program is

• AEC-focused
• Construction-oriented
• Taught by leaders in the construction industry – not academics
• Less reliant on textbooks, and more on real-world scenarios and case studies

Furthermore, eMBA programs can be very costly. Northwestern University’s eMBA costs nearly $160,000.

Northwestern University’s EMDC degree on the other hand – whether you go for the certificate or Masters – is only a fraction of that amount.

Best of all, all course books and lunches are included in the tuition.

And it’s the same great, well-regarded school: Northwestern University.

While an executive education can’t guarantee advancement in an organization, “on average the investment pays off even in a down economy,” says Michael Desiderio, executive director of the nonprofit Executive MBA Council, an organization that conducts an annual exit survey of EMBA students to gauge their personal return on investment.

Is there someone you feel might benefit from such a program?

Or want to look further into the EMDC program to see if it is right for you?

Here are 8 quick ways to find out more:

Call EMDC program director, Prof Raymond (Ray) Krizek (847) 491-4040

Stop by and visit Prof Krizek in his office Northwestern University
2145 Sheridan Rd., Evanston, IL 60208-3109 [usually available daily after 2PM CST]

Email Prof Krizek rjkrizek@northwestern.edu

Email a former student Rodrigo Perez r.perez@dencochicago.com

Email the blogger randydeutsch@att.net

Check out the program website http://emdc.northwestern.edu/

Watch the video http://emdc.northwestern.edu/program/index.php

Read the FAQs http://emdc.northwestern.edu/faq/index.php

Building the New Children’s Memorial Hospital

Title:                          Building the New Children’s Memorial Hospital

Date:                         Wednesday April 18, 2012 – 7:30 to 9AM

Who:                          James Gimpel, FAIA, Director, Facility Development,

Children’s Memorial Hospital

Peter Rumpf, Mortenson Construction

Where:                      AIA Chicago Conference Room

35 East Wacker, Second Floor

Chicago, IL 60601

RSVP:                       Attendance is FREE. Seating is limited. Please RSVP

EMDC@northwestern.edu

Sponsor:                  Northwestern University MPM and EMDC programs

http://mpm.northwestern.edu/

http://emdc.northwestern.edu/

http://www.techforconstruction.com

Schedule:           

7:30AM                      Registration/continental breakfast

8:00-8:05                   Welcome – Randy Deutsch AIA, LEED-AP

8:05-8:15                   Academic Update

Professor Raymond Krizek,

Northwestern University, School of Engineering

8:15-8:45                   James Gimpel, FAIA

Peter Rumpf, Mortenson Construction

8:45-9:00                   Q & A

How You Get to be President of the Company

Interview with EMDC faculty member, Richard H. Tilghman

Richard H. (Rich) Tilghman, P.E. Sr VP at Pepper Construction Group has been in the construction industry for over 35 years. He graduated with an M.S. Degree in Civil Engineering from Northwestern University.

As Sr VP at Pepper Construction, Rich is responsible for marketing, business development, and strategic business activities. He has taught at the Master of Project Management Program (MPM) at Northwestern University since 1991.

What led to your involvement in Northwestern University’s Executive Management for Design and Construction program (EMDC) program?

Rich Tilghman (RT): The construction industry doesn’t get enough education in this area. We taught you accounting, estimating, management. What we didn’t teach you was how to run a business.

We asked ourselves: What could an executive management program be beyond what is taught in the Master of Project Management (MPM) program? The EMDC program is the result.

The EMDC program addresses how you can get folks from project management to executive management.

You’re teaching Advanced Business Strategy in the EMDC program. Can one learn how to strategize?

RT: Yes.

How important is strategy when rising in the ranks of an organization?

RT: Very.

Here’s the reason. People who run projects don’t have a sense how the company makes money. They don’t ask: Can we make money with the fees we’re asking?

We make money by staying safe. They’re not asking how to control overhead. The EMDC program addresses this.

Is the ability to strategize a distinguishing feature of a leader?

