PATRICK LEAHY | INTERNATIONAL YOUNG PROJECT MANAGER OF THE YEAR

INNOVATIONS AND INSIGHTS PATRICK LEAHY | INTERNATIONAL YOUNG PROJECT MANAGER OF THE YEAR HOW COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION LED TO THIS PM’S SUCCESS

Patrick Leahy, Senior Associate at Conscia, is a clientside project management professional with experience in managing a variety of projects, from office fit-outs to large scale design and construction works including specialist security, training and laboratory facilities. As the winner of

12 2019 IPMA “Young Project Manager of the Year” Award and 2018 National Future Project Leader Award from the AIPM, he shares with us his career experience, tips on change, risk and stakeholder management and ways to manage upwards.

THE ENJOYABLE PARTS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT LIE IN THE CHALLENGES

You have been in this field for over ten years; what are the enjoyable and challenging parts of being a project manager?

The things I enjoy the most are quite often things that challenge me the most.

There are a diversity of issues that arise. Construction projects will always leave you saying, “I haven’t seen that one before”. Whether it be developing a design solution to a complex engineering requirement, tailoring a procurement activity to strict rules or uncovering unexpected finds on-site, you never know what tomorrow will bring. I find the challenge of developing a process for dealing with an unconventional issue and managing the process to a successful outcome to be very rewarding.

People are key. As a project manager, you deal with many people with a diverse range of experience and backgrounds. You become privy to a huge amount of information; however, you need to tailor your communication and engagement approach to every individual to ensure that you get the best result for your project.

THE PROJECT MANAGER IS A FACILITATOR How do you define the role of the project manager to a newcomer?

I’ve always struggled with this question. I remember trying to explain my new job as a client-side project manager to my grandfather, who was a lifetime electrician. Every time I explained my role, he would always respond with “so what do you actually do?”

The title ‘Project Manager’ is incredibly broad and it will mean different things to different people. I like to describe the role of a project manager as being a facilitator. Primarily you are responsible for: 1. Identifying what needs to be done; 2. Resourcing each task with the appropriate team, and then 3. Making sure everything is completed in line with the projects critical success factors.

Sure, there will be countless intricacies along the way; however, it generally comes back to those three main aspects. As a project manager, you must always challenge yourself to add value to every step of the process.

As a project manager, you must always challenge yourself to add value to every step of the process.

COMMUNICATION IS KEY TO BEING A SUCCESSFUL A PROJECT MANAGER You previously commented on the importance of communication, so in your opinion, what are the secrets to doing so successfully?

Project management is a skillset that is primarily personalitybased. Every individual project manager will have a different approach. As our profession is heavily reliant on engagement, the way you communicate with stakeholders is what most characterises a project manager.

It is important to always be upfront and transparent. As a project manager, you will be dealing with people of various professions and areas of expertise. No matter what type of project you are dealing with, you can be assured that your audience will likely be an educated one. People can see ulterior motives from a mile away.

If you come to a meeting table with a hidden agenda or try to sneak decisions through unnoticed, you will be found out. Once you lose the trust of your colleagues, the project team or worse, your client, it is very hard to regain that trust.

THERE’S NO ‘I’ IN PROJECT SUCCESS Congratulations on winning the 2019 IPMA “Young Project Manager of the Year” Award. What qualities do you think enabled you to win?

One of my favourite sporting sayings is that there is no ‘I’ in ‘team’. The same holds true for ‘Project Success’. Having success as a project manager is not an independent accomplishment. I have had a lot of support from the company I work for, the project team as well as the client team that I have worked with.

I believe the most important thing for a young project manager is to be open to challenges. See every step as an opportunity not only to learn, but also to think creatively. Don’t wait and listen to other people’s opinions or be told what to do first, challenge yourself to develop your own approach and then consult others.

…be open to challenges. See every step as an opportunity not only to learn, but also to think creatively.

There was an element of luck for myself to get an opportunity to work on such a complex and one-of-a-kind construction and engineering project at an early stage of my career. Some people will go their whole career without such an opportunity. My advice to young project managers is that once you do get an opportunity to work on a unique project that you enjoy, don’t take it for granted. Dive headlong into the project and give it your all. Seeing something through from start to finish can be a career building move.

BAD NEWS NEVER GETS BETTER WITH AGE In the VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity) era, how do you view risk management? Do you have some experience to share?

VUCA sounds like a normal Monday morning in the construction industry.

I have seen teams create risk registers at the start of a project and never refer to them again. Issues will continually develop and evolve. If as a project manager you are not alert to them, they will become risks.

A piece of advice one of my bosses gave me is that ‘bad news never gets better with age’. Everybody is human and projects operate in the real world. Mistakes will happen and things will change. When you discover an issue, question it, investigate it, report it and solve it. Don’t leave it for another day because it will only grow.

When you discover an issue, question it, investigate it, report it and solve it. Don’t leave it for another day because it will only grow.

AI BRINGS BOTH BENEFITS AND RISKS Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be crucial in managing projects in the future, what do you believe the future project manager or leader be like?

The differentiation between a project manager and a project leader is a key consideration for our industry. In my view, management is doing things the right way. Leadership is doing the right thing.

The introduction of AI into the tool belt of a project manager will assist with the evolution of more managers into leaders. AI will eventually (and this is sooner than you may think) independently complete many labour intensive and administrative type tasks. By removing this time burden from project managers’ day-to-day responsibilities, they will have more time to focus on the big picture and strategic considerations. This will facilitate more of a leadership style approach within our industry.

I also see the integration of AI to our industry will bring many risks that must be considered, including:

Standardisation. AI will be employed to make unbiased contractual determinations. With the huge number of contractual frameworks and legislative requirements that exist, how do we ensure that the unbiased nature of AI is not manipulated?

Experience. Junior project managers currently learn their trade by managing functions such as variation registers, Request for Information (RFI) registers and the like. This is valuable experience that informs decision-making later in their careers.