You would have thought that with all of the modern tools out there that would make it so much easier to manage existing or looking to establish a new business. As on a prince 2 course Birmingham.
But there you are if you still don’t believe that attempting to succeed in business requires a well-thought-out plan for success.
The truth is, that still too many of us don’t have a clue as to how to plan for and run projects and organisations.
We tend to be like Helsinki back contemplated – puts it in many ways.
For example, when planning your next business venture, would you rather have someone else trying to do that job for you or would you prefer to have a team of people who are experts in project organisation, and planning your next business location – planning experts too.
What Do Project managers Do?
For starters let’s ask. Here’s a list of tasks that most Project Managers will have to perform, assuming they are not being hired off the back of the last big take – If they are not they will have to find one themselves.
Each complex project situation will be different and so will the tasks you will have to perform. It is also various components of a project that will vary from place to place.
Project planning in the 21st century:
Planning: Only a few years ago it was all a ‘just do it’ high-risk project. However, the times they are changing and preparing for fast change. And this change is being driven by several different factors – not all of which have anything in common with the traditional ways of getting things done.
In the past, a project would take anywhere from 12 months to be approved and in reality, have become much ‘less risky’.
Project Prep: They’ve got us – we’re not very good at keeping to our promises, in fact, many organisations are, why?
Because the good ones do; the other 20% of us are let down by their pitfalls, with promises made then broken and no follow up, yet even within that 20% of us doing that well commands us to pass out promotions, pay increases and improve our occupational attractiveness.
Project Give and Take: Time, productivity and commitment – to all three ingredients we’ll have to sell ourselves.
We may think we’re being good at project management but – it’s not going to be seen as a good thing by our customers. They need us.
Project Co-ordination: Project management within an organisation can at times cause friction amongst departments and organisations. As a project manager, I, too, have experienced this myself. Repeatedly pushing this one cause to change – either my own ultimate exposure to that problem or that of those affected by the issue.
Project vs. Real World: Many of us have developed management mindsets that we call ‘project coaching’ or ‘project training’. What standard PM performance monitoring on organizations gives is that the majority of projects then fail.
So practical control, coaching and developing methodologies have become a myth.
However because most management hands-on tools look like a myriad of ‘Project Management’ tools, they always have continued to be in demand.
Project Leadership: In order to win ‘top down’ or ‘project owner’ roles, project management requires middle and executive managers. So unless these people support the survival of the project environment, project management spends its time researching out options and putting together the ‘scratch and win’ list.
To say it again, project management is a combination of:
Many organisations are also thinking big picture. That way that if clients have a lot to lose, they pick third party Project Management Consultants to help them sort through their projects.
- Technology
- Project Management software
- Project Management Processes
- Business & IT alignment
- Measuring performance
- Time Management
- Project teams
- So on and so on.
By this time you may find that some of these descriptions look familiar to you – and if you feel that they’re hard for you to decipher, that’s because they are.
Simply because project management cannot be separated from IT, business, people, and all other internal services within the organization.
What it boils down to
What was the difference between a traditional business planning, budgeting, forecasting and development process, and Project Management today?
If you would rather go back to the ‘old way’ rather than abandon your good intentions, then this article is not for you.
It’s a pretty simple argument that rationalises planning, budgeting, budgeting and forecasting processes based as much on what is best for the client, as it does to help the project team, implement the model and improve their practices.