An Elevator Pitch for Project Management

by Daniel Raymond | Nov 23, 2010 | Project Management Advantages

An Elevator Pitch for Project Management
By Kiron D. Bondale

If you have been involved with project management for any length of time, you likely have been asked to explain or justify the value of project management. The challenge in answering this question is that while it is fairly easy to provide a comprehensive response, you may not feel that confident if you are put on the spot to answer this question in a stereotypical “elevator pitch” of thirty words (or seconds) or less!

A reasonable assumption is that the answer will be role-specific based on who is asking the question so let’s evaluate this from the perspective of key stakeholders.

Project sponsors provide financial and influence funding and support for projects. In this capacity, they act in a similar fashion to investment managers in a brokerage. To be successful, they need their investments to provide guaranteed returns. While a project manager cannot be held solely responsible for the successful realization of the benefits of a project, application of project management practices can reduce the surprises and increase the likelihood of projects being completed within established constraints. Read the Complete Article

Advantages of Project Management – A Short List

by Daniel Raymond | Apr 7, 2009 | Project Management Advantages

Advantages of Project Management – A Short List
By Craig Brown

The advantages of Project Management can be summarized in the below:

• Better control of financial, physical, and human resources
• Improved customer relations
• Shorter development times
• Lower costs
• Higher quality and increased reliability
• Higher profit margins
• Improved productivity
• Better internal coordination

Craig Brown has worked as a project manager and business analyst mainly in the Australian ITC and the banking industries. He has also worked in the law, education and welfare industries, including starting a law firm. Craig now has a Master’s degree in project management from RMIT university, and is currently working with a Melbourne based IT consulting firm called OptimiseIT. Craig’s personal blog can be found at http://www.betterprojects.net/. Read the Complete Article

Why Use Project Management?

by Daniel Raymond | Apr 1, 2009 | Project Management Advantages

Why Use Project Management?
By The Office of Government Commerce – OGC, UK

Experience has shown that projects are inherently at risk – through overrunning on time and cost and/or failing to deliver a successful outcome. Such failures are almost invariably caused by:

• poor project definition by the project’s owner, perhaps because of insufficient consultation with stakeholders or their failure to be specific about requirements and desired outcomes
• lack of ownership and personal accountability by senior management
• inadequately skilled and experienced project personnel
• inadequate reporting arrangements and decision-making
• inconsistent understanding of required project activities, roles and responsibilities.

Project management helps to reduce and manage risk. It puts in place an organisation where lines of accountability are short and the responsibilities of individuals are clearly defined. Its processes are clearly documented and repeatable, so that those involved in the project can learn from the experiences of others.

It is recommended best practice that a formal project management methodology such as OGC’s PRINCE2 is adopted for all major projects. Read the Complete Article

The Corporate Advantages of a Project Management Process

by Daniel Raymond | Feb 12, 2009 | Project Management Advantages

The Corporate Advantages of a Project Management Process
By William Thom

A Project Management (PM) process is a process that wraps sound and repeatable structure around a series of events that lead to a projects completion or implementation. In most cases, you will see a structured diagram that lists the project management process groups used to manage a project. I have been fortunate to study and review many PM processes over the years from the Department of Defense to State and Local government processes. In addition, I have studied and reviewed PM processes in business enterprises, banking, health care and nuclear power. What I want to present, is the concept of the Project Management Process and why is it beneficial to have one in place in your organization.

In most cases Project Management (PM) processes actually serve a purpose in an organization by providing a PM process methodology in an environment where one did not formally exist. Read the Complete Article

Objectives of Modern Project Management

by Daniel Raymond | Feb 2, 2009 | Project Management Advantages

Objectives of Modern Project Management
By Dr.Russell Archibald

The objectives of Project Management are two-fold:

• To assure that each project, when initially conceived and authorized, supports the organization’s approved higher level strategic objectives and contains acceptable risks regarding the project’s objectives: political, technical, cost and schedule.
• To plan, execute, and control each project simultaneously with all other projects effectively and efficiently so that each will achieve its approved objectives: meeting the related strategic objective by producing the specified results on schedule and within budget.

The first of these objectives is essential to the strategic management of the organization. Application of Project Management practices during the early strategic planning and project concept phases has been introduced in more organizations within the past few years, with beneficial results. Too frequently, project failures can be traced directly to unrealistic original technical, cost or schedule targets, and inadequate risk analysis and risk management.

Dr. Russell D. Read the Complete Article

The Importance and Application of Project Management

by Daniel Raymond | Oct 2, 2007 | Project Management Advantages

The Importance and Application of Project Management
By Julie Joseph

In this super fast era of advancing technological development, time management is essential for success. Time is a commodity, so managing it correctly it increases its value. Utilizing time correctly involves managing resources, people, money and the related sub-resources. This is what Project Management deals with. A company’s growth depends on how efficiently the time, resources, quality and ultimately money is managed. It is all about recognizing and targeting a particular goal and having the ability to handle each complex component of the project.

Therefore, Project Management is the amalgamation of these components: control, leadership and teamwork- these are essential to a successful project. Today, Project Management is a professional discipline with a body of knowledge and a specific set of skills. This is the reason that various Project Management Courses and Project Management Training programs proliferate throughout many institutions.

Successful Project Management is achieved by the intelligent application of sound principles. Read the Complete Article