RT: Absolutely. And I believe that this is empirical.

Project managers who can’t make the transition to leaders don’t ask: What strategy will get the next job? What relationships will get the next job? How do you get a person who has always hard-bid to transition to jobs that are CM at Risk? In other words, not based on the lowest bid? How do you get them to change their mindset? From low bid to CM at Risk?

That’s a strategy question: How do you get work and how do you make money on the work you get?

Good strategy is more than profitability on a job. Good marketing in our business is the connection of seemingly unconnected, unrelated things.  The strategist can connect the dots when most don’t realize that there are even dots to connect.

A good strategist knows how to get the job. That’s how you get to be president of the company. You can get all the work – but not make any money on it. You need to know how to make money on the work you have.

Richard Pepper liked to say we can do $100,000,000 less work and make the same amount of money because we don’t make money on it.

If you’re thinking like a strategist, you’re asking yourself: What will it take to get that job?

True or False? Strategy provides future direction for an organization based on existing and anticipated conditions?

RT: Absolutely true. In fact, that’s a definition of strategy.

True or False? A strategist is someone who sees beyond the near term?

 

RT: That goes back to my connect-the-dots comment. As a strategist, you have to see things others don’t.

True or False? A strategist is responsible for the future direction based on incomplete information?

Sometimes we don’t know why we made certain decisions – but they still often turn out to be right. It’s a vision thing – a lot of strategy is. You have most of the information. Then you make the decision with what you’ve got.

What makes a good strategist? People who think about improving things? Someone who’s optimistic? Has foresight? Who asks a lot of questions?

RT: Foresight. The strategist has to look into the crystal ball and see what’s coming down the path. Then you have to make hard but courageous decisions. People will talk with their spouse for days about this decision. Courageous but informed decisions.

And they ask lots of questions. They gather as much information as they can, but aren’t paralyzed by analysis. You need to know when getting 10% more information doesn’t help you – and you do it. You make that call based on what you have. Some leaders operate by “Ready Fire Aim.”

Of all the factors that affect profitability in a construction project – fee, overhead, self-performed work, equipment – which one or two are most important and why?

RT: You have to understand the deal when you make it. You have to understand the constraints of the contract before you sign it. If the contract says that you can’t perform your own work or rent your own equipment, two profit centers you were counting on aren’t there.

Bill Olsen, whom I worked for before coming to Pepper, liked to say: “You make money in the office. You keep from losing it in the field.”

How important is it that executives in the construction industry market and sell?

RT: What I want an executive to do is pick up a phone and call major contracts when we want them to be called. You market to the company owner when your name is on the door. Other executives market to the level just below president, convincing them that you’re different.

Executives market by doing the job – by doing the job well. By saying you’re sorry when you make a mistake. It’s the personal integrity and credibility that matters to a customer. Can I count on you when the chips are down?

Your course in the EMDC program addresses management vs. leadership. Can leadership be taught? If so, how does one learn how to lead?

RT: I don’t know the answer to this question.

This is what I teach: I start the leadership session by asking my students: Who has been a great leader in your life? Why? Students will say: They were punctual. They were impeccably honest. They surrounded themselves with good people.

I write down all the characteristics. And I ask: Aren’t these the characteristics you want your leaders to have? Aren’t these the characteristics you, as executives, want to have?

Deep down: Leaders are born. That’s not to say that leadership skills aren’t teachable. They are. You just need to know what they are.

Leaders feel a calling. Some of it is admittedly ego. They want to be in charge.

But, you know, people always want to be led.

…

Learn more about Northwestern University’s Executive Management for Design and Construction program (EMDC) program.

A Holistic Framework for Evaluating and Rating the Community, Environmental and Economic Benefits of Infrastructure Projects

You’ve heard of USGBC’s LEED and perhaps have implemented it on one or more of your projects.

But have you heard of Envision™?  Introduced just over a month ago, it promises to have a major impact on future infrastructure projects.

