Category: Custom House Builder

When a company organization is searched to find a project manager, the first results may be fruitless because no one with that job title can be found. The project manager’s identity is often hidden behind some other organizational roles. This is particularly true for specialized in-house projects where, for example, a person with the title ‘facilities manager’ might act as project manager during a major reorganization of accommodation. Another example is where a personal styled ‘senior engineer’ is made responsible for managing a costly new product design and development project.

Even where project management is accredited with the important of a full-time appointment, the situation can be made less clear by the variety of titles used to describe the job. Contract manager, scheduling and estimating manager, project coordinator, project coordination engineer, program engineer, project leader, and project manager are but a few of the titles which have been used. The trend in recent years has been encouraging, and project management is now widely recognized as a profession that deserves reasonable status and rewards with its own professional associations (The Association for Project Management in the UK) and with far less confusion over the job title.

The levels of responsibility and authority given to project managers vary considerably from one organization to another. In some cases they act simply as planners and coordinators. In other businesses the project manager will have complete authority over all those responsible for achieving the project objectives.

The career of a project manager may have started … Read More

This month we continue our discussion with Joyce Ebmeier of Tabitha Health Care Services. A 25-year veteran of the nursing home industry, Ebmeier talked about the social benefits of the Green House and a phenomenon she calls the “Green House Creep,” explaining how the model of care is leading to positive change at Tabitha’s 205-bed traditional nursing home, affectionately known as “the mothership.”

Mary’s story

To many, the social benefits of this house are undeniable. Living in a smaller community operating under its own set of rules makes for a happy household. When Mary, one of the first elders to move into the House, celebrated her 101st birthday, the staff asked her what she wanted. Ebmeier sounds wistful when she recalls, “Mary and her daughter sitting on the porch enjoying a margarita and a cigarette.” This year on her birthday, everyone gathered on the porch and had margaritas to honor her memory.

Community before business

It always is painful to lose someone you love, but Ebmeier says in the Green House it is “that intense and more. [Death] impacts the dynamics acutely.”

After the first death in the House, Tabitha staff acted to fill the spot. The residents and staff of the Green House pushed back, saying they “had not grieved enough yet” and needed more time.

Tabitha’s administration agreed, writing a policy for the House, outlining the steps to be taken when an elder died, in order to allow time for everyone to grieve properly.

Collaborative change

Tabitha’s administration … Read More