Project management in civil engineering: making space

Project management is a comprehensive term. Its meaning cannot be captured in one sentence. They know this all too well at ProReNi, a consultancy firm with its own unique vision of project management in civil engineering. An interview with founders Remco van den Brink and Niels van Rijswijk, and partner Stefan van den Helder.

What is the qualification of project management in civil engineering? "If you knock it flat, as a project manager you are generally responsible for time, money, quality, organization, information and the risks within a project," Van den Helder begins. "Depending on the project, phase and team, the focus shifts on those different aspects. For example, one project requires the project manager to focus more on people, while another project may require more attention to content. A project manager must sense that and steer accordingly with his skills and tools. This means that not every project manager can just do everything. Some have more affinity with content, others with management and organization. In other words, although you can generalize project management as a term, it requires customization for each project. Ultimately, the project manager's job is to ensure that the project is accomplished within the frameworks of time, money, quality, information and risk."

In your element

Overall, according to Van Rijswijk, you can say that project management is about people. "The goal is to get people to do what is best for the project. So a project manager must at least have the skills to enthuse people and bring them into the project to take steps forward. As 'space makers,' we at ProReNi think it's important that everyone has the space to develop themselves as part of a team to achieve a successful end result in the outdoor space." ProReNi's services focus primarily on the commissioning side for projects in wet and dry infrastructure, area development and green space management. The project managers work primarily for the Department of Public Works, provinces, municipalities and water boards. Van den Helder: "That's where our knowledge and expertise has traditionally been, taking on projects from the exploration phase to implementation. Thanks to a wide range of project leaders and project manager in our team. Projects benefit from the right people in the right place. We always try to flesh that out so that everyone on the team feels in their element."

Making space

In four years, ProReNi has built a nice reference list. "With us, everyone gets the space to work on the projects where his or her heart lies. We get energy from both relatively small projects and the large national programs from the Department of Public Works or water boards," Van den Brink acknowledges. "For example, on the one hand, we are now working on the replacement of 21 bicycle and pedestrian bridges in the municipality of Rijswijk, a project that we are taking on as a bureau as a whole. But on the other hand, we are also part of the Integrated Project Management team (IPM) of the High Water Protection Program (HWBP) within the Hoogheemraadschap Hollands Noorderkwartier, to name just two extremes." In all our projects, we emphatically seek balance, Van den Helder emphasizes. "And to achieve a good balance, you need space. We feel responsible to add something to the projects we work on and always look beyond the primary task. Making room for new ideas and for innovations. That is also project management."