The_Role_of_Project_Management_in_Today's_Business_Environment

The Role of Project Management in Today's Business Environment Introduction Project management has evolved from its humble beginnings into something that is apparent and crucial in today's business environment. Quality, cost control and delivery are taking precedence in business, government and non profit sectors. Project management gives managers extra boost in planning, creating and executing strategic initiatives that will result in generating new revenues and at the same time expand the market. Project management gives organizations an edge in the competition. Project management tools and techniques guarantees an organization manage the competition, deliver quality products, control expenses, and enhance profitability and success. I decided to write about the role of project management in today's business environment primarily because project management is my chosen focus for my graduate studies. I can confidently say that from a very short period of time in this Project Management course I have immersed myself with knowledge and techniques that I have been applying in my current work. "There are many more jobs in which project management is not a title but a job requirement. This underscores a major advantage to being good at managing projects; and that is the basic project management methodology you have been exposed to in this text is transferable across most businesses and professions" (Larson, & Gray, 2011 p. 603). With all the project management tools and techniques a project manager can utilize one must also understand why some projects fail. Sometimes it is not enough to say that you manage your project competently, on time and deliver a quality a product. A great project manager must anticipate and understand the following conditions. The right business requirement should be identified, an achievable business case must be created, strong project governance must be in place, manage a high quality implementation and monitor and have the flexibility to adapt to the changing business environment. "Leading organizations across sectors and geographic borders have embraced project management as a way to control spending and improve project results. When the recession began this practice became more important. Executives agreed that project management methods and strategies reduced risks, cut cost and improve success rate all vital to surviving the economic crisis" (“The Value of Project Management,” 2010). An excellent project manager should be able to be a master of prioritizing. These are the steps on how to make things happen: * Everything can be represented in an ordered list. Most of the work of project management is correctly prioritizing things and leading the team in carrying them out. * The three most basic ordered lists are: project goals (vision), list of features, and list of work items. They should always be in sync with each other. Each work item contributes to a feature, and each feature contributes to a goal. * There is a bright yellow line between priority 1 work and everything else. * Things happen when you say no. If you can't say no, you effectively have no priorities. * The PM has to keep the team honest and keep them close to reality. * Knowing the critical path in engineering and team processes enables efficiency. * You must be both relentless and savvy to make things happen (Berkun, 2005). Conclusion The future looks really promising for project management. Statistics shows that the growth of project management is considered a phenomenon in professional development in recent years. "PMI is one of the world's largest not-for