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Recently, I read the article “7 Project Management Trends to Watch” on PMI’s blog. I appreciate the work done by the author as I share similar views on the issues raised by Mr. V Srinivasa Rao. My views on five most important aspects of project management are as follows:
1. Look beyond the triple constraints
Many times we do complete projects but still feel unsatisfied with the way the targets have been achieved. I feel the value that the project brings apart from the margin should be quantified and communicated to team members well in advance so that every body can work and achieve both tangible and intangible gains from the project. Organizations should concentrate on achieving internal deliverable (values) as much as on satisfying project stake holders by delivering the project within triple constrains. Organizations must establish procedures to ensure that the value delivered by the project is assessed, verified and improved upon on subsequent projects. Any organizations that strives to excel in delivering projects must ensure that the project managers and project team members are adequately trained in project management skills. Handling multiple projects with limited resources is the need of the hour, which requires a highly competent project managers and proven systems within the organization.
2. Latest trends in project management
No organization can grow with out implementing best practices or industry standard templates. Most of the established methods in the organization must be reviewed in a periodic manner and updated to suit the latest business trends and the current economic condition. Organization’s should make a sincere effort to catch up with the improvements in the field of information technology and derive value out of it.
3. Project management skills for functional managers
Any organization whose top line is driven by projects cannot afford to have just good project managers with out imparting necessary skills to other functional managers. A project manager can never work in isolation and all functional managers should be trained to respond to the needs of the project. In order to derive value from projects it is imperative that certain projects be implemented within the domain of functional managers some good examples are implementation of ERP system within the organization, enterprise wide project management tool, Quality Management Systems etc. These projects will impart on the job training to functional managers and help functional managers understand various complexities involved in delivering a project within the constraints.
4. Every employee as a project manager
Every employee as a project manager is a good concept and is especially important in a matrix organization structure where project managers have little authority over the resources assigned and have to face a much larger challenge of getting things done by these resources within the organization. Most of the times functional managers assign resources for a project and do not feel prudent to look beyond this primary role of assigning a resource to a project. Quite often functional managers fail to understand the larger picture of the project with respect to schedule, deliverable and values that the project can deliver to the organization. Project Management training to all is necessary in order to develop better appreciation of the project manager’s role and its strategic significance. Basic concepts of project management like planning and scheduling should be imparted to all employees within the organization.
5. PMO as profit center
The project Manager is not just a person coordinating activities among various departments, handling communication among project stakeholders or handling mundane tasks like organizing meetings and sending reminders for not meeting the target deadline. However project managers have a much larger role within the organization, a competent project manager needs to demonstrate a business manager like mindset with key focus on customer satisfaction, delivering projects under unpredictable economic scenarios and also drive business and growth in challenging market conditions. A project manager must treat his project as though it is his own business and leave no stone unturned in ensuring that the stakeholders expectations are exceeded. A Project Manager is a brand ambassador for an organization and must always strive to deliver value and not just project deliverable.
