When you hire a consulting company, you are hiring them for their expertise. In STIGroup’s case, our expertise is in cybersecurity and technology, and our engineers and consultants are very good at what they do. So why would you want to pay an additional fee to have a project manager involved? Typically, the fee for project management is only 5-10 percent above the engineering/consulting cost, but what do you get for that money?

When you invest in a project, you want to get good value for your investment. The best way to realize that value is for the project to be delivered on time, as ordered and within budget.

• On Time – A project plan with clear tasks, dates and owners is the best way to define what “on time” means, and to measure whether those expectations are being met. A project manager helps get that information from the engineers and communicates it to the client. On a longer project, weekly check-ins keep everyone on the same page and allow for discussion of any impediments to forward progress.

• As Ordered – Clear and detailed requirements are used to define the project scope and understand “what success looks like.” It allows your project team to “start with the end in mind” and ensure that you get the quality deliverable that you expected. A project manager facilitates this discussion.

• Within Budget – If your project quote is for time & materials (T&M), you will want to make sure that there is no scope creep that will drive up the cost of the project. A project manager closely watches the hours worked and other expenses to make sure that there are no unpleasant surprises.

So, the next time you order some work done, make sure that there is a project manager on board to ensure your satisfaction with the end result!