Envision™ provides a holistic framework for evaluating and rating the community, environmental, and economic benefits of all types and sizes of infrastructure projects.

The Envision™ Rating System evaluates, grades, and gives recognition to infrastructure projects that use transformational, collaborative approaches to assess the sustainability indicators over the course of the project’s life cycle.

Dr. Jeffrey Beard, who wrote the first business plan for the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure, will give a talk on Sustainable Infrastructure on Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 4:00 PM in Lecture Room 5 of the Technological Institute at Northwestern University.

In this presentation Dr. Jeffrey Beard, Vice President of the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) and Director of the Institute for Business Management, will discuss

• the scope and challenges of sustaining our infrastructure,
• the role of the newly formed national Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure, and
• ENVISION – the proposed universal rating system for civil infrastructure and industrial projects.

This will be a very interesting presentation and, if you’re in the Chicago region, hope to see you there!

More on Institute of Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI,) Dr. Jeffrey Beard’s Presentation and Envision™

Engineers are concerned with both the built environment and the natural environment, which together comprise our infrastructure, and they have creatively applied scientific principles to design or develop structures or processes in response to public and private needs.

By its very nature, engineering is inextricably bound with society and human activities and must take into account safety, efficiency, economy, reliability, constructability, legality, and liability.

When multiple solutions exist for a given problem, engineers weigh their recommended options based on constraints, which may include available resources, technical limitations, serviceability, and potential damage to the natural environment.

This last constraint has emerged with greater weight since the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, and it is taken into account in every environmental assessment.

Although the challenge of sustaining our infrastructure over time is enormous, the “whole” can be divided into “parts” and individual projects can be rendered sustainable by modifying the constraints and by taking into account different and more wide-ranging metrics.

In keeping with this goal, the Institute of Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI) was founded one year ago to embrace the concepts of environmental, economical, and social considerations through a comprehensive project assessment system.

The founders believe that the development and implementation of this sustainable infrastructure project rating system provides a pathway forward in developing (a) an accord between the man-made and natural environments and (b) a common platform for engaging all stakeholders in a community’s future.

Released just four weeks ago, ISI’s prototype ENVISION rating tool is now available for download from the ISI website found at http://www.sustainableinfrastructure.org.

This tool has benefited from a recent merger with the Zofnass Rating System developed by the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Dr. Jeffrey Beard’s presentation will describe the major dimensions of the ENVISION tool, which is intended to provide a universal rating system for civil infrastructure and industrial projects similar to that provided by USGBC’s LEED rating tool for buildings.

Also identified and discussed will be multiple opportunities for collaboration among disciplines and institutions to address academic and practical needs for new knowledge to enable a sustainable planet to regain its “balance” in the 21st century.

SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE

WHEN:	Thursday, February 23, 20124:00 PM – 5:00 PM
WHERE:	Technological Institute, LR5 2145 Sheridan RoadEvanston, IL 60208 map it
AUDIENCE:	Faculty/Staff – Students – Professionals
CONTACT:
GROUP:	McCormick – Civil and Environmental Engineering
CATEGORY:	Lectures & Meetings

Institute For Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI)

http://www.sustainableinfrastructure.org/

Learn more about sustainable infrastructure

http://www.sustainableinfrastructure.org/about/index.cfm

envision™ Sustainability Rating System

http://www.sustainableinfrastructure.org/rating/index.cfm

In the Future, Who Will Lead the Leaders?

How did you first come to hear about the EMDC program?

Bob Maxman: Project Management has always been my passion. In 2010 I was searching Project Management (PM) programs in the Chicago area and found Northwestern University’s Master of Project Management (MPM) Program, saw Professor Ray Krizek was in charge, called him, set up an appointment – it was as easy as that.

That’s how I was introduced to Northwestern University’s Executive Management for Design and Construction (EMDC.)

Anyone can find his or her way to the program that way.

EMDC is a unique program in that it serves the building design and construction – as well as the infrastructure – industries.

The focus of the MPM program has been on contractors up to now – as well it should be: most of the faculty come from a construction background.

