The project management business, which was born during the late 1980s and evolved into an industry of its own during the 1990s, has gained wider acceptance among all major sector of the economy: from health care, corporate and biotechnology/pharmaceutical to academic, public and other specialized sectors. As businesses focus on their core areas of competency, they’re quickly learning that outsourcing non-core work, especially those related with building infrastructure, space-planning, construction and relocation to skilled professionals is more cost-effective. They don’t want to tie up their valuable in-house resources to something that can be easily outsourced – just like they’re doing with their IT projects and call centers. This trend is expected to continue in the near future.

Another new trend noticed in recent years in project management is that companies want skilled professionals who specialize in their areas. Managing a construction or relocation project for an expensive and hazardous biotech laboratory can be very different and challenging from relocating a corporate office. In the same way, building or moving an academic building or classrooms is very different from relocating an industrial facility. Strategies and trends regarding industry specialization will continue, and successful project managers must try to understand their customers’ needs and their businesses.

Because of the expertise and project management systems developed during the last 15 years, project management firms have become more effective, providing scalable services through which they can manage whatever part of the project that needs the most attention or is more challenging. By outsourcing project management duties, companies can enjoy the peace of mind that an experienced, flexible team can provide in managing every stage of a multifaceted project.

Here are a few tips for hiring the right project management firm. Before hiring a project management firm, you must do your homework in order to hire a firm that knows and understands your industry. Also, bring on the project management firm early in the game. By doing so, companies can save a lot of money, avoid potential risks and, most importantly, get projects completed on time and on budget.

Engaging a project management firm during the preliminary stages of a project ensures that several important measures are taken. Initiating early dialogue guarantees that a realistic budget can be established, owner’s fees are made known and an achievable scheduling goal is outlined. It is vital to map a project’s direction prior to its start. Such a collaborative relationship is cost-effective, brings value to the client and increases the likelihood of a project’s success. By having a project management firm handle a construction project from the get-go, the firm is much more flexible as issues arise and client demands change.

As project managers take part in the conceptual and planning stages, it is important for them to guarantee scalability. A project management team must be able to meet the growing and reducing needs of their client and be able to adapt accordingly. Having developed a relationship with the client early in a project’s planning stage, project managers can operate with greater freedom, helping owners make the right decisions as the project develops and issues arise.

Acting as project manager, a firm must be prepared to handle all aspects of a project, providing numerous services and mitigating risk. Project management firms are capable of managing countless phases of a capital project, providing services such as programming, pre-construction, scheduling and budgeting, project management, construction administration, installation and management of furniture, fixtures and equipment, swing space, staging areas and job-site safety, as well as move management. The demands are ever-growing and a project management team must be prepared to handle them with efficiency and expertise.

All capital projects come with their own individual challenges. Outsourcing non-core work is a cost-effective solution towards managing many of the issues that arise in a capital project. It is essential for project managers to keep in mind these fundamentals and trends in order to make the most of the coming year.