I have been a member of SDA since 2008.  While I was originally requested to join that first year, I renewed my membership because of the excellent education I continued to receive, still 15 years later.  I recently attended EDS23 in Tampa, FL and it still did not disappoint.  In my current position of CFO with Legacy Engineering, one of the aspects I try to work on with everyone on my staff is to ensure that everyone is working to their best potential, is working effectively, efficiently, and productively each day. 

I thoroughly enjoyed every session this past June but one or two generally stands out to me. 

In our early session, held on Tuesday morning, in the Project Administration Workshop presented by Deborah Gill, Tony Casey, Diane Mika, and Val Higgins, we learned all about PMAs, Marketing and Contracts, Business Development, Managing Risk, Direct and Indirect Expenses, reviewed a Project Study and so much more!  This session refreshed my attention on the role of a Project Management Administrator (PMA) in the A/E/C industry.

In my experience, many firms do not seem to take advantage of the role of the PMA.  While some firms do not even take advantage of a separate administrative staff, this is a very pivotal role within the A/E/C industry. 

PMAs can help to improve the bottom line in every firm.  This role can take on a lot of tasks such as creating and reviewing proposals.  Reviewing contracts and / or subcontracts for accuracy and those pesky Scope Creep items that come up often, well the PMA role can help with those too.  This position can also help with project setup and document control.  The PMA works seamlessly with accounting to ensure that project execution, communications, billings, and collections are set up correctly and run smoothly at all angles.

Project execution can entail a lot of reporting requirements, lots of communication between the staff, Project Manager (PM), clients and accounting and the PMA becomes the pivotal person in between it all.  They can also assist the PM with billing and collections because they are aware of what is going on with projects daily.  PMAs also assist with project closeout, ensuring that all documents are signed, all data has been entered and compiled and filed in the correct locations for future use for marketing and / or other purposes.

A PMA can benefit your firm by allowing your PMs to stay organized, focused and the ability to take on additional projects.  They can help control costs and preserve profits.  They increase the chance of project success.

A great PMA has skills with accounting / project management software, contract administration, scheduling, billing, and collections.  They are good at communication and influencing others.  They are also good at mentoring and training others.  A PMA’s skills allow them to be directly billable and they contribute to the bottom line.  In summary, a PMA is a well-rounded administrator that directly assists just about everyone in the company daily, but most importantly, the Project Manager, making the Project Manager more productive, efficient, organized and most importantly, profitable.

The benefit of this session, and all our amazing sessions like this one, is to use this refreshed and revved up mindset, and present to my fellow directors and make a difference that will continue to make improvements to our bottom line.

Yesterday we completed Day #5 of EDConnect21 and there were plenty of nuggets of learning from our presenters!

Jack Smith  spent time talking about "Cybersecurity and the Role You Play." We learned some new terms including 'doomscrolling/doomsurfing' and 'Zoom laryngitis.' We could certainly all relate! He talked to us about how remote work is inherently more dangerous and provided some tips to consider when working outside the office.

In the afternoon session, Brad Wilson presented "Business Improvement Strategies for Success Transitions." Among his tips and insights were that we need to be future ready, that people/soft skills are critical for transition success and that we should understand that it takes about 10 years for transition, so we should be planning accordingly.

What did you get from Day #5? Share in the comment box below what you found useful and/or what you plan to implement in your office.

Week #2 of EDConnect21 is underway. We had two powerful presentations today. First we hear from Ryan Jolley with "Everyone Hates Your Bonus Program: Here's How to Fix It!" We closed the day hearing from Diane Mika and Julie Stanton as they shared "The Go/No-Go Process: Promoting Effective Marketing and Risk Management." Both sessions were packed with insights and tips that can be immediately put to use in the office. 

Two of our favorite quotes from Ryan's session:  "Profits are what give us the ability to do the extra and fun things that our employees all want." Also, "What gets measured gets done, what gets measured AND feedback gets done well, what gets rewarded get repeated."

During our afternoon program, Diane and Julie gave us lots to consider while walking us through two case studies to see how a Go/No-Go scoring system can work. PLUS, they addressed the importance of understanding the costs associated with the preparation of a proposal.

Share in the comment box below some of your biggest takeaways.