Project Management Is EVERYWHERE You Are

Project Management Is EVERYWHERE You Are

It’s true.  If you’ve ever done any of the following:

►Purchased a car
►Purchased a house
►Hosted a dinner or birthday party
►Made home improvements
►Created your own blog site
►Planned a vacation

then you’ve been a project manager at some point in your life. Each activity in the list above is a project – “A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product service or result.” Source: PMBOK Guide.

Remember the Where’s Waldo puzzles where dozens of hidden Waldo images are waiting to be spotted? Like Waldo, there’s a project everywhere we look.  In and out the workplace, project management is literally everywhere. In other words, where there is a project there is also project management. What isn’t so commonplace is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to manage projects effectively and efficiently… otherwise known as project management. This deficiency exists within business and personal projects.

Can you imagine what it would be like to minimize or in some cases eliminate the problem of projects that are over budget, take twice as long to complete or result in poor quality? Project management  is the only way to make this a reality.

Just think about it. How many times have you heard horror stories about a home improvement project that went bad…really bad? The truth is, when projects go wrong, it’s because they are poorly managed in some way. “But wait”, you say…we can’t control the weather or other catastrophic events that may negatively impact the project. While it’s true that acts of nature may not be in our control, we CAN control the contingency plans we have in place, in case something does go wrong.

In the business context, planning is just one of the critical skills needed to manage projects successfully. There are also skills in risk management, human resources management, quality management and communications management, which are valuable in a wide variety of projects. The key is knowing when and how to use a particular mix of skills to achieve the project’s objectives.

The benefit of formal project management is that it provides a proven structure and process for launching, planning and executing projects well. Project management helps us keep costs, scope, resources and quality under control, as planned, until the project is completed.

So, although we say that project management is everywhere you are, project management as a formal, structured process is not.

Everyone can benefit from developing and using project management skills for projects in all aspects of life.

Other posts related to this topic:  6 Habits of Highly Effective Project Managers

Chrystal Richardson is Managing Partner of CE Wilson Consulting, a project management and business efficiency consulting firm that has managed projects for technology, mining, medical and manufacturing clients since 2001.