The EMDC program, on the other hand, focuses on designers – architects and engineers, as well as construction managers and program managers. Especially today, as we look at a variety of delivery methods, it is important to include both.

You teach a course in the EMDC program: Proj_Mgt 471. Can you say a few words about it and it’s place in the curriculum? How it relates, if at all, with Barbara Shwom’s writing and communication course?

BM: The leadership and organization course, like the design and construction industry, is project-focused. Companies that effectively both sell and execute projects will be successful. The emphasis is on both.

In the AEC industry we put teams made up of diverse stakeholders, both in and outside the company, together. It takes a strategic mindset to do this.

These stakeholders’ agendas are terribly different. Think of a supervisor out on the field – think about the owner, the person financing the project, the facility user, architects, engineers, when we use building information modeling (BIM) and turn over the BIM to the facilities operations and maintenance people – that breadth of focus, education and work environment needs to be brought together.

A leader needs to know how to communicate to this range.

How you lead makes all the difference. One type of leadership – based on hierarchy – the AEC industry has little use for this.

One of my leadership courses has my students doing research on a well-known leader and their style. They’re asked to relate that person’s style and skills to what’s needed to run a CM job. No one person’s style and type applies to all instances, right? That said, you’ll often find a collaborative and team-leader style used.

The message is clear: we need to educate architects, engineers, construction managers who want to rise within their organizations on broad range of leadership styles so that they have them at their disposal when needed.

Students are only exposed to this at executive level of education. This executive skillset helps you choose the right PM for the job – it’s strategic.

When you move up the ladder within an organization other qualities of leadership become more important – identify leadership style types, skill types and the ability to work with people with different outlooks and from different backgrounds – not necessarily at lower levels.

A big part of success is communication – it is critical – especially the ability for leaders to identify the behavioral characteristics of the people they are leading.

Would you say the EMDC program goes beyond managing projects? That it is more about managing people and organizations?

BM: Yes. The EMDC program develops AEC leaders who are meant to manage project managers and higher in organizations.

At the EMDC we’re educating the managers of the project managers – the leaders of the leaders.

We’re identifying leadership characteristics that are necessary to lead within this business context.

You have written: “Selling and Executing Projects successfully: if organizations do these two key things successfully they will almost certainly be successful.” Can you elaborate on this a little and explain its relation to executive education?

BM: It’s simple. If you don’t sell projects effectively you don’t have anything to do so you wont be successful. If you execute but don’t sell you wont be successful. If all you do is projects – and aren’t able to sell projects – same result. Some firms sell well, some design well and some execute well: you have to do all three well or you go out of business.

How does “selling and executing a project” differ from traditional firm management and leadership?

BM: As time goes on – we talk about so many different individual aspects of a company’s make-up – we forget why we’re in business. We do the work we do for HR, or accounting or IT. But in reality, it’s the other way around – they’re working for the organization. Everybody in the company needs to stand up and say what they are doing today to support – sell and execute – projects. That’s why we’re in business.

Given recent changes in economy – would you say strong leadership skills are needed more or less today than before?

BM: In a time of scarcity you need to have the ability to more effectively manage your resources. You need to lead your team more effectively and get the right people on the bus. We don’t have the luxury of budgets and timelines with large contingencies today that we had in the past.

Some design and construction pros don’t like the word “sell,” ‘selling” or “sales.” Does being an executive mean you have to accept selling as part of your role and identity?

BM: Engineering and construction is a relationship business. An executive may not prepare the estimate or write the proposal – but they do need to manage the marketing and sales process. Executives require more of a sales mindset. The project executive is responsible for bringing it all together.

The seller/doer model is popular now – where the project manager is involved in the proposal itself because when marketing does it without input from people who do project work – they’ll often underestimate the work required to execute the project. To successfully manage the execution of the project, they need accurate data and input from those who will do the work.

How is leadership today – or ten years from now – different from leadership 10 years ago?

