So what is Project Management?

Project Management is "a process designed to minimize the risk of project failure".

Association for Project Management BoK

Projects start with the Need Statement which lead on to the Business Case and, in turn, on to the Project Plan. The Project Manager may be involved in the Business Case on behalf of the Sponsor/Client in which case the Project Plan may be available to baseline the project before the final agreement, by the business, to go ahead with the project is taken.

From then on it is largely up to the Project Manager to satisfy the Sponsor/Clients business needs and the projects objectives of on time, on budget and to performance.  Easy to say but as we all know it is extremely difficult to balance all the various expectations of the stakeholders, meet the success criteria set out in the Need Statement whilst, at the same time, meeting the project objectives.

There are lots of tools and techniques available in the Project Managers toolkit today and carefully used they can provide enormous benefits to the outcome of the project. VM, TQM, CPA, EVA, WBS's, RBS's, OBS's, CVA, PRAM, IT and many others.

But first we need a strategy, a plan of how we will achieve our goals. There are a number of options and we need to use the most appropriate for the circumstances.

We need to have a team, a group of people with technical skills and with team skills. Profiling to aid team composition is essential to achieve a productive working team. The Project Manager will spend much of his time dealing with team dynamics, people and team issues, the resolution of conflict, skillfully negotiating the best way forward.

We will need procedures, communications, data management, benchmarking and information technology just to oil the wheels and keep things moving along productively and in good time.

From the development of the business case, therefore, to the successful operation of the facility or any part thereof, Project Management provides not only a structured way of running a project but an environment for continued improvement. Add to this a strategy for Collaboration and you will have the ingredients for sustained and reliable success. An environment where professional and like minded people can do their work collaboratively and dependably successfully.

This is what project management is really all about - success!