They ask themselves if they actually require project management, as on paper, it seems like an unnecessary cost and expense because project managers do not really provide anything and frequently hinder what they want their team to accomplish!
In reality, managing projects with poor planning and management can waste time and money. It’s commonly thought of as an excessive burden on budgets. Undoubtedly, it’s costly, up to 20% of the total project budget.
A great project management system is more than just keeping the iron triangle of project management in check, delivering according to budget, time, and the project’s scope. It brings together teams and clients, creates a plan for the project’s success, and puts everyone on the same page about the essentials to keep in the right direction for success. If projects are properly managed, the ways which can be learned from the PMP Training have a positive effect that extends beyond the production of the ‘thing’.
What is the reason why Project Management is Important?
1. Strategic Alignment
Each client has strategic goals, and the projects we manage help them achieve those clients’ goals. Management of projects is crucial because one of the PM’s jobs is to ensure the right amount of rigor when designing projects to ensure that they can fit within the larger framework of the clients’ strategic frameworks.
In determining a sound business case and being systematic about calculating ROI, managing projects is crucial because it will aid in ensuring that what’s best is delivered in a way that will bring true value.
Of course, as projects advance, risks will emerge, which can turn into problems, or the business strategy may shift. But a project manager will ensure it is a part of the adjustment. Managing projects is crucial since projects that diverge from the course or cannot meet the business requirements could be costly and/or unneeded.
2. Leadership
Without the proper management of projects, the team may be like a boat with no rudder. It’s moving but lacking direction or control. Leadership allows the team to allow members to be at their most effective work. Project management gives vision and leadership, motivating and removing obstacles, coaching and encouraging the team members to do their best job.
Project managers support the team but also provide a clear line of accountability. When a project manager is on the job, there’s never doubt about who’s the boss and accountable for what’s happening in the project (especially in the case of a Chart of RACI or like tools). Project managers implement procedures and ensure that everyone is on the team on the same page as they are ultimately responsible for the outcome of the project, whether it fails or is successful.
3. Clear Focus and Objectives
If the management of projects is given to the team to carry on their own and without proper guidance, teams will have no proper briefs or a clearly defined process for managing projects. The projects aren’t focused; they may be unclear or unclear in their goals and make the team less certain about what they’re supposed to be doing or what they should be doing.
The ability to implement such a strategy is what distinguishes good project management from poor. Breaking down work into smaller pieces allows teams to stay focused on their goals and concentrate on getting to the objective through executing smaller actions and rapidly determining risks since managing risk is crucial in managing projects.
Sometimes, a project’s goals have to shift according to the apparent risk. Without clear supervision and control, the project can quickly fall apart. Still, effective project management (and an experienced project manager) will allow the team to stay focused and, when needed, refocus on their goals.
4. Quality Control
The project is also often under tremendous pressure to finish. Without a dedicated project manager with the support and approval of the executive management, projects are often under-estimated, schedules are shortened, processes are streamlined, and tasks have to be rushed. The result is poor output due to the absence of quality control established.
A good project management system requires gated stages where teams can evaluate the quality of the work, its effectiveness, and ROI. The management of projects is essential to quality since it permits an organized and synchronized process that allows teams to review and evaluate their work at every stage throughout the process.
5. Risk Management
The management of risks is essential to the success of a project. It’s easy to cover them up, not talk about them with your client, and just hope to have the most successful project. However, having a solid procedure for identifying, managing, and reducing risk can prevent risk from becoming a problem. Particularly for complicated projects, managing risks is where the significance of managing projects really plays a role.
An effective project management process requires that project managers evaluate all possible risks for the project, determine them, and create an appropriate mitigation plan and a contingency plan if any of them occur. Knowing the appropriate concerns to inquire about to identify the risks earlier is important.
Naturally, risks must be prioritized following the likelihood of them happening, and the appropriate response is assigned per risk (some PMs employ software for managing risk to do this). Effective project management is important in this respect, as projects are never completed as planned and how we handle the possibility of changing and adapting our management plan for projects is essential to delivering successful projects.
6. Process Orderly
Project management is crucial because it ensures that the right people are doing the right thing at the appropriate moment and that an effective project management procedure is implemented throughout the duration of the project.
Surprisingly, many of the largest and most well-known businesses use reactive planning strategies that don’t have any specific project management strategy.
However, reactivity – in contrast to proactive – can result in projects falling into survival mode. This happens when teams split as tasks overlap, and the planning process becomes reactive, leading to frustration and inefficiency within the group.
An effective process and planning can be a major difference since the team knows who’s responsible for what, when, and when. An effective process helps identify roles, streamline the process and its inputs, identify risks, and establish checks and balances to ensure that the project’s objectives align with the overall plan. The management of projects is important since, without a well-organized, easy-to-understand process, businesses are at risk of project failure, losing confidence in their businesses, and wasting resources.
7. Continuous Oversight
The idea of reporting status might seem boring and unimportant – but If everything goes according to plan, it may be a bit as documentation to document the purpose. But constant oversight of the project, ensuring that the project is following in the right direction according to the plans, is essential to ensure that the project remains on course.
If the proper oversight and reports are in place, you can easily see when a project is starting to deviate from its planned course. The earlier you can detect any deviation from the plan, the more likely it will be for the course to make the correct changes.
Effective project managers regularly create easily digestible progress reports or status reports that are easy to digest in the involvement with stakeholders. This will allow clients or stakeholders to monitor the project independently. Typically, these status reports give insight into the tasks that were completed and planned, the number of hours employed and how they measure against their planned hours, and what the progress of the project performing concerning milestones as well as the risks, assumptions, problems, and dependencies, as well as any results of the project in the course of its development.
This information is valuable not just in tracking progress but also assists clients in gaining the trust of others within their organizations, giving them a simple way to monitor the progress of a project. This also gives your team an easy, consistent method to regularly keep in touch with your clients to strengthen your relationships with your clients.
8. Subject Expertise in the Subject
With several years of experience, project managers have a good idea about the various aspects of their projects. They’ll acquire technical knowledge, project management abilities, and expertise in the subject matter. They’ll be aware of the tasks that teams perform, the systems and platforms they utilize, the limitations and possibilities, and the sorts of problems that usually arise.
Providing this type of expertise in the subject signifies that they can engage in intelligent and informed conversations with their clients, teams, stakeholders, and suppliers. They’re equipped to serve as the central point for communication for projects and ensure that when the project moves through different teams and stages of work, nothing is overlooked about or is overlooked.
Without subject matter experts through project management, you could see a project becoming unbalanced, the creatives don’t appreciate technological limitations, or the developers fail to realize the original idea behind the project. Project management helps keep all the participants focused on the overall goal, brings the team together, and makes the appropriate compromises to ensure the project is an accomplishment.
9. Making the most of and learning from success and Learning from Failure and
Project management can help break bad habits. When managing projects, it’s essential not to repeat the same mistakes. Project managers utilize lessons learned and post-project reviews to evaluate the things that were successful and what didn’t go smoothly and how could be changed to ensure the next project’s success.
This creates a valuable document that can be used as an inventory of “dos and dos and don’ts” to follow, allowing the company to learn from mistakes and successes. Without this knowledge, teams will likely keep repeating the same mistake repeatedly.
These are excellent documents to present during the kickoff meeting for projects to bring the team up to speed about mistakes, such as underestimating projects, as well as success stories such as the advantages of a solid procedure and the necessity of keeping timesheet reports current!