There are many benefits to managing a project via a formal methodology and this applies to small or simple projects just as much as to large or complex projects. After all no matter what size your project is you still want it to be a success; to come in on time and on-budget so why wouldn't you do everything possible to make that happen? And statistics have shown that organisations that formally manage their projects have a much higher success rate than those that do not.
So just what are the most basic benefits?
- Customer Satisfaction: Professional project management ensures projects are delivered on-time and on-budget and, importantly, meet the client's objectives.
- Flexibility: Techniques allow for controlled changes to respond to changing market factors without putting the project at risk.
- Minimising Risks: Risks are identified and managed so that mitigation strategies are in place should a risk occur.
- Cost Control: Escalating costs may not be able to be eliminated entirely but they can be anticipated before they become a major issue.
- Quality Control: This is built into formal project management so the end product is more likely to meet the required quality standards.
And how do you start to implement formal PM methods? Well, first you should probably embark on some training – there are many project management courses to choose from to learn the basics. This will also give you a professional project management qualification that will help your career.
Project Management Qualifications
|
Certification Organisation
|
Qualification
|
Pre-requisites
|
|
Association for Project Management - APM
|
APM Introductory Certificate
|
None
|
|
Association for Project Management - APM
|
APMP
|
Some existing project management knowledge
|
|
Association for Project Management - APM
|
APM Practitioner Qualification
|
For experienced project management professionals
|
|
Association for Project Management - APM
|
APM RPP
|
Appropriate evidence of previous experience and a portfolio of work
|
|
Project Management Institute
|
PMP
|
University degree + 3 years managing projects + 35 hours PM education
|
|
|
PMI Agile Certified Practitioner
|
PMP or 2,000 hours project experience + 1500 hours Agile project experience + 21 hours Agile training
|
|
PRINCE
|
PRINCE2 Foundation
|
None
|
|
|
PRINCE2 Practitioner
|
PRINCE2 Foundation certificate or PMP qualification
|
|
|
|
|
The Importance of the People in Projects
Pure project management is about:
- planning
- communicating
- monitoring
- controlling
- reporting
- risk management
- change management
But it can sometimes seem that change management, in particular, is an afterthought or only concerned with changes to the project plan, business requirements or objectives. Too often there is not enough emphasis on the broader changes that affect real people as a consequence of major project implementations.
This is particularly true if you use a formal PM methodology such as PRINCE2 or PMI, which are very effective for the planning, controlling and so on but less effective when it comes to how a project manager deals with, say, resistance to change from people affected by the project.
Humans are often resistant to change if it involves changing their behaviour or patterns of work and few embrace change. Managing change such as this may not initially seem to be a project manager's responsibility but, like so many other things on projects, it affects the success of the project so a PM, especially one aspiring to be a professional, should be involved and influential in this area too.
