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Compared to standard MEP professionals, high-performing MEP pros don’t just get the job done. They also combine five key skills around technology, scheduling, finances, communications and flexibility into a proactive approach that makes projects safer, more efficient, more profitable and higher-quality.

This article explains why each of these skills is essential, its impact, how to tackle related challenges and how to make each skill a daily practice while continuing to learn.

1. Willingness to Embrace Technology 

In the rapidly digitizing construction industry, mastery of technology and making data-driven decisions is a huge part of staying competitive and mitigating risk.

Technology identifies clashes before they become costly onsite problems, and it enables real-time insights into key performance indicators. Through technology, including BIM, all stakeholders in a project can reach shared, real-time decisions that keep projects on track.

The challenges of adopting technology-based practices include resistance to change, especially among construction veterans who have always relied on guts and grit to drive decisions. Plus, keeping pace with ever-evolving technology demands vigilance. 

Continuous learning is the key to leveraging technology. High-performing MEP professionals advocate for their firms to become tech-first enterprises, but they take small steps toward that goal, experimenting with new tools as they build skills and confidence.

Resources for learning technology in manageable doses include peer groups, software certification, and YouTube tutorials.

2. Deep Understanding of Scheduling 

MEP projects are often on the critical path. With strong scheduling skills, MEP professionals deliver materials on time, coordinate trades efficiently, and lead projects forward.

Effective scheduling minimizes bottlenecks and cost overruns. Shared, detailed planning facilitates collaboration, defines responsibilities, and fosters accountability. 

In an inherently unpredictable industry, schedules are never carved in stone. Top MEP pros lead regular look-aheads and schedule reviews that anticipate hurdles and create contingency plans. 

Post-mortems can hone scheduling prowess by examining past performance and identifying areas of improvement. Getting involved with industry associations offers networking and peer learning, for real-world lessons in how to leverage scheduling to achieve strategic goals.

3. Strong Command of Financials 

MEP projects are expensive, but they shouldn’t be budget-busters. Insights into the financial aspects of every piece and process can keep everything from material selection to labor efficiency within budget projections. 

Getting a handle on financials mitigates risk and drives efficiencies by facilitating value engineering choices, balancing costs and performance, and averting cost overruns. Deft management of the full life cycle keeps projects profitable. 

Of course, unexpected costs and conflicts will appear, and payment hinges on contractual agreements that are complex to comprehend and implement.

High-performing MEP pros maintain control by keeping meticulous records and continuously monitoring costs. Within the demands of confidentiality, they can be transparent about the budget, giving all team members a stake in the project’s profitability. Working regularly with CFOs to create and revise forecasts helps maintain fiscal equilibrium.

Construction finance books cover everything from the basics to sophisticated strategies for driving up profit. There’s also no better learning tool than experience, built by engaging in every financial aspect of projects, including preparing bids, managing subcontracts and dealing with change orders. 

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4. Excellent Communication Skills 

Successfully executing the essentials of every project — conveying technical information, mediating disputes, boosting collaboration — demands seamless communications. 

Strong communication skills prevent misunderstandings, reduce mistakes and streamline workflows. In an inherently risky profession, a commitment to communication helps prevent costly accidents while also generating collaborative and timely problem-solving.

Blanket pronouncements don’t work in an industry filled with strong personalities and conflicting agendas. Messages land when they are tailored to each person’s needs and bridge the trade jargon that creates barriers to understanding. 

To make effective communications part of daily practice, it’s important to share information consistently and establish clear protocols. Creating a “safe space” for honest feedback, bad news, and good ideas builds trust among everyone involved. 

Taking time to practice writing emails and presentations helps develop clarity and a tempered tone – essential to keep tempers from flaring and causing setbacks. When misunderstandings or miscommunications occur, immediately unpack the causes and, if needed, update procedures to prevent a recurrence.

5. Flexibility & Adaptability 

Flexibility and adaptability equip high-performing MEP professionals to navigate construction’s daily surprises — and more. They also enable a proactive approach that keeps projects moving forward in the face of constant change.

Flexibility is important to managing unseen risk, anticipating possible problems and developing alternate solutions. It’s about adaptability driving on-the-spot decision-making that saves time and money.

Staying flexible means resisting pressure to stick to the plan, which is a constant on every jobsite. Top MEP professionals embrace change to fuel a growth mindset while encouraging others to explore new options as conditions evolve. 

Like technical skills, flexibility can be learned. Engaging in diverse projects teaches new lessons with each iteration. Tabletop exercises and hypothetical “what-ifs” help build a thought process that flexes to manage and anticipate change. 

Together, the top 5 skills of high-performing MEP professionals support a work ethic that keeps projects on scope, on schedule, and on budget. Industry professionals who cultivate these skills become trusted sources for risk mitigation, operational efficiencies, problem-solving and sound decision-making, while their firms emerge as market leaders with the integrity and ingenuity to deliver high-quality projects in an increasingly complex industry.

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