Project Management
A project is a temporary organisation. In an organisational context, projects are the means by which we introduce change.
A project is a temporary organisation. In an organisational context, projects are the means by which we introduce change.
Project management is the planning, delegating, monitoring and control of all aspects of the project, and the motivation of those involved, to achieve the project objectives within the expected performance targets for time, cost, quality, scope, benefits and risk.
The two leading project management approaches world-wide are probably PRINCE2 (which was developed by the UK Office of Government Commerce) and PMBOK (the Project Management Body of Knowledge, developed by the Project Management Institute in the USA). We utilise both of these resources in the provision of our own project management services. The differences between a method (such as PRINCE2) and a body of knowledge (such as PMBOK) make them highly complementary. PRINCE2 provides a framework of what needs to be done, by whom and by when. The BOK provides a range of techniques of how these things can be done.
The explanatory comments immediately below are taken from Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2 (2009) and from the Wikipedia entry for A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge.
A key challenge for organizations in today’s world is to succeed in balancing two parallel, competing imperatives:
As the pace of change (technology, business, social, regulatory etc.) accelerates, and the penalties of failing to adapt to change become more evident, the focus of management attention is inevitably moving to achieve a balance between business as usual and business change. Projects are the means by which we introduce change – and, while many of the skills required are the same, there are some crucial differences between managing business as usual and managing project work.
A project is a temporary organization that is created for the purpose of delivering one or more business products according to an agreed Business Case. There are a number of characteristics of project work that distinguish it from business as usual:
Project management is the planning, delegating, monitoring and control of all aspects of the project, and the motivation of those involved, to achieve the project objectives within the expected performance targets for time, cost, quality, scope, benefits and risks.
It is the development of the project’s deliverables (known as ‘products’ in PRINCE2) that deliver the project’s results. A new house is completed by creating drawings, foundations, floors, walls, windows, a roof, plumbing, wiring and connected services. None of this is project management – so why do we need project management at all?
The purpose of project management is to keep control over the specialist work required to create the project’s products or, to continue with the house analogy, to make sure the roofing contractor doesn’t arrive before the walls are built. Additionally, given that projects are the means by which we introduce business change, and that project work entails a higher degree of risk than other business activity, it follows that implementing a secure, consistent, well-proven approach to project management is a valuable business investment.
What brought Business Generation and project management together? We plan for our clients to succeed. When we start a strategic planning assignment, we know what’s coming. We know that mission-critical issues will be identified, and that effective strategies will then be developed to address them. We know that those strategies will take the shape of transformational projects. We know that effective strategy deployment depends, more than anything else, on effective project management. (It follows that the risk management plan of any organisation should include a rigorous assessment of its own capability in project management.)
Our contributions in the project management area include the following:
What it is PRINCE2 is a widely adopted, non-proprietary project management method used across industries and countries.
Why it works It is deliberately generic , meaning it can be applied to projects of any size, type, organisation, geography, or culture.
How it’s structured PRINCE2 separates project management from specialist work (such as design, construction, or IT). Specialist methods plug into PRINCE2 without disrupting the overall framework.
Role of the Project Manager The Project Manager plans the work, delegates tasks, monitors progress, and takes corrective action when needed. The focus is on keeping the project under control rather than doing the specialist work.
How control is achieved PRINCE2 ensures the right information reaches the right people at the right time so informed decisions can be made.
What is controlled PRINCE2 manages six key project variables:
Organisational value When adopted as a standard, PRINCE2 improves organisational capability and maturity across areas such as business change, IT, construction, mergers and acquisitions, research, and product development.
What it is The PMBOK Guide is a process-based framework developed by the Project Management Institute to guide project management best practice.
Core approach Work is described through processes made up of:
How it’s structured The Guide defines 42 processes organised into:
Knowledge areas covered Integration, Scope, Time, Cost, Quality, Human Resources, Communications, Risk, and Procurement.
How processes relate Each process belongs to both a process group and a knowledge area , forming a matrix that shows how work flows across the project lifecycle.
Purpose of the guide PMBOK provides a general reference framework intended to support most projects, most of the time, rather than a prescriptive method.
Leadership, motivational skills and other interpersonal skills are immensely important in project management but impossible to codify in a method. Leadership styles vary considerably and a style that works in one situation may be entirely inappropriate in another. The fact that it is easy to think of successful leaders who have adopted very different styles – from autocratic to consensus-based – bears this out. For this reason, PRINCE2 and PMBOK cannot address this aspect of project management directly. There are many leadership models and interpersonal skills training programmes that do fulfil this requirement.
Our principal interest in Project Management is as a vital enabler to strategy deployment. We can contribute relevant support as appropriate to your circumstances:
We plan for our clients to succeed
We believe in strategic planning, because it dictates transformational change and thereby underwrites the future performance of an organisation. We believe in project management because it ensures that the desired change are actually implemented.
In strategic planning, deployment is the main site of failure. Now you know why.
Get in touch and we'll help you find the right approach for your organisation.