BM: What this speaks to is leadership being method-driven – that there’s a leadership formula – and there isn’t. You can’t use leadership methods from years ago. It’s wrong to look at leadership as a set of new methods – you need to get more fundamental than that and identify what the situation is that you’re working in, identify the people you are leading and what their goals are. Once you put all this together, you need to select specific attributes that will let you be an effective leader.

In terms of leadership, what we do now won’t work 10 years from now.

What we learn now – and therefore teach now – must be flexible enough to allow aspiring executives to adapt to unanticipated conditions 10 years down the line.

I start teaching one of my courses using the PeopleMap System, a self-assessment instrument focused on architects and engineers. An inspiring and insightful way to start a course with this – all the students relate to it – and use it to relate their leadership styles, what they know about themselves, how it impacted what they did in past, provides a unique foundation to lead in the future. It’s somewhat like the Myers-Briggs Type personality indicator, determines using a short questionnaire whether you are a results-oriented leader, a people-person, task-oriented or a free-spirit type.

Does your course utilize a specific leadership text?

BM: As I was doing research on leadership I was looking at a higher level of thinking on leadership than you normally find in most books: an approach to leadership style, a situational approach to leadership – authentic leadership and servant leadership and transformational leadership – and use it as a foundation for the course.

Each generation searches for underlying truths about leadership – and really, in the end, it’s all about people. People, they’re the only thing you’re leading.

I found a text that makes this all so clear:

“Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal.”

People fundamentally don’t have a sense of what’s involved in leadership – they think of it in one limited way – that you’re either born with it or not. We don’t aspire to that any more.

I’m trying to show them that there are so many facets to leadership.

…

About Bob Maxman Over 35 years of experience in the engineering field, including corporate development, operations, mergers and acquisitions, program/project management, engineering design management, project financials, best practices, construction management / inspection / supervision procedures, development of strategic and market plans, and contracting plans. Mr. Maxman has worked as, Project Manager, Department Manager, Regional Manager, and President of engineering organizations. He has served as President, COO, Program Manager and Management Consultant for engineering organizations in Illinois, California, Taiwan, Florida, Michigan and Puerto Rico. Mr. Maxman’s focus and passion is the improvement of project management through training and management Best Practices with proven results in project quality and financial performance. He has taken on numerous assignments as “change agent” to improve operations, integrate acquisitions, turn around financial performance and start up new organizational endeavors resulting in a broad range of successful experiences with a diverse variety of firms, business and social cultures.

Bob teaches in the http://emdc.northwestern.edu/program/program.php

Bob can be reached at http://bobmaxman.focalpointcoaching.com/

Core Concepts in Business Communication for Architects, Engineers and Construction Executives

This post is the first in a series of interviews with the faculty of Northwestern University’s new Executive Management for Design and Construction (EMDC) program http://emdc.northwestern.edu/.

I met Barbara Shwom,
 Professor of Instruction, The Writing Program
Director, in her office in Kresge Hall on Northwestern University’s Evanston campus, where she received her PhD.

A nationally recognized leader in business communication, Shwom served as president of both the Association for Business Communication and the Association of Professional Communication Consultants.

Her work as a writing and communication instructor in engineering design and communication in the 1970s was trailblazing, representing the first time these subjects were offered to engineering students. Her work and teaching within the EMDC program continues to build on this tradition.

Is there a difference between how you approach teaching writing to architects, engineers and construction management majors in the McCormick Engineering School, and to MBA students at Kellogg?

Barbara Shwom Whether you are an MBA student or enrolled in Northwestern’s Executive Management for Design and Construction program, there are certain common tasks you need to do.

You have to ask: What kind of presentation is it? Is it sales? Is it technical? Or are you trying to solve a problem? What, in other words, are you trying to accomplish?

How does executive-level writing differ from other types of writing?

Barbara Shwom Executive-level writing and communication isn’t more difficult or more important than other types. Engineers (when managing projects or teams) typically deal with more technical kinds of issues.

