Field Notes: Construction Management

With Peter Hilger

Transcript

Hi, I'm Peter Hilger. I'm faculty director of the Construction Management Program here at CCAPS University of Minnesota. I am an architect by training, a builder by passion, but a teacher at heart.

What are the most exciting opportunities in today's construction management industry?

You can find your spot within this industry, whether it's a project manager on the supply side as an inspector, as a designer, as a client manager or an owner's representative, in the trades as a field superintendent, or just an estimator scheduler or something like that. There's a place for everybody in this field, depending upon what your interests are.

What does a construction manager do?

Well, they're a ringleader. They're a ringleader among a family of stakeholders that are involved in every single construction project, right? They're the people that may have to make sure that they're contacting everybody in that family and understand what their role is in the project and how the construction manager—you—can best serve them.

How can you make a difference in the construction industry as a project manager?

Well, in my opinion, the first rule is to listen. Listen very hard to what your clients and stakeholders have to say. Listen to them in a way that you can understand what they're saying and can act upon what they're saying. You want clients to be happy at the end of a project. And that involves good, solid communication. And when you do that and they're happy with what you do, you're gonna be happy. That's how you make a difference.

How do your students describe you?

My students would describe me as funny, you know, a bit of a jokester in class animated, but sincere. So: fun, funny, knowledgeable, impactful. I think that's probably how they would describe me, and maybe just a bit goofy.

What is your greatest satisfaction as a teacher?

And one of the greatest satisfactions of a teacher is to see where these students go after they leave the program. And the comments that I get back from students in random emails, even students that have graduated a long time ago, it's like, whoa, I'm so glad to see that you've arrived, if you will, that you've grown.

And you know what? Now even sometimes I actually work with them where they are building a building that I designed. My students are now the project managers with those firms. That is cool.