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TRANSACTIONS NEW YORK CITY-BASED ZUBATKIN OWNER REPRESENTATION JOINS CUMMING GROUP Cumming Group has announced its merger with Zubatkin Owner Representation. The addition of Zubatkin will expand Cumming Group’s New York City headquarters headcount to more than 200 team members, while also growing its presence in Florida. Zubatkin’s unique experience in the institutional sector will enhance Cumming Group’s ability to serve the cultural and educational markets in the United States and Europe. Complementing Cumming Group’s diverse portfolio, Zubatkin has an extensive mix of iconic projects, including the American Museum of Natural History, 9/11 Memorial & Museum, Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Palm Beach Day Academy,
St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and One Times Square. As a trusted advisor with approximately $7 billion in successfully managed projects, Zubatkin specializes in supporting not-for-profit institutions, including museums, performing arts centers, educational facilities, and religious institutions, as well as some of New York City’s most prominent private developments. “The merger of Zubatkin and Cumming Group reinforces several key elements of our growth strategy,” said Derek Hutchison, president, and CEO at Cumming Group. “We are proud to partner with such a talented team that has a proven track record of delivering high-profile, complex projects that improve our communities. We are excited to help them reach their full
potential by taking their unique approach and expertise to a broader national and international market.” As a Cumming Group affiliate, the Zubatkin team will continue to be led day-to-day by Managing Principal Jason Zubatkin, who brings 15 years of experience in the planning and management of complex capital construction projects. Zubatkin noted, “With a shared client- first approach, we have a solid foundation for a very successful future. The synergy between our combined teams, aligned values, and depth of resources enhances career opportunities for Zubatkin’s team members and translates into delivering an unparalleled level of service for our clients.”
how to please them/impress them, and will know how to communicate effectively with them. They are also good at figuring out who should be in what role on the project. Call it intuition or call it being a real student of human behavior – it makes no difference – some folks have it and others don’t. 5. They know how to treat people. People don’t say about them, “So-and-so is a real jerk (or worse)!” Maybe they learned some real lessons from their grandmothers or their kindergarten teachers? It’s a skill that really helps you as a project manager, where so many of those on your project team don’t actually report to you. “You don’t have to be a genius to understand that if you do projects as your primary source of income for your business, you are going to want to have capable project managers – it’s how you make your money.” 6. They are great communicators. This, of course, starts with being a good listener and observer. But it’s more than that. They do things like parrot back what they heard someone tell them to confirm they heard it right. They don’t use terminology that practically no one will understand. They know how to be succinct and clear. 7. They are just a tiny bit paranoid. A good PM can anticipate where things will go wrong and who won’t do their job properly. That helps keep them (and the project) out of trouble!
8. They are natural relationship builders. Because people like them and trust them – because they know how to treat other people and are good communicators – because they can keep their cool under fire – they naturally build strong relationships with other people. This makes people WANT to work with them. 9. They are excellent multitaskers. I know all the LinkedIn “experts” out there will tell us that we shouldn’t multitask. What? Have these people ever really done anything? As a PM, of course you have to multitask! There will always be all kinds of conflicting demands on your time. You typically have many different projects, clients, and other priorities all tugging at you at the same time. You have to be able to juggle all those balls and still get done what needs getting done without upsetting anyone in the process. 10. They are honest. You have to keep your promises, do what you say you will, and be trustworthy to be an effective PM. You cannot keep a client happy if you are known as someone who speaks empty words and doesn’t follow through. Nor will a PM be able to keep their own team happy if they do things such as artificially shrink the budget or compress the schedule for the project – tools some people who work as PMs use. Sure, it is difficult – especially when you don’t control all the resources – but it’s essential to being an effective PM. I would guess that few of our readers would disagree with me here on the requisite skills for PMs. Yet, it’s really fascinating to me how little of this stuff is actually addressed in the typical PM training that firms do. Mark Zweig is Zweig Group’s chairman and founder. Contact him at mzweig@zweiggroup.com.
THE ZWEIG LETTER FEBRUARY 12, 2024, ISSUE 1524
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