A couple of months ago, I posed a question on social media soliciting feedback about Project Management. The question I asked was, What do you want to know about managing projects? The purpose of the question was to understand business challenges in order to assist businesses with practical solutions. As I reviewed the comments, I kept coming across the same theme of responses; How can it benefit small businesses? And it only benefits larger organizations. So, let me explain the basics and What you need to know about Project Management.
- It is used everyday without you even realizing it. Have you had a garage sale? Taken a trip to Europe? Move to a different state? If the answer is Yes, you mostly likely have performed some form of project management. It is capable of handling personal projects, implementing new systems, building bridges, developing software with minimum or considerable resources.
- To understand Project Management is to understand the definition of a PROJECT. The main confusion with Project Management lies with understanding what a project is and what a project is not. A project is defined as unique and temporary with a defined begin date and end date”. A project is not “routine everyday operational task” according to the Project Management Institute (PMI). (https://www.pmi.org/about/learn-about-pmi/what-is-project-management). Before you call a project, a PROJECT; ensure it fits the definition of a PROJECT.
- There is more than one way to get the same result for any project. There are different Project Management approaches one can adopt to accomplish a goal. Some of the well-known approaches are Waterfall, Scrum and Kanban but there are many others. Each approach brings its own set of guidelines, best practices, tools and techniques to bring about the expected result. The most important take away is to understand what the project requires and decide on the best Project Management approach to deliver the result.
Implementing Project Management, in your business, is advantageous. Project Management provides structure and supports the overall business strategies. So, what do you need to know about Project Management? Project Management saves on time, costs, resources, increase productivity and enhances team collaboration as well as deliver the expected result. Frankly, it does not matter if you are a small or larger business, handling a simple or complex project or have little to sizable resources, the Project Management benefits are the same.
About the Author
Cerila Gailliard holds a (PMP)® certification from the Project Management Institute and a Bachelor of Science in Business Information Systems (University of Phoenix). Cerila Gailliard is the founder of Orchestrating Your Success LLC which provides Project Management services to help business achieve their business goals successfully.
