By Kim Waiyaboon
Does an organization really need to hire a project manager, adding another layer of management into its regular work? A business owner might think that if everyone does their jobs properly, there's no need to invest money in the title of project manager.
Studies indicate that nothing could be further from the truth. The Project Management Institute (PMI) says organizations that undervalue project management report that about 50 percent more of their projects fail than at organizations that value it. Also, businesses reported that 52 percent of projects in the previous year experienced scope creep, which is uncontrolled changes to project’s scope. Project management is specifically designed to guard against this wasteful problem.
Project management can be at the core of bringing a project together under budget and on time. Organizations benefit from having someone at the helm of a project, from start to finish, aligning initiatives, project deliverables, and project goals with stakeholder support. The project manager makes sure that all the players are on the right field at the right time with the right equipment.
The importance of project management
A carefully chosen project manager looks for four areas to get results.
Clearly defining the objectives
Project management requires that goals be firmly established at the outset. A lack of goals was noted by the PMI in 2017 as the most common reason for a project to fail, usually due to missed deadlines, scope creep, or coming in over budget. A successful project manager will create small and achievable project tasks and will build them into a timeline, being aware of potential pitfalls and risks. That helps teams to prioritize the tasks and hit their targets.
Planning of the project
Proper project planning clarifies, to all the key stakeholders, just what is to be done and when. The plan spells out which resources will be used and when the product will be delivered. The project manager will meet with the stakeholders, understand each one’s priorities, and outline a project management plan to incorporate those priorities. The plan includes an assessment of risks and the project costs.
Management of a clear process
The project manager assures “rightness” – that the right people are completing the right tasks at just the right time. The project manager also provides vision, inspiration, and motivation by breaking the project into a roadmap of organized tasks and setting milestones and achievable deadlines. The leader helps teams complete their work in a timely manner, confirming for team members how well they are contributing to overall project success. And when the project hits snags, it's up to the project manager to reset the course.
Project management is important for two very different, but related reasons. In the short term, it benefits the work as a discrete project. Long-term, it rewards the company as a whole.
Short-term benefits
One would expect project management to provide benefits that are confined to a given project. But even an experienced executive might be surprised by the different kinds of short-term benefits that can come from great project management.
Proper planning gives focus
Sure, project managers may seem like cat-herders, but their work reaches far beyond that. The plan sets out a schedule. The project manager makes sure that it's followed. That involves a focus on timing. A plan helps provide the project focus that prevents mission creep, which is a real budget buster. The project manager uses the plan as a yardstick for continuous oversight and to keep team members on the same page. Paradoxically, the focus that proper planning provides allows a project team to shift gears when it is needed in a way that still delivers the best results on time.
Here's a look at four ways that proper project planning helps with focus:
Leadership. Project managers work with stakeholders – throughout the organization and beyond – to turn the plan that they create into action. As the face of a project, they embody accountability. It's not aways a comfortable spot to stand in. This shows another reason why project management is important – it establishes and reinforces leadership. Without it, leadership on a project can get spread out. That invites conflict and a blurring of accountability.
An orderly process. A complex project is not well-served by a reactive planning process. Thorough planning allows for a proactive stance. Putting an orderly process in place allows a team, or multiple teams, to better handle surprises and problems. Without it, the organization risks project failure, along with the wasting of valuable resources and a lessening of client trust.
Realistic planning. It’s the project manager’s job to consider the big picture and to set and communicate achievable strategic goals, with timelines and budgets that are clear and are easily adhered to. The project manager will meet with stakeholders to develop the strategy, the priorities, and the timeline by using several tools well: resource management, risk assessment, and cost estimation.
Continuous oversight. With all its various teams completing their portions of the project at different times, it’s easy to see how out-of-synch a project’s completion dates could get. It’s critical that the project manager continue to provide oversight at every step along the way. If the project begins to deviate from its mission, the project manager should be able to spot the deviation and steer the project back onto course.
Client-facing tasks
Project management is much more than just budgeting and tasking and timing. It’s communicating well with all the team players, across the entire project. A strong project manager is one who is trusted and who has both the ear of the client and the ability to communicate clearly with the teams doing the work. Here are some of the items that must be addressed for a project to be fully brought to fruition.
Strategic alignment. Good planning means that all parts of a project line up logically. The objectives of the project must be reviewed by meeting with each of the project’s stakeholders, from the clients doing the paying to the experts doing the work. Next, the framework must be built, to clearly delineate both the scope of the project and the way in which the tasks will be divided among the teams involved. Finally, the project’s priorities must be set, and the project’s budget, timeline, and potential risks are considered.
Quality control. Even if all the project’s time and budget constraints are dealt with, if the final product doesn’t match the specs, the project will have failed. Strong quality control project management will not only manage the deadlines and the objectives, but will ensure quality control as well, developing and maintaining standards that allow everyone working on the project to know what’s acceptable.
Risk management. When risks are considered from the outset and plans are developed to deal with them should they occur, the project will be better able to stay on deadline and on budget, and the client will be far less likely to be surprised by bad news halfway through the project’s completion.
Long-term benefits
When a project hits or surpasses its goals, success reflects on the entire organization. It tells the world – competitors, suppliers, clients and potential clients – that the organization can deliver. Thus, the importance of project management includes retaining clients and attracting new ones. Here's a look at some of the long-term benefits of proper planning.
Reduced costs. Sure, hiring a project manager can be an expense added onto an already expensive project! But that project manager, working throughout the project, can save thousands – even millions – of dollars. When the resources of the project – the tools, the machinery, and even the overall budget – are carefully managed, the inevitable task delays can be lessened, and the phases of the project can be monitored more carefully to assure that the budget can be adhered to. That all makes for a profitable project, despite the cost of hiring that valuable project manager.
Adding expertise. Once an organization has succeeded through project management, it's more likely to use it for future projects. The company will become better at carrying out projects in general. Its project managers will become better leaders. The principles of good planning work their way into a company's core. That all makes for a stronger company, more competent employees and happier clients.
Learning from mistakes. An optimist looks at the inevitable mishaps that occur along a project’s timeline as opportunities to learn. Project managers can keep organizations from making the same mistake twice. They may have worked on similar projects in the past, and are able to use best practices, lessons learned, and post-project reviews to strengthen their likelihood of success on subsequent projects.
Project management for your organization
SDV International gets project management. It’s a provider of leading-edge enterprise solutions to both the public and private sectors, and it’s the right place for you to consider – first – when you consider assuring your next project’s success through the hiring of just the right project manager for your job.