Project managers play a pivotal role in all sorts of real estate processes, whether that’s overseeing construction schemes from inception to completion, handling complex commercial transactions, and much more besides.
This is a growing niche within the wider project management ecosystem, and so you might consider getting into it if you’ve got the right skills, experience and temperament.
In order to take up real estate project management professionally, you’ll need to jump through a few hoops first, so let’s discuss the steps to take if this is a burning ambition you hold.
Understand the main elements of project management in this context
Unless you know what is expected of project managers where real estate is concerned, you might be surprised by the responsibilities of the job further down the road. There are lots of elements encompassed within the sphere of project management, including:
Facilitating communication between all involved parties
Having good communication skills is a must, since a manager’s main duty is to act as the intermediary between all of the people involved in fulfilling the brief of a construction project.
That means being capable of talking to architects, city planners, construction workers, office administrators and everyone in between.
It’s also about learning to give equal weight to each party when making decisions, and finding solutions to problems which are amenable to everyone, and not biased in a particular direction.
Project managers can even be called upon to make comments in public, conveying important information to the general public and the media in the case that the project is of particular significance.
Because of all this, developing your skills of communication will be part of working towards becoming a pro in this field.
Tracking progress & generating reports
Once a construction project is up and running, managers must oversee each element and piece together the bigger picture so that progress can be analyzed and conveyed clearly to clients in comprehensive, comprehensible reports.
The upshot is that managers can tell whether targets are being met, whether the budget is being stuck to, whether costs are in line with expectations, and whether there are any potential kinks to iron out or looming issues to sidestep proactively.
Analytical skills, attention to detail and an ability to convert complex data into a digestible format will stand you in good stead here.
Minimizing risks
The threat of a project exceeding the allotted budget or being delayed beyond the original schedule is greater in the world of real estate.
Managers must calculate the risks of such issues arising, and take steps to mitigate them through things like careful planning as well as the procurement of insurance.
Going further with real estate project management
One of the project manager professional traits to foster is being able to think strategically. Having the overarching vision of a project in mind at all times, even when you’re dealing with the minutiae, will serve you well.
This is easier if you’re using the right tools, and there are comprehensive packages put together in order to facilitate and streamline real estate project management.
It’s also about embracing teamwork. There’s no room in management for people who aren’t team players, so you’ll be one step closer to taking on this sort of position as soon as you shed any of your lone wolf instincts.
Getting educated & certificated
Another important point on the path to working as a project manager in real estate is following a suitable educational program and also getting a relevant certification to prove your worth to potential employers.
There are plenty of project management courses for beginners to get you started, and participating in one of these is always worthwhile even if you don’t end up going into real estate. Being able to manage complex projects is a skill which is widely applicable and transferable, so you certainly won’t be pinning yourself to a single industry.
Depending on where you are at in your career, you could even take a fully fledged degree in project management, and eventually specialize in real estate further down the line.
Attaining relevant experience
While education and training are certainly valuable, you cannot hope to thrive in any industry unless you also have firsthand experience of what it involves.
This is especially true of real estate, where construction projects are dauntingly complex from the outside, and it’s easy to get overwhelmed if you are not familiar with the ins and outs of on-site operations.
Indeed, project managers in real estate tend to be a little more hands-on than their counterparts elsewhere, especially when it comes to things like managing materials, developing contracts and dealing with potential delays in-person.
So, even before you have become fully qualified and accredited, it is useful to have participated in another part of the construction process at a professional level. That means taking on a more menial, manual role on a temporary basis and learning the basics under the guidance of experienced colleagues.
This will also be an opportunity to see how project managers work, because there will always be an individual or team with this task to handle that you can engage with and observe while you’re fulfilling a different role yourself.
Starting small
When it comes to small scale real estate projects, you don’t strictly need any formal training or experience to get started. Getting to grips with a simple home renovation project is a good way to test the waters, see how this type of role fits in with your skills and preferences, and work out where to go from there.
The bottom line
Real estate project management is an intellectually stimulating and financially rewarding career to take up. It also requires complete commitment and dedication, and there’s lots of competition for the top jobs as well, so getting started on a strong footing and working on your skills over time will put you in a position where you are attractive to employers.
