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Tech Tips:

You are probably all familiar with radiant barriers. Sometimes, it is thin foil draped under the roof deck. Other times, it's used on the inside of stud walls or over furring strips before the drywall goes up, and there is even plywood with a radiant barrier attached to one side that is used for roof […]

The Hidden Cost of Killing Radiant Load – Short #260

In this short podcast, Bryan talks about the hidden cost of killing radiant load, especially when it comes to installing radiant barriers in attics. We sometimes get service calls about ducts sweating when they never used to sweat. If there are no problems with the system (i.e., the refrigerant charge, static pressure, airflow, supply […]

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HVAC School – For Techs, By Techs

Real training for HVAC ( Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration) Technicians. Including recorded tech training, interviews, diagnostics and general conversations about the trade.

In this short business-oriented podcast, Bryan breaks down the differences between three commonly confused positions/roles: analyst vs. PM (project management) vs. operations.

When you own or work in a small business, you might wear a lot of hats: estimating, writing proposals, troubleshooting, being a customer or coworker’s therapist, etc. This work can be organized, and problem-solving roles include analysts, project managers (PMs), and directly responsible individuals (DRIs). Sometimes, the same person might do more than one of these (or all of them), but separate people can do these as long as you know what success looks like for each of these.

Analysts gather data (such as costs, labor hours, inventory, and SME interviews) and ask big questions. They don’t try to fix the problem right away; their job is to seek ideas, pay attention, document, and organize. They think in terms of stories and problem statements, and technicians can benefit from this type of mindset on service calls.

Project managers translate the data, goals, and even the plans, and these people organize those items so that they can be executed in real life: creating checklists, gathering manuals, scheduling, and implementing basic SOP. PMs set a plan, but they have to maintain flexibility and drive execution (but may not be responsible for the outcome).

The DRI owns the outcome; this person may or may not be the project manager. If there’s a new program, software, or procedure, this person drives those. They are the operator and may not be involved in the analysis or planning, but they own the execution and are responsible for those results.

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Analyst vs. PM vs. Operations – Short #261

10/14/2025

Bryan Orr

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10/09/2025

Bryan Orr