Why Great Project Managers Think Like Business Owners
The Biggest Risk in Construction Isn’t Winning Work.
It’s Losing Control After the Contract Is Signed.
By Grant Long | Lesson #2
A great PM does more than manage the work. They manage the consequences of what happens on the project.
Grant Long
I’ve spent 40 years in the construction industry, from working in the field and managing projects to serving in executive leadership roles and owning businesses.
That experience has given me a practical perspective on what separates construction companies and projects that perform well from those that struggle.
Construction is won and lost in the details. Strong project execution matters, but so do the operating disciplines behind it: knowing where a project really stands, maintaining control of costs and margins, getting reliable information from the field, establishing clear processes and accountability, and identifying problems early enough to address them.
Over my career, I’ve worked across commercial construction, construction management, retail development, and property ownership. I’ve led teams, developed operating systems and management controls, worked directly with owners and executives, and helped organizations translate plans into execution.
For the past 20 years, through Baobab, Inc., I have provided construction management, executive consulting, and independent contracting services to national and international companies. I also serve as an owner’s representative for commercial and retail property owners.
One area I’m particularly interested in today is how construction companies can improve the way they operate. The industry has no shortage of technology, data, and new tools. The opportunity is figuring out where they genuinely make the business better—improving visibility, strengthening project control, reducing unnecessary work and helping people make better decisions.
I believe the best lessons in construction usually come from experience: what worked, what didn’t, what went wrong and what we learned from it.
After four decades in the industry, I’m interested in sharing more of those lessons and continuing to learn from the people building and running construction businesses today.
ARTICLE SUMMARY
Great construction project managers do more than keep schedules, paperwork, and subcontractors on track. They understand that every construction decision carries a business consequence, and they act on that understanding before the consequence arrives. The strongest PMs do their diligence early, bring problems forward while options remain, and protect a project’s financial outcome as carefully as its schedule.
After nearly five decades in construction, I’ve worked with many project managers.
Some were technically excellent. Some knew the drawings inside and out. Some could build a schedule faster than anyone in the room.
The best ones had something else.
They were managing a business.
That distinction matters more than it sounds. A project manager sits at the intersection of almost everything that determines whether a job makes money or loses it: the owner, the superintendent, the subcontractors, the suppliers, the schedule, the contracts, the change orders, procurement, billing, and, ultimately, the project’s financial performance.
That is why putting the right person in that seat is one of the most important decisions a construction company makes. Everything flows out of that position.
What It Means to Manage a Business
When I say a great PM is managing a business, I don’t mean the PM replaces the CEO, the CFO, or the owner. I mean they understand that every construction decision has a business consequence.
A PM managing a project asks whether the work is getting done, the schedule is current, the RFIs and CORs are moving, the subcontractors are performing, and the paperwork is in order. Those are the right questions. They are just not the only questions.
A PM who understands the business asks a second set. What will this decision cost us? Who is paying for it? Does this create a change-order opportunity, or a change-order risk? When do we get paid? Will what we decide today create a problem six months from now?
They manage the consequences of what happens on the project.
A Project That Was Saved Before It Started
A project in Texas a few years ago shows what that looks like in practice.
It was a 15,000-square-foot free-standing building, and we were still in bidding and due diligence. The owner was comfortable with the plans. The project had been approved for permitting, the budget was set, and everyone expected it to move forward as designed.
Our PM didn’t just price what was on the drawings.
As he reviewed the site plans and qualified the work with a site-work subcontractor, he found a problem with the drainage design. The municipality had approved the plans. But the drainage scope as drawn would not work in the field.
The easy thing would have been to bid the plans and specifications as-is and let the problem surface after construction started. That is what the other general contractors bidding the project did.
He understood what the problem actually meant. Additional drainage work. Plan changes. Permitting revisions. Subcontractor rescheduling. Materials. Grading. And if it surfaced after construction had already started, it could delay the project by eight weeks or more.
Because he had built a real relationship with the owner, he could have that conversation directly and honestly. He did not just tell them there was a problem. He brought them a path forward.
The solution took additional drainage, retention ponds, piping, and grading. By addressing it before construction started, we protected the construction schedule and, by my estimate, avoided about $50,000 in added cost and disruption.
We also won the project.
The owner could see our PM wasn’t trying to win a job. He was protecting the project before we had a contract.
That is the lesson in one story. The best PMs do not wait for problems to become problems. They look ahead, ask questions, do the diligence, and when they find something that matters, they manage the consequences.
Why Diligence Before the Contract Pays
I have seen that pattern often enough to trust it, and the research points in the same direction.
