For Rodney McCoy, scheduling involves trust, discipline and empowering project teams.
“I always want to be the person they look forward to seeing,” Rodney McCoy says with a smile. “I don’t want people to take a deep breath when they see me walk in the door.”
That says a lot about how he approaches scheduling.
As scheduling manager for Pulice – a FlatironDragados company, Rodney oversees scheduling across Pulice’s project portfolio. His work touches projects before they are awarded, continues through construction and helps teams evaluate performance after completion. But for all the technical complexity behind his role, he knows the job depends on something more fundamental: trust.
A schedule only works when the project team believes in the person helping build it, update it and defend it. Rodney does not see scheduling as a separate function, looking over the team’s shoulder. He sees it as a service to the people doing the work.
“We have to work together with the project team,” he says. “We’re here to assist and help the project team.”
Rodney’s aim is to make scheduling useful — a trusted tool teams want, not just a compliance task.
Turning the plan into performance
Rodney did not begin his career intending to become a scheduler.
A civil engineering graduate from Texas A&M University and a licensed professional engineer, he began his career on the design side of the industry. He later moved into construction because he wanted to better understand how work gets built in the field. During that time, he saw how schedulers helped teams connect the plan to the work. Even though scheduling was not a major part of his coursework, it sparked something in him.
“I saw the benefit in everything they were doing,” Rodney says. “It intrigued me.”
Today, every Pulice project falls under Rodney’s purview. His team supports scheduling from the earliest stages of pursuit through project closeout. That begins with bid schedules that help the estimating team understand how the work can be delivered. Once Pulice wins a project, the team works with the project manager and superintendent to develop a winning baseline schedule.
That baseline is more than a required submittal. It is the project team’s road map from day one to completion.
Rodney and his team help sequence activities, identify constraints and build a plan that allows Pulice to meet the contract schedule and, when possible, finish early. The work requires proficiency in Primavera P6, the industry-standard scheduling platform used on complex infrastructure projects. But he is clear that software alone does not make a scheduler effective.
“A successful scheduler needs to know the work,” Rodney says. “It’s extremely difficult to provide a good schedule, update a good schedule or understand what the schedule is if you don’t understand the work.”
Why scheduling matters to clients
In heavy civil construction, a schedule gives everyone a shared understanding of progress, priorities and risk.
After a baseline schedule is accepted, Rodney’s team supports regular updates with project teams. Those updates often happen weekly, leading to formal monthly submittals that include both the schedule and a narrative explaining progress, changes and potential impacts.
When issues arise, the schedule helps determine what changed, how the work was affected and what the team needs to do next. If a delay affects the project timeline, Rodney’s team can develop a time impact analysis to document the issue and support a request for additional time and, when appropriate, related costs.
That discipline matters to Pulice’s clients because it creates clarity. A strong schedule helps owners understand where the project stands, supporting better coordination and decision-making. It also creates a record that allows the project team and client to address changes with facts, not guesswork.
For Rodney, one measure of success is a high-quality submittal that comes back with few or no comments.
“When I can do one of those submittals, and it comes back with little to no comments, and we come back whole, that’s what really is the big win for me,” Rodney says.
That kind of consistency comes from knowing the work, following the process and giving project teams reliable information when it matters most.
Want to be successful? Follow the process.
Rodney helped develop the scheduling policies and procedures that guide the work his team performs today. That experience gave him a clear view of why consistency matters.
His advice to his team is simple: follow the process.
“Just be consistent with the policies and procedures that we’ve already set forth, and we’ll be good to go,” Rodney says.
The principle sounds straightforward, but it is essential on large, complex projects with multiple stakeholders, changing conditions and tight timelines. Consistent scheduling gives project teams a common language. It helps leadership understand performance across the portfolio. It also allows us to learn from completed work by comparing the original plan against actual results.
At the end of a project, Rodney’s team develops an as-built schedule to evaluate how the work was performed. That information helps Pulice understand production rates, subcontractor performance and opportunities to improve future planning.
The result is a scheduling function that supports multiple projects at once. It strengthens the company’s ability to deliver predictable, reliable outcomes across its work.
Mentorship that carries beyond one company
Rodney takes pride in helping others learn the craft. Some remain at Pulice. He sees value in knowing they are carrying those lessons forward.
“For me, there’s nothing better than seeing people come back and say, ‘This is stuff that you taught me,’” he says.
His commitment to mentorship also extends beyond Pulice. Through the American Society of Civil Engineers, he supports Student Days, a summer program that brings together high-performing college students to develop project proposals with estimates and schedules. He also serves on an examination committee for the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying, helping develop questions for the professional engineering exam.
For Rodney, education has always mattered. He and his wife, a nurse practitioner with a doctorate, have built a family culture around learning. It is a value he brings into his work and shares with the next generation of engineers and builders. He has two daughters in college taking challenging STEM coursework.
The value behind the scenes
Rodney says he does not need the spotlight to understand his impact.
He compares his role to “painting the back door” — doing important work that may not always be visible, but still has to be done well.
At Pulice, that value is clear. Scheduling helps teams plan the work, manage risk, communicate with clients and deliver with greater confidence. It gives project teams the structure they need to respond when conditions change. It helps clients see the path forward. And it creates the discipline needed to turn complex infrastructure plans into finished projects.
Rodney believes a schedule must be practical, trusted and truly help teams deliver results.
Rodney’s aim is to ensure project teams enjoy collaborating with him.
When teams rely on scheduling and look forward to help, it shows scheduling’s true purpose.
“I don’t need to be seen,” Rodney says. “I need my value to be known.”
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