Project management and managing change go hand in hand. Businesses that want to initiate a change will establish a project to do so.
A project is:
- Separate to the organisation’s business as usual functions
- Temporary and exists alongside business as usual management structures
- A set of objective oriented activities
- A timeline for achieving these objectives that has a defined start and end
- Organised and focused on a change or improvement
Project management is the actions, initiatives and activities which enable a change come about. It is a set of activities which will ensure that all relevant stakeholders are aligned on what must be delivered and by who. Successful project management will enable relevant stakeholders to clearly articulate why a project is necessary.
Project management is focused on the final deliverables of change and is constrained by both budget and time. In this way it differs from business as usual functions which are an ongoing process and won’t change much day to day.
Projects manage risk and identify possible pitfalls. Good projects run ahead of risks, rather than respond to issues as they arise.
A project management team will be drawn from a range of different backgrounds, technical skulls and management skills. Projects draw upon people from inside and sometimes outside the organisation. Whereas in business as usual functions, people will have a well defined set set of skills.
The human resources on a project will be flexible and the size of the project team will ebb and flow as required. Different skills sets will be drawn upon at different times. For instance at the start of a project, design skills might be required, whereas during implementation a team might draw on communications skills.
Project teams deliver change intentionally with a coherent design. A project’s success can be measured by how it delivered change to time, budget and specification.
This blog drew upon Paul Roberts book The Economist’s Guide to Change and Project Management, and the Association for Project Management.