| The modified twist to the age old saying that all things come full circle should go on to read that the circle, through time, does not in fact close its loop but rather spiral to a higher level. This certainly holds true in the evolutionary world of project management, where the profession’s ancestral roots have now evolved to include the service industry and have resurfaced the old world of management to shadow that of the new. The ability of today’s project manager to manage teams and people with little or no authority is itself an advancement that may have long been understood by the purest of the management profession but is now becoming more apparent as corporations need to go back and remember that management is not about hierarchy, but rather, in the words of Peter Drucker, about transforming resources into production.
Today’s project manager understands that knowledge is key and that a leader should not be viewed as the person who knows it all, but rather a leader of people who knows how to get things done. Indeed, the concept that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts is in fact the instrumental link the project manager provides in bringing synergy to the team and multi-facets of the project organization. The knowledge, multitude and diversity of skills that come into play, coupled with good business acumen and insight into how an organization works, highlights the elements that make the project management profession of colossal value to the business world and provides a vital need for its participation across the organization.
The evolution in today’s service industry is the ability to cast the net farther such that the benefits are not only confined to the immediate deliverables, but rather netted across the businesses and systems. Quality is by one definition termed to mean “fitness for use” and when the project’s initiative is aligned with the corporate strategy it leaves little doubt that the purpose, benefits and quality materialize when the process to achieve them is understood and proactively managed. To effectively integrate the benefits of a project requires from the very start the support and sponsorship at the executive level. Words and action resonate better when the initiative is tied to the corporate strategy and when commitment is reinforced with action. Championing the effort and team are now part of the process as well, keeping in mind the soft skills, political savvy and communication needed to ensure project perception does not deviate from the efforts and reality.
So, is this déjà vu all over again? Has management come full circle or is project management the next level to elevate this profession? What has changed? The same essential business elements, namely, growth, cash generation, profit, customer base and return on investment remain as they did before but the difficulty in today’s harsh economic climate is stimulating management to look for more effective and creative ways to grow while at the same time building on the principles that have allowed their success to transpire. Enter the world of project management where the visionaries look to expand their understanding and application of its process from a technical environment to fit that of today’s service economy. The ability to deliver is facilitated by applying processes that help break down the efforts into smaller components to fit a controllable framework that is time bound. The catalyst in this whole evolution may well be the evolution in project management itself. By spiraling to higher levels, project management has molded itself to not only aspire to its technical roots but has created a need to apply its well-founded principles and methodology to the management profession. In effect, the marriage can certainly prove successful as both the old and new ways of doing business demand that we now integrate management with processes. Doing so allows an organization to look at its efforts as a collection of projects and as such look to mesh these projects so that, collectively, they are one and work in the common direction of the company goal. Again, the sponsorship and commitment must be there. Treating everything as a project is invigorating. The fact that projects are a temporary endeavor to create a unique product or service allows for new things to occur and old routines to fade away. That, in and of itself, is refreshing. Managing by process allows for guidance and helps people understand where they are going. The same can be said for the company or business. If the link is made between the project and the business goal, then reaching that goal becomes that much easier.
There is little doubt that today’s market environment is fertile ground for new ways and ideas. Change is good and must happen for growth to occur. Project management, through its evolution, has become synonymous with management and vice versa. Practically speaking, positions in upper management, whether Director or Vice President, are in effect managers of a collection of projects. Projectizing a business, therefore, is fitting in today’s time as our evolutionary society is stimulating management to keep looking for more effective and creative ways to grow. Integrating the processes and reaching across the enterprise seamlessly ties the organization together and allows Project Management to evolutionize the business world by allowing for the past, present and future to meet.
© Elias Kort, M.A, PMP
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