This is Day 10 of my 30 day writing challenge and and I must admit this post is a bit of a cheat. As any blogger would, I keep an editorial calendar and use EverNote to jot down ideas for articles and posts as they come to me. I then flesh out these different ideas when ever I can and build bullet lists and then finally I write the content expanding the bullets and building the body of the post. This is one of the posts that I started last year but abandoned it as I felt it was a little boring. But with our Project Manager leaving us to move to Dubai (yeah! I Know!), I have taken over managing projects till I can find a replacement and this made me think about this post and felt like fleshing it out and posting it.
The term “Project Management” is something normally associated with complex industries such as software, IT, construction, and engineering. But in reality, any business can take advantage of project management principles and methodologies.
But first of all…
What Is Project Management?
In a nutshell, project management is organizing finite resources and concerted effort towards the completion of a unique, concrete goal.
Let’s break that sentence down into phrases:
Organizing finite resources. The three essential components of any project are time, manpower, and resources (which can be money, materials, or both). These three items are always budgeted during a project, and a project manager has to make effective use of each of them.
Concerted effort. Projects are normally too big for a single person to tackle alone. Most project teams involve multiple stakeholders and team members, often with their own specific roles. The project manager’s job is to coordinate them and make sure all the pieces fit together properly at the end.
A unique, concrete goal. Projects are one-time productions with unique requirements. It’s very different from day to day operations, which can go on indefinitely as long as the company is in business. Compare it to building a school and building a car. A school is unique, with its own location, blueprints, etc. A car is just another item in the production line, which churns out hundreds of them.
So what qualifies as a project in your business? It could be building a new branch location, holding a publicity event, or upgrading your company’s computer equipment. Each of these examples fits the three statements above, even though they are all radically different objectives.
What are the Project Management Principles
Effective project management is based on four key actions:
Planning. The project needs to be very front-heavy in terms of preparation and planning, especially when defining what the project will accomplish and how success will be measured. A project manager would be in charge of assigning people’s roles, allocating resources, and setting the project’s timeline.
Organizing. Once the project is set in motion, a project manager needs to keep things running in an effective and timely manner. Deadlines need to be set, met, and readjusted according to the situation.
Leading. All projects involve people, and people need to be led properly to work properly. Excellent leadership is a core concept of project management, and someone that can provide direction and maintain morale over the course of a project is a valuable asset to the company.
Controlling. Projects need to be constantly assessed for risks, and team members’ performances need to be evaluated on a regular basis. A project manager does this via constant contact with the team and reviewing reports/metrics to catch trouble spots before they arise.
How Can You Use Project Management in Your Business?
You don’t need to be or employ a dedicated project manager in order use project management (although they would be a big help). Instead, you should look for the following qualities in your candidates:
Experienced. If you’re upgrading your computer systems, your ad hoc project manager should be someone with IT experience. It sounds like a no-brainer, but many organizations would rather put someone senior in charge, regardless of whether or not they have the know-how to be effective. This can lead to disaster in many ways, and often the senior employee will end up blaming his team for his faults.
Personable. Project management is a role that requires a lot of people skills. You can get away with not having leadership ability if you have enough social skills to get through difficult situations. Getting team members to submit work on time is always a challenge, no matter your job title.
Accountable. Managing a project entails a lot of responsibility, and project managers will often be required to account for how resources were used and to review the employees that worked on their team.
