In this interview, Christopher Parsons and Speaker B discuss the key attributes of top synthesis implementation project managers (PMs) within architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) firms. They emphasize that the most effective implementation PMs possess a deep, nuanced understanding of how their firm operates—including its strategic priorities, cultural mindset, and internal relationships. This insight enables them to align change initiatives with the firm’s existing patterns and to communicate new tasks in a way that resonates with staff. The conversation also explores how firms can successfully integrate newer implementation staff by pairing them with seasoned “champions” who hold institutional knowledge and strong relationships, thereby accelerating the newcomer’s effectiveness. Finally, they touch on the relative importance of formal project‑management experience versus change‑leadership and influence skills, suggesting that while traditional PM experience is valuable, the ability to navigate firm culture and drive adoption may be equally critical.
Chapters
So you ended up breaking this into 5 things, 5 lessons that you've learned from the teams. The first one is they, meaning the best synthesis implementation project managers, understand how your firm ticks. What does that mean?
Yes, the best implementation PMs I've worked with just have this deep understanding of how to get stuff done inside the organization. And that means that they understand the big picture priorities. Like our big picture priority is to deliver really excellent affordable housing that meets our clients' deadlines, you know, or our big picture is to design and like service bridges for our clients in this like very, very knowledgeable way where like they go to us because we know the most, most about their bridges. So like they just like get it. They like, they know beyond what's on the website, beyond taglines. They know what drives people at the firm, and they also know how to navigate getting stuff done. People join different firms because they like the firm culture, right? And different firms have different firm cultures. Some firms are very much like, we're taking the long view, we're going to move slow and thoughtfully and get there at the right time. Some firms, their perspective is like, we want to move as quickly as possible, and we can absorb mistakes and we can adjust. The only way we're going to adjust is if we make the mistakes. So let's just get going. You know, that's just one example of firm cultures that are different. But a good PM just gets that. They know how their firm works. And why that's so important is because a lot of this work is around leading change, and that means connecting the dots for people. So helping connect what you're asking them to do, the new thing or what you're asking them to spend time on that maybe is out of their normal job description with the outcome that, like, you know, that they actually care about. And then asking it in a way that works with how the firm works, with the patterns within the firm. Right. And that's really hard to do if you don't— if you don't get how the firm works.
Yeah. And so you listed some things like what I wrote down was you understand kind of the strategy, whether it's written or not. And like what's important and priorities. You kind of talked about culture. I would assume it also has something to do with relationships. And I'm going to throw something out there and you can knock it down or build on it. But like, are any of the people that came to mind on your secret top 10 list, were they new to the organization? Did all of them have, you know, kind of like X amount of years with the organization understanding strategy, culture, relationships? Like, what were your thoughts on that question?
Yeah, it's a good question. I don't remember exactly if any of them were totally new to the organization. It's kind of unlikely, but I, I am thinking of a firm I'm working with right now, and their implementation team has two champions, co-champions. One who's been there for a long time and is transitioning into more of a firm operations role out of a design role. Really gets, you know, she gets the strategy, she gets the culture of the place, and she has the relationships. And another is new to the firm, then has kind of a, you know, some background in KM and intranet stuff. And the person that's new to the firm is doing great because she's paired with someone who has the relationships and— well, she's paired with someone who has the relationships and gets the strategy, unspoken, spoken, and all of that. And she's been able to kind of draft off that and build relationships through the process. So I don't think it's like out of the question to bring someone in, but it who's, you know, newer to the firm. But I think if you do that, you have to be really thoughtful about who you pair them with, either as a co-champion or who you pair them with for an executive sponsor.
How important is the PM part of implementation? PM, like, do they have to have managed big projects before? Like, can they rely on us to do some of that? Like, what's the— what happened? What does that look like?
Yeah, the PM part of the PM of the implementation. PM, right?
Right.
Yeah. It's funny, a number of really great PMs that I've worked with have managed client projects, not big client project necessarily, but, you know, some client project work. They're kind of moving into a PM role in their career, but they may not have managed big projects. They may not have managed a technology rollout before. So I don't think that's actually that important. We to a lot of the project management. Like, we have the game plan, we have all the tasks laid out, we're bringing that expertise to the table, especially for this particular project that, like, we know how to do really well because we've done it a lot, right? I think what's more important are, you know, other things that are in that list in the article, which is the ability to, like, lead change and just have a good sense of how to influence. With or without authority.
