conflict in my soul: can one person embody the role of pm + designer

Short answer to the above statement - yes, one can.

It is evident that one can, because the homeowners have a certain expectation of it, and the typical design and build company has been meeting that demand.

We cannot refute that in today’s landscape of design and construction, the requirement of an *interior designer would be the perfect embodiment of *project manager and *designer.

Take a moment to consider how design and build companies are structured to profit. Then lay over the rigorous demands of delivering a neat project at site. And then top it off with the expectation of today’s end consumer. To ship a successful project by a sole interior designer is almost fiction.

Amazing designers are free-spirited beings. They cannot be bound, and are idealists. The happier they are, the more inspired they are to create. These dreamers thrive in spaces beyond the ‘box’.

Whereas project managers live within the ‘box’. They love making things work in accordance to the quickest time possible, within the tightest budget constraint. They appreciate tidy lines and how things fall into order when called upon. They have high emotional intelligence, understanding well to cope with project stresses and unending site activities. This does not mean that they are not creative. Good project managers cure the toughest problems through creative means. Furthermore, they are resourceful.

In any successful interior design firm, these 2 personality traits need to be present to carry the project to completion to ensure client satisfaction. I find it difficult to find these 2 characters within a single individual. At BuildBuilt, we support our clients in a tag-team of designer + project manager to reduce conflict and to optimize our client’s home building journey.

How can an ‘interior designer’ cope with the stresses of negotiating project costs, coordinating workers and safety at site, while juggling the requests to design a ‘unique and timeless, yet adorable’ nursery for a client’s precious little one?

It sounds like a conflicting call within a job description. Can one play the perfect role of a project manager and designer? I guess so. But at what cost?

—

*Define interior designer : Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordinates, and manages such projects. wikipedia

*Define project manager: Project managers have the responsibility of the planning, procurement and execution of a project, in any undertaking that has a defined scope, defined start and a defined finish; regardless of industry. Wikipedia.

*Define designer: a person who imagines how something could be made and draws plans for it. Cambridge dictionary.