Project Management – how important is it anyway?

Well, if you’re reading this, you were intrigued enough by the first installment of this blog to come back for more. Last time, I promised to fill you in on why Project Management is so important for customers and for the companies that provide it. The first lesson in effective project management is delivering on promises, so, here goes.

The Executive Summary:

Project Management is important for customers because it helps ensure they get exactly what they asked for—delivered on time and on budget.

Project Management is important for companies because it helps them organize workflow to maximize capacity. This affords the opportunity to take on more business at higher profit margins, all while increasing customer satisfaction.

I know – that’s boring, so let me use an example to illustrate…

Imagine you just retired and found the perfect piece of land in Montana to build your dream home on. While picturesque, lush, wooded, and secluded, it is 38 miles from the nearest electrical substation, county water, and sewer service.

Can you see the dilemma emerging?

How will this work? Do I need a windmill? Where will we get our water? Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea – doubt creeps in. Do you just move to Florida like everyone else?

You know where to start: breaking ground. You also have an idea that the project ends with an inhabitable structure that doesn’t require walking to the local stream to get water, or worse, an outhouse – bet that isn’t part of your dream. What separates you from your dream is all the work in-between.

Who is going to organize the thousands of details and tasks required to get this Project done? Who is going to monitor progress and ensure things are getting done on time and on budget. Who is going to administrate the contract between you and the builder to ensure both of you are treated fairly and the end result is what was agreed upon? Who is going to create the boundaries with you, the homeowner, so when you change your mind every five minutes there is a rational person talking sense to you tying everything back to the budget and the timeline? What processes and methods will they employ, and what budgeting and tracking tools will they use?

Do you expect that one of the numerous subcontractors working on the Project will be responsible for all of this? Will they manage themselves? Well – decide if you want to retire on that land or be buried on it, because if you don’t have someone acting as a Project Manager applying Project Management Tools and Techniques, that just may be what happens.

Ok – I realize that’s a little exaggerated, but anyone who’s had remodeling done or a house built gets the point.

When it comes to any Project, organization, coordination of efforts, and accuracy do not just magically happen; someone is behind it – that person is the Project Manager. And they are utilizing a vast array of tried and true Project Management tools, techniques and methodologies, along with perpetual analysis and reporting to keep the train on the rails.

I’ll end with this - Project Management is critically important to all facets of business because we live in a world that revolves around efficiency and the bottom-line. Project Management is all about doing things better, faster, and cheaper. Given the current state of the global economy, there has never been a more relevant time then now to reap the benefits of properly executed Project Management.

Check back in a few weeks - next time I’ll talk about how to determine what a Project actually is. 


-Steve K.