The Construction Industry Institute has spent years studying how thoroughly projects are defined before execution begins. Their work on large capital projects found that effective front-end planning reduced change orders by roughly 5 percent, and that projects whose teams were well aligned during that planning phase performed nearly 10 percent better on cost and more than 16 percent better on schedule.[1]
Research presented to the Department of Energy put the same point in terms an owner understands. Doing that planning work properly costs somewhere between 1.5 and 5 percent of project value, and returns between three and ten times what it costs.[2]
Those figures come from large industrial projects, not a 15,000-square-foot building in Texas, and I wouldn’t apply them directly to the work most contractors do. But the direction holds, and it matches what I have watched happen on job sites for decades. What you find before the contract is signed is almost always cheaper than what you find after.
The Right Person in the Right Seat
When you are choosing a project manager, don’t just ask whether they can manage a schedule. Ask whether they understand the business.
- Can they have difficult conversations with owners and subcontractors?
- Can they anticipate what is coming rather than report what already happened?
- Do they understand cost, cash, and the consequences of field decisions?
- Do they act before small problems become expensive ones?
- Do they understand that protecting the company’s interests does not mean damaging the client’s?
- Can they tell when waiting for perfect information will cost more than deciding now?
That last one is harder than it looks. Construction rarely offers complete information. Judgment is the job.
Then Ask the Harder Question
Once you have found that person, ask whether you have built a company around them that lets them do the work.
Do they have current information, or are they reconstructing the story from spreadsheets and email? Do they have the authority to make the call they can see needs making? Does anyone upstream of them notice when something starts to drift?
A project manager who understands the business can still only act on what they can see. That is a different problem, and it is the one I want to take up next.
The Lesson
Great project managers do much more than build projects.
They protect the business while building the project.
They see connections other people miss. They understand that schedule, cost, contracts, procurement, billing, cash flow, and client relationships are one system, not six separate ones. And they act while options remain.
Get the right person in that seat, make sure they understand how the company actually makes money, and give them what they need to do the job. You have not just built a stronger project team. You have built a better construction company.
Sources
[1] Construction Industry Institute. (2006). Front End Planning: Break the Rules, Pay the Price. Research Summary RS213-1, Research Team 213. Austin, TX: Construction Industry Institute.
[2] Gibson, G. E., & West, N. (2018). Front End Planning (FEP) and Project Definition Rating Index (PDRI). Presented at the U.S. Department of Energy Project Management Workshop, Washington, DC.
FAQ’S
It means recognizing that every construction decision carries a financial and strategic consequence. Rather than solely tracking schedules, paperwork, and subcontractors, a PM who thinks like an owner evaluates how decisions impact total cost, change orders, billing, cash flow, client trust, and long-term project risks.
2. How does thorough front-end planning improve project outcomes?
Effective front-end planning and due diligence before a contract is signed allow teams to identify design flaws, site issues, and scope gaps while options remain flexible and inexpensive. Research from the Construction Industry Institute (CII) shows that effective front-end planning can reduce change orders by roughly 5%, improve cost performance by nearly 10%, and enhance schedule performance by over 16%.
3. Why is project manager due diligence important during the bidding phase?
Conducting thorough due diligence during bidding helps uncover constructability issues—such as improper drainage designs or site limitations—before construction begins. Identifying these challenges early avoids costly mid-project delays, prevents expensive change orders, and builds trust with project owners.
4. What key questions should a company ask when hiring or evaluating a project manager?
Beyond evaluating their technical and scheduling capabilities, companies should assess whether a PM can:
- Anticipate problems before they occur rather than simply reporting past events.
- Conduct difficult conversations with owners and subcontractors transparently.
- Understand how field decisions affect cost, cash flow, and contracts.
- Make decisive calls with incomplete information when waiting would cost more.
- Protect the company’s bottom line while maintaining client trust.
Even the most capable PM can only act on what they can see. Companies must support their PMs by providing real-time information systems (rather than relying on outdated spreadsheets or disconnected emails), granting clear decision-making authority, and creating visibility so leadership notices when a project begins to drift.
Bringing design or constructability issues to light early demonstrates to owners that the contractor is actively protecting their project rather than just trying to win a job. This transparent approach builds long-term trust and differentiates the contractor from competitors who bid flawed plans as-is.
Front-end planning typically costs between 1.5% and 5% of the total project value, but studies indicate it yields a return of 3 to 10 times its cost by preventing mid-construction redesigns, schedule extensions, and emergency rework.
8. What is the difference between a project-focused PM and a business-focused PM?
- Project-focused PMs ask: Is the work getting done on time, are paperwork and RFIs moving, and are subcontractors performing?
- Business-focused PMs ask additional critical questions: What will this decision cost? Who pays for it? Does this create a change-order risk or opportunity? When do we get paid, and will today’s choice create a problem six months down the line?
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