Project Management

Built from our professional experience.

Project management is huge accountability which comes with nuances – if it goes right, it may not be noticed (because that’s how it is supposed to be) but if it goes wrong, all hell breaks loose. It is ironical so to say but given the amount of emphasis on meticulous planning in projects, most of them go wrong and to be factual, about 85% of them fail.

Why does that happen, and consistently?

Misconception No. 1 - Project Management isn’t needed

Most businesses think that they can themselves manage projects and deliver them well. In the beginning, it all seems fine – regular meetings, updates, good progress and wow, we are on track! But when they near a critical deadline, a sudden ‘lagging behind’ realisation takes over.

“Maybe I should have given it to the team, or maybe I should have planned this better, or maybe I should have had a tool to manage workflow, or maybe I should have hired a specialist project manager?” - Phew!

This realisation is often too late. In deep red, the project is far from over.

Having a dedicated, skilled Project Manager solves many problems:

  • Takes over administrative PMing responsibility which frees up more time for strategic focus
  • Change is scope is managed better through stakeholder engagement and documentation, following a change control procedure
  • Communication is regular, which ensures timely updates and ensures team members are engaged
  • Risks and opportunities are proactively identified, and with them an opportunity to capitalise or mitigate them right there
  • Reporting and dashboarding help derive management intelligence, facilitating enhanced and informed decision making

There is no point of a reaction after the event. Project Management is a specialised stream and having a dedicated PM sets the team up for success, aligned with organisational objectives.

Misconception no. 2 – Project Managers only emphasise on planning

About 80% of a PM’s role is communication but a lot of businesses think that project managers overstress on planning, which makes them think unidirectionally on budget and schedule only.

The truth is that a good project manager ensures that his team always has optimum conditions to work, in addition to cost and schedule planning. It is primarily important to focus on project management skills like relationship management, communication, and negotiation. This helps not only add value, but also ensure that the focus is on results rather than what is out of your control. If your team has a great working environment, their productivity with quality increases and there’s no doubt that they will be delivering the best work possible with the budget and timeline you have.

How can this be facilitated? Project managers should:

The truth is that a good project manager ensures that his team always has optimum conditions to work, in addition to cost and schedule planning. It is primarily important to focus on project management skills like relationship management, communication, and negotiation. This helps not only add value, but also ensure that the focus is on results rather than what is out of your control. If your team has a great working environment, their productivity with quality increases and there’s no doubt that they will be delivering the best work possible with the budget and timeline you have.

  • Take feedback on their work from clients and teams alike, as both are important
  • Build a cordial relationship with their team – this promotes trust and helps transparency
  • Don’t refrain but provide inputs where necessary as they are as much valued as any other

Misconception no. 3 – Project Managers are politically correct, hence trust is an issue

With increased accountability, project managers are bound to maintain and nurture their professional and personal relationships with the team. In doing so, they may be perceived as being politically correct and having an unintentional concealed and biased tone in project conversations, which tends to impact camaraderie between the team members.

In their professional stint also, though project managers must conceal confidential information, they should keep the team at ground informed of shareable developments which not only promotes trust, but also doesn’t let negativity flow into the team.

To summarise, it is important for businesses to look beyond the realms of making a project successful without a fully committed project manager. And this can only be done through proper energy channelization in institutionalising the skill, expertise, experience and knowledge of project manager which will substantially enhance success rate of projects.

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