One person determines whether your construction project finishes on time and on budget or suffers through avoidable and expensive delays: the project manager. From what I've noticed, you have your pick of two types of project managers: suits and hard hats. Suits manage the big picture from afar and hard hats set up shop at the construction site. I've worked with both. A suit helped us open the Tennessee Valley Eye Center in Knoxville while a hands-on hard hat worked with us on the Johnson City Eye Surgery Center in Johnson City, Tenn. Both delivered what they promised and both managed successful projects. Here's some advice on which personality type would best suit (no pun intended) your project.

Take your pick
A good project manager serves as the quarterback of a construction project. He'll look to you for coaching on the big decisions but is the boss in the huddle of architects, general contractors and subcontractors.

I recommend bringing the project manager into the mix before the designing of your new facility begins. He'll be closely involved with all the faces in the construction, from the lead architect who draws up the blueprints to the subcontractor who frames your future office, and needs to have a working knowledge of the reasons behind the final design. Adding the project manager during the project's infancy will cultivate his ownership in the construction and heighten his understanding of the project's importance to you and your physicians.

When beginning your search for the right project manager, submit a request for proposal to several candidates. The RFP is an invitation for candidates to outline their business philosophies, project management experience and cost of service. Standard-ized RFPs can be sent to multiple candidates; the process is a great way to organize and analyze your potential choices with very little legwork.

The Knoxville market boasts several large construction companies, so we approached them for advice on credible managers to lead the Tennessee Valley Eye Center project. We also developed a list of candidates that the physician-owners had worked with in the past. In the end, we sent out RFPs and received information back from eight individuals. From that list, we narrowed our choices to three and called each candidate in for an interview. As it turns out, a suit and a hard hat were in the mix.

The interview process is critical. In addition to seeking a qualified and experienced candidate, you must hire someone you trust and like. You'll spend many hours with the project manager; difficult decisions will arise and approaching deadlines can make those decisions tenuous. Without a strong initial rapport, your relationship with a project manager will quickly sour when stress levels increase.

It's also during the interview process that you'll first notice the difference between the management styles of the suit and hardhat. The suit will talk about relying on the competency of the general contractor and architect to make the day-to-day decisions at the construction site. He'll promise detailed updates in the form of high-quality charts and graphs. You'll notice he has a great ability to communicate and you'll quickly realize his powerful personality will do well with large architecture firms and construction companies. If you or your surgeons are interested in restaurant meetings to receive impeccable reports about the construction's progress, the suit is the way to go.

On the other hand, the hard hat is ideal for administrators and physicians who like their coffee in Styrofoam cups. He told us project updates occur on site, with a first-hand look at the growing infrastructure. The hard hat promised a hands-on approach to managing the construction and told us this philosophy may avoid architectural oversights and provide greater opportunity for cost savings.

We were truly impressed with each candidate. To further aid our decision we asked all three to submit a proposal. Unlike the documents we received during the RFP process, these proposals were tailored to our project and incorporated the specifics we discussed during the interviews. The second proposal demonstrated how the candidate envisioned his role in our project and also indicated how well he incorporated our ideas into his own philosophy.

Each candidate's submission contained a basic promise of service and a general outline of how they usually work with the contractors and owners of the project. They addressed the chain of command and identified ways they would handle cost saving opportunities during construction. Often, project managers receive a percentage of the savings, perhaps 5 percent of the 40 percent saved on new windows, for instance. It's imperative that you and the general contractor sign off on all cost-savings measures to ensure that the proposed materials have the same specs as those they're replacing.

The proposals also contained fee schedules, including bonuses for completing the job ahead of schedule and penalties for finishing late. I think it's a great idea to include incentives for finishing on time. I'm against adding penalties, however, because I don't believe business relationships should be based on a negative premise. Instead of a penalty, consider backloading the fee schedule. A large final payment due only when the job is completed is plenty of incentive for a project manager to stay on track.

The suit
In the end we decided to hire a suit. He was engaging, had an MBA and a solid reputation, and was the former head of facilities for a large hospital chain. We knew he could get the job done and, above all, we really liked and got along with him.

The suit was a great choice. He completed the job on time and on budget. On two occasions his personality and business acumen saved the project from long and costly delays. The first involved our concrete supplier, who claimed a short supply of materials and workers would necessitate a two-month delay. Time is money, and we weren't buying the reason for the company's refusal to pour. Neither was our suit; he stepped in and got the concrete flowing.

Our second impasse was more dramatic. The project's builder made a point of sidestepping the project manager to inform the physician-owners that he intended to increase the cost of the total project by 25 percent. We took that information to the suit and made it clear that we refused to pay the increase and we weren't about to bend on our stance.

We were at risk of switching builders, paying more and opening late. He approached the builder and rectified the situation with one closed-door meeting. We were back on budget. Without our suit's skilled interventions, the project's budget and timeline would have been severely jeopardized.

Despite an overwhelmingly positive experience, there were some drawbacks to working with the suit. We felt he could have visited the construction site more often and we also noticed a tight fraternity that develops between builders, contractors, architects and project managers. While building a facility may be your first and only foray into construction, workers have worked together before and will do so again.

At times, we felt this industry frat contributed to our project manager's having the workers' best interest in mind instead of our own. During one project update I voiced concern over the architect's omission of a gutter system and was told the building's internal gutters would gather rainfall. When I persisted, our project manager told me to listen to the architect, arguing that his design experience made him right. But it turns out I had made the right call, and, in the end, we had to write a significant check to add copper gutters to the final building. Our project manager was a little too cozy with the architect and it ended up costing us.

But the bottom line is the bottom line. Our suit got things done on time and he got things done on budget. Those are two huge positives that can't be ignored.

The hard hat
When searching for a project manager to head the second project, construction of the Johnson City Eye Surgery Center, we employed the same interview and second proposal process. This time, however, we hired a hard hat. It wasn't a conscious decision, but the opportunity let me see how a different management style works - and how I work with a different management style.

Our hard hat was on site daily and kept everyone on time and on budget. Instead of graphs and pictures of the construction site, he flopped into a chair in our office for occasional updates. I also frequently joined him on site with a hard hat of my own. He discussed the project and pointed to exactly what he was talking about. It was interesting. And for me, learning the nuts and bolts of new construction was a fun experience.

The hard hat's hands-on approach saved us money on more than one occasion through value engineering, primarily with the discovery of windows that matched the specs of the models originally slated for installation, but at a significantly lower cost. His daily presence also eased the architect's mind by ensuring that plans were meticulously followed. The architect developed a trust in the hard hat's abilities and didn't feel compelled to visit as often as he might have if a suit was managing from off site. That, in turn, reduced our architectural fees.

A potential downside of working with a hard hat is that he may lack the diplomacy skills needed to interface with contractors and architects. In other words, a hard hat's main focus is getting the job done. Period. And he could give a flying wrench about whose feelings get hurt along the way. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that approach; it is in fact sometimes necessary. It may mean, however, that you'll need to brush up on your mediation skills before the project starts.

It's a tie
Two completely different approaches resulted in identical results. Both projects finished on time and on budget. The difference in fees charged by the suit and hard hat was nominal. There is no right choice, as both styles are proven to effectively manage and complete projects.

In the future, I would lean toward working with a hard hat again. I'm the type of person who loves to see how things work and I truly enjoyed learning about the construction process. But that may not work for you. Deciding between project management styles really comes down to the personalities of you and your physician-owners and how those personalities mesh with the project manager during the interview process.