Day in the Life of a Project Manager: Ryan Sawinski

Good project management ensures that a project’s goals closely align with strategic business goals. The leadership, vision, mentoring and motivation provided through the role brings out the best in a team.

Project managers work on a project from pre-planning until completion. They support all phases of a project to ensure standards, budget, deadlines, communications and relationships are maintained. They juggle a lot of responsibilities for projects, but with their leadership, projects are successfully completed!

Ryan Sawinski, a project manager at Harris, has been in the industry for more than 18 years. Sawinski began his education at Minnesota State University, Mankato, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Construction Management. After graduating, Sawinski became a licensed high pressure journeyman pipefitter.

Sawinski pursued a career in construction because of his interest within the industrial side of the industry. He always had a passion to build things with his hands and having the ability to work with specialty tools was a bonus.

“Creating a piping configuration that has rolling offsets, numerous elevation and directional changes can be challenging. From detailing, measuring, fabrication to the installation of that piping configuration and having it fit the first time is a feeling that cannot be explained.  That created the sweet tooth that I have for industrial construction.” Sawinski shares.

A typical day for Sawinski will always start with a solid breakfast and most importantly coffee! His days start earlier than the normal business hours as starting at an earlier time gives him a chance to be productive and complete solo work.

“I’m a busy person in and out of work. With an early start to each workday, while enjoying coffee each morning I focus to set a level of determination that directly applies to the tasks at hand. Being driven and effective is important because when interruptions occur within a routine, it can become very easy in spending the remainder of the day searching for it.” Sawinski explains.

Once the morning work is balanced, Sawinski begins the extent of his day.

“I attend project meetings that are remote or on jobsites. I answer phone calls, emails and attend to numerous customers requesting estimates for future work. A lot of on-site walkthroughs are performed which gives me an opportunity to meet and socialize with different customers. Amongst all of that, I work on tasks that each of my assigned projects require. This includes submittals, RFI’s, financials, scheduling, productivity analysis and providing the right information to the field crews within a timely manner,” Sawinski says.

Project managers have a very collaborative role since each project contains many stakeholders. Sawinski finds himself working with field employees and various departments throughout Harris.

“When it comes to managing projects, my main interactions are with the field personnel and assistant project managers. We work alongside the field crews and essentially work for them. Pertaining to a project’s overall outcome – from conception to closeout – I work with everyone from Marketing + Communications, Purchasing, Accounting, Estimating, Service, Controls and upper management,” Sawinski explains.

Sawinski emphasizes the importance of communication when it comes to a project. He always makes sure that he is flexible with the varying communication styles that someone may have. Through his method of communication, he makes sure the receiving end understands the message based on how they learn best.

“I communicate a lot. I will always spend the time emailing and following up with a phone call or vice-versa,” he says. “Physical jobsite walkthroughs and in-person and virtual meetings are other forms of weekly, even daily, collaboration a project manager will have.”

As a project manager, you make important decisions that will affect the overall project and everyone involved.

“When making a decision, I reflect on my past experiences and follow my intuition. My past field experience helps in making the best decisions that typically can’t be taught in school. For me, my mind works best with anything mechanical and the overall process of a construction jobsite– from groundbreaking through closeout or turnover,” Sawinski shared. “When working with customers and construction projects large or small, I’m very thorough and I do my research. I get involved and dive into the tasks at hand to fully understand everything regarding the project.”

Sawinski’s greatest accomplishment at Harris has been his involvement with the First Avenue Utility and Pedestrian Tunnel project for Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

“I originally estimated this project, I based it solely upon my field experience and previous work experiences with heavy industrial piping. When working on the estimate, I thought, how would I do the installation if I was the pipefitter.” He adds, “from pre-construction, estimation and project management this has been a rewarding experience. This project took a total team effort to execute and produce such a great outcome. Harris’ exceptional Design Studio, BIM team, Purchasing, Accounting and most importantly, the field crew, were why we were so successful.  It took all of us to carry this project through and it was a great experience overall,” Sawinski exclaims.

Though Sawinski has had great success in his career, he also shared how his greatest challenge has been transitioning from the field into the office to start project managing.

Sawinski explains, “My best advice for someone making a similar transition is to have an open mind, be patient and don’t be afraid to ask questions. I miss the comradery with fellow field workers, but I really enjoy all the opportunities project management has brought forth.”

When asked why Sawinski made the switch, he talked about the opportunities Harris had for him.

“Truthfully, with previous employers I used to travel and be gone from home for months at a time and even through most holidays. I’ve always wanted to be a part of a good company with a strong backbone that would allow me to be who I am and to be much closer to my family,” says Sawinski.

During his tenure, Sawinski has experienced many changes in the industry. There has been a transformation of the mentoring methods for the younger generations within the field compared to mentorship methods that were used in the past. The construction industry now has more protocols, with these protocols, there are more safety precautions for everyone on the project to follow – which is a good thing. Technology has also dramatically changed the construction industry. Now every project relies on technology!

To stay on top of new advances in the industry Sawinski explains, “Harris provides many trainings and certifications to keep us knowledgeable, trained and up to speed. Additionally, vendors and clients will provide training if they need workers to have an understanding of their site. Safety is key when working on all construction projects.”

At Harris, we provide project managers with the resources and education they need to continue growing in their career.

“We are the best at what we do and we deliver services that no other company can compare to,” adds Sawinski. ” Harris is an exceptional place to work. We have amazing people, a team environment, broad experiences with a magnitude of various professional expertise. Not to mention flexible schedules!”

If you’re interested in becoming a project manager like Sawinski, learn about our opportunities here.