Here is the 3 top project management tips from a lifetime in real estate.
Everyone in corporate America is talking about project management these days. It seems that company leadership believes that if you want to get something done, you have to make it a project.
And this makes sense, right? And everyone wants to be a part of the big, new cool project at the office. Projects are empowering and inspirational. For many, projects are what gives work meaning. They require collaboration, courage, and highly developed employees who can lend competencies that allow them to shine.
Great project management lends structure to a world filled with uncertainty.
Here’s the good news: You don’t need a degree in project management to be an exceptional project manager. I’ve been in Commercial Real Estate for more than 25 years. I’ve worked on a wide range of projects, from developing class-A warehouses in a swamp at the end of a runway at JFK to orchestrating the political hot potato of the Charlotte Coliseum sale. My client list has ranged from demanding real estate experts like Henry Faison to advanced manufacturers like Mitsubishi Chemical.
Of course, not every project was successful. But we decided long ago to learn from our mistakes—and to avoid repeating them. And I’m pretty confident our project management processes—built on hard-learned lessons and dealing with uncertainty—are far better than what a degree in project management might give you.
Commercial real estate can teach leaders a lot about project management.
Real estate has always been an industry of agile projects. But nowadays, it is even more so. It used to be that real estate deals were rigidly sequential. They never went backward, and once the process began, there was a very predictable outcome.
But this is no longer the case. Today real estate projects start quickly, end abruptly, and change constantly. At the end of a project, corporate decision-makers may make changes that require everyone to start over. The need for agility and change management in the workplace means that real estate service providers must learn to be nimble—and learn fast.
A new model of commercial real estate services is needed.
Here are three tips to help you launch, lead, and sponsor successful project teamwork to ensure that your next real estate brokerage project meets your objectives in a predictable manner.
- Build a team of skilled real estate marketers, trained analysts, and veteran negotiators. Ask yourself what must get done for each new project. Are there people with actual competencies dedicated to the results you want?
- Develop a plan with a process similar to The Comprehensive Asset Sale™ or The Strategic Tenant Advocate™. Gone are the days when real estate was decided on a gut decision. Instead, break every project down into manageable tasks and set clear deliverables every step of the way.
- Align everyone’s interests from beginning to end. Has your team acknowledged your goals and concerns? Do they have skin in the game? How is the broker being accountable to your goals and objectives? Call us and we will tell you how to do this.
Follow these tips, and you’ll be well on your way to having a project delivered on time and on budget.
The need for agility and change management requires leaders to team with real estate service providers who build nimble project management processes into every transaction. We do this at Cardinal with a new toolbox for how to sell real estate. The Comprehensive Asset Sale™ is designed to help leaders obtain maximum value while streamlining the complicated selling of real estate. Our team combines industry knowledge and expertise with proprietary processes to deliver a high level of accountability while promoting successful project management.
If you would like to know more about our tips for project management or how we can craft the Comprehensive Asset Sale™ to achieve your goals, reply to this email, and one of our team members will be right back to you.
