Project Management with a Purpose Series Part Five: Four Reasons to Leverage Your Current Contractors. Now.
Your organization is typically tackling $5M-$10M projects and you’ve built a steady team of contractors over the years to help. Vendors on all kinds of levels–electricians, architects, carpenters, security professionals and more. But now you’ve got the mother of all projects: a brand new wing on the hospital to house a psychiatric unit. This project is to the tune of $60M and you need to find the right Construction Management partner to take care of it.
As much due to strategy as to habit, your mind turns to money. How can I get the best deal for this project? How can I get firms to provide competitive bids on scope, schedule and cost? You think: This is a contest and I will win–because the company that outsmarts the others is the best one! You send out an RFP and await results.
But wait a second. Let’s think in the long term here. What about your current team of vendors and contractors? Wouldn’t they be the right people for the job? Here’s why:
1) Familiarity: They know your company inside and out. They know how to navigate your politics. They’re familiar with the quirks, obstacles and nuances of your industry and your organization. And consequently, they understand how to bid your projects incredibly well. While an external GC’s bid may be lower—their unforeseen costs throughout the project will likely counteract that initial estimate, while your internal contractors can get it right from the beginning.
2) Personal Investment: If you’ve had the right project manager, they’ve become invested in your organization, taking pride in the work they do for you, and even saving you money and identifying gaps or inefficiencies where they can.
3) Admin: They’ve already gone through security clearance, gotten badges, done the paperwork and worked out the glitches that come with any new vendor, which alone will save you thousands in admin costs.
4) Relationships: They (as well as your own employees) have already surmounted any potential personality conflicts, built trust across time and gotten comfortable with your culture, your project managers and your consultants. Why start over? They might even know you at a personal level–the team you root for and how many kids you have. It’s a relationships built on respect, discipline, kindness and trust.
