Many individuals wonder about the value of project management. It's also important to understand how a company views project management. Project management is often a daunting task. It necessitates a solid understanding of project planning, scheduling, reporting, and tracking, as well as the significance of project management.
You must have a thorough awareness of project management, its importance, and numerous job positions to become a successful project manager. You'll learn why project management is useful in a variety of industries, each with its unique set of challenges. Let's start with a definition of what project management is and what it comprises.
What is Project Management?
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Project management is the use of processes, methods, skills, knowledge, and experience to meet particular project objectives within agreed-upon parameters, while adhering to project acceptance criteria. In project management, the final outputs are constrained by a set timetable and budget.
The fact that project management has a defined result and a set timeline, as opposed to management, which is a continuous activity, is a key distinction between the two. As a result, a project manager must possess a wide range of abilities, including technical expertise, people management, and business acumen.
The Importance of Project Management in Organizations
The importance of project management in organizations cannot be emphasized. When done correctly, it improves the efficiency of every aspect of the firm. Project management frees up your team to focus on the job that matters, rather than being distracted by projects that go off course or budgets that spiral out of control. It equips them to produce results that have a direct influence on the company's bottom line. It also allows your staff to recognize how their efforts contribute to the company's long-term objectives.
Here are a few of the importance of project management:
1. Alignment of Strategic Objectives
“You are putting too much at risk in terms of eventually delivering on the plan if your company is not effective at project management,” says Mark Langley, president, and CEO of PMI.
The process of aligning an organization's structure and resources with its strategy and the ultimate goal is known as strategic alignment.
All of the clients who contact you or give you a project have specific goals in mind for their business, and this project is a step toward reaching those goals. The value of project management is critical in this situation because it can align duties in such a way that the project links with the customer's strategic alignment as well. A project manager’s role is to ensure that the project is aligned with the company's strategic goals.
2. Specific Goals and Objectives
Project management is critical because it develops a comprehensive project plan for accomplishing strategic objectives. If you delegate project management to your team, you will notice that there will be no accountability, that the team will work without a proper brief, that there will be a lack of focus, that there may be no clear objectives because of a lack of a proper project description, and that the project will become stuck if any risk or problem arises.
Lack of clear goals is the most common reason for project failure. By dividing the project into tasks and assisting/managing the team in finishing the tasks on schedule, as well as by doing project analysis, a project manager can avoid such sticky situations.
With the goals set and objectives are in the right place, the job is broken down into little tasks, and completing these tasks leads to the project's completion. Risk management is an important component of project management because an effective project manager anticipates risks. If danger or problem emerges, a skilled project manager can address it without causing the project to be delayed.
3. Leadership
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The importance of project managers is similar to that of a leader, to complete the project on schedule and budget, and deliver what was promised, if not more. Without Project Management, completing a project is like sailing a pirate ship without Captain Jack Sparrow.
Without a captain, the pirates (or, in this example, the team) are unsure of what they should do. The leader directs the team and assists them in producing their best job. Project management gives direction, inspiration, and vision to the team, as well as removing impediments and inspiring them when needed.
The project's responsibility is ensured by a project manager or project management software. These keep the team on the same page because the project's success or failure is ultimately determined by the team's efforts.
4. Project Planning
The average project cost overrun was 27%, while one out of every six had a cost overrun of 200 percent and a schedule overrun of more than 70%. This is the result of a lack of planning. Project management guarantees that the company and clients have accurate information about what can be accomplished, what the budget will be, what resources will be needed, and how long the project will take to finish. Unrealistic goals can be set without effective project management, resulting in delayed or over-budgeted projects.
A good project manager develops a straightforward procedure, as well as project milestones and deadlines that are realistic.
5. Cost Control and Cost Reduction
According to PMI, poor project performance cost $9.9 percent of every dollar invested in 2018, amounting to $99 million for every $1 billion invested. Project management lowers project costs by maximizing resource utilization, increasing efficiency, and lowering risks. As a result, even with the additional expense of a project manager, you stand to gain far more.
Because it is critical to delivering on the client's expectations, the project manager ensures that the quality of the deliverables remains high. The projects must be provided quickly, and in such a hurry, quality may be sacrificed. It is the project manager's responsibility to produce a high-quality project on schedule.
6. Well-organized Procedure
The project manager ensures that the correct individual is assigned to the right work at the right time. Throughout the project, he verifies that the procedure follows the strategy. Due to a lack of this, teams are forced to function in a reactive environment, where risks and challenges are dealt with as they emerge. A project manager maintains track of recognized issues and devises a strategy that removes the majority of them.
Because everyone knows who is doing what and when proper planning makes the workflow transparent. Proper procedure aids in the acceleration of the process. It guarantees the creation of a plan that is in line with the overall strategy. The value of project management is critical in this situation since the organization risks project failure if the procedure is not well-organized and easy to follow.
7. SME (Subject Matter Expert)
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Project management guarantees that everyone is executing their job correctly. The project manager, unlike any other manager, ensures that everyone is doing their job and finishing their assignments on time. The project manager is aware of their team's experience and limitations, as well as the system they employ, and mixes all of this to provide the best possible results.
Without SME project management, projects become unbalanced as creatives disregard technological restrictions. The coders don't get the project's artistic perspective. Here, project management makes the appropriate concessions to bring everyone together and make the project successful.
Create a Project Management Website with Strikingly
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You must coordinate the client's requests with your team members as a project manager to build successful websites faster and more efficiently. You may now manage your team's work, projects, and assignments online with the use of a professional website.
Strikingly allows you to create a free website in minutes. To get started, you don't need to know how to code or have a web design degree. You may use Strikingly to develop and personalize your project management websites because it makes editing easier. The drag & drop feature in the Strikingly website editor is useful since it allows you to easily move content, photographs, and objects throughout your website. Doesn't it sound incredible?
On a good day, managing numerous projects at once, assigning duties, and communicating across teams is difficult — but it becomes nearly impossible when unexpected difficulties arise. With Strikingly's new team function, you can use the Strikingly Team Manager to invite friends and colleagues to update and administer your Strikingly website. To each of your accounts, you can invite up to ten teammates.
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Conclusion
Poor project management, ambiguous objectives among clients and team members, lack of accountability, and so forth can lead any team to a high chance of project failure. As a result, both the client and the team are subjected to haphazard management. And excellent project management can help you achieve the hard-won success you deserve.