Executives, on the one hand, are more often asked to use writing and communication to effectively promote their companies. These are outward-facing tasks: being promotional in your communications, creating a sense of your company’s brand – what you want your company to be known for. This might take the form of a white paper or an article.

Inward-facing tasks, on the other hand, might include: using writing and communication to set up a team, to persuade an audience on how funds should be allocated or on what internal decisions should be made. Whether there are certain technologies your company should invest in – or not.

As a project manager, you need to manage-up with your writing and communications. As an executive, you need to communicate to the level immediately below you – without talking- or writing- down. You need to appeal to that audience. This is a skill we can help you acquire.

What is an example of an executive-level skill that architects, engineers and contractors can acquire?

Barbara Shwom The element of persuasion is an important one: persuading people – to work together, to come work with them or for them, making an argument in support of your project to a municipality, communicating your vision for a project.

The fields of design, construction and engineering include people who come from different backgrounds. In the EMDC, developing an ability to be flexible in your writing to communicate to people with different experiences, backgrounds, roles and communication styles is critical  – and something we can teach.

The same holds true for whether you’re an architect, engineer or contractor: when you look at your audience, and look at how people learn – some are visual learners, others verbal or auditory – ideally, you want to be able to engage everyone. For that reason, everyone needs to develop multiple ways of communicating: writing, speaking, visual communication and even the use of props – to get people kinetically involved and engaged in your message.

I’ve been working with engineers for over 30 years and engineers say that they are not good communicators. They’re analytic thinkers. They have good content and data. What I have found is that they just need a little coaching, a little instruction. The Executive Management for Design and Construction program provides just enough of this so that they’ll stop thinking of themselves as having a weakness.

I like to tell them that it’s not a weakness, really, just an undeveloped skill. We’re here to help develop these.

Also, at the leadership level, we can help professionals develop a powerful and distinctive communication style. There’s no question that coaching and feedback help – I do a great deal of this in my consultancy, working with executives, using video feedback and other methods.

If fact, media training could be a critical part of the EMDC program where we could work on how to conduct interviews, to get a better understanding for knowing what your message is and how it comes across.

The subject of persuasion tends to be taught with a heavy emphasis on emotions – such as Robert Cialdini’s popular work, on how to engage people’s emotional triggers, while downplaying the building of rational arguments.

My own favorite work on persuading by argument is Jay Heinrich’s “Thank You for Arguing.”

Barbara Shwom The reason it is important for executives in the AEC industry to understand other facets of persuasion is that you may need to ask people – clients, for example – to commit money for a project, and getting people to like you in this circumstance just isn’t going to cut it.

You need to make a business case in the neighborhood of argumentation if you you’re going to get others to believe you are the right person for the job. You need the emotional element, but the data back-up of a strong argument will provide you with the credibility you need. This is something we cover in the EMDC http://emdc.northwestern.edu/index.html

Also appropriate for the EMDC program is covering strategic communication: when you write or communicate, knowing who to talk to, how to stage your communications and hone your message; and, as importantly, how to presell your idea before going in for a vote – asking, “How do I get people to change?”

In your new book, “Business Communication: Polishing Your Professional Presence,” what is meant by the word polishing in the subtitle?

Barbara Shwom “Polishing” here is the opposite of superficial communication – a clean and shiny surface – but instead is about acquiring and developing skills and honing your abilities. It’s not about what’s on the surface but instead is the result of a solid structure underneath.

If you’ll allow the metaphor, for people who are aiming today to look better, you’re going to look better if you’re physically fit, if you work on your core and strengthening your frame. It’s the same when you’re dealing with engineering and architecture – you need a sound foundation to build upon. So while the word “polishing” is in the subtitle, the book is really about core concepts in business communication.

Note: Shwom is also the managing principal of the consulting firm Communication Partners, a Chicago-area communication consulting and training firm helping clients – including large construction and construction management clients – use communication to gain a competitive edge.

Her experience goes well beyond the academy through consulting and coaching executives in all areas of business and the AEC industry.