Project management is everyone's business

The term "project management" means many things to many people.

Wikipedia says: "Project management is the discipline of organising and managing resources (eg, people) in a way that the project is completed within defined scope, quality, time and cost constraints. A project is a temporary and one-time endeavour undertaken to create a unique product or service, which brings about beneficial change or added value."

The PMBOK similarly states that a project is "a temporary endeavour undertaken to accomplish a unique product or service" (PMBOK Guide 2000, p. 4).

FTI's MD Steve Erlank says while project management is a profession in its own right with many tools, techniques and practices, that in fact every single person needs some understanding of how to manage projects more effectively, because so much of modern life involves project work. .

Very large projects such as the construction of a stadium, for example, will most certainly need the services of a professional project manager but there are also many small to medium-sized projects which are just handled day-to-day by competent business people: for example hosting an event, starting a business, running a marketing campaign or planning a product launch.

Even planning and organising a year-end Xmas party requires project management skills, and there is no doubt that basic business project management knowledge can go a long way to make these business projects successful, efficient and problem-free. .

There are basically three different categories of people who do project management:

These are people who specialise in managing large projects involving millions of rands. Such projects might be building a stadium, organising a sports tour, or launching a new model luxury vehicle. Professional project managers have many years of study and are highly qualified, often with engineering degrees of some type. Their skills are often governed by international standards like PMBOK or Prince2.

Project managers often require skilled people to assist with the paperwork and planning on their projects. These people are called project administrators or project co-ordinators. They are highly skilled and organised and may work in support of the project manager, helping to organise, co-ordinate and communicate but are often competent enough to manage small to medium-sized business projects on their own. As they move up the career ladder, they may become project managers.

The modern world of work is packed with projects, large and small. While most people can, with sufficient training, cope with routine administration work, there is a growing need for dynamic employees, entrepreneurs and business people who can tackle jobs that involve planning, thinking, and organising in an environment that has time, cost and resource constraints.

These are people who 'make things happen'. Entrepreneurs, by their very nature, are natural project managers, who manage projects by instinct. For these people, a little bit of formal project management knowledge can go a long way to increasing efficiency and reducing stress, as they plan, organise and control projects.

It has been widely said that SA needs more project managers. This is only partially true. What is even more critical is that we need more people who know how to manage projects for themselves, which is not the same thing. And the need spans government, small business, large corporations, consultants and the self-employed.

Faculty Training Institute is one of the leading providers of project training in South Africa. In addition to offering training for professional project managers, it offers a range of need-to-know courses that are tightly focused on the specific needs of all the rest of the workforce who do not aspire to being professional project managers, but who want to boost their productivity and effectiveness.

For more information, contact Genevieve or Lea-Anne on 0860 227 337. Alternatively you can mail Genevieve at gen@fti.co.za or Lea-Anne at leaanne@fti.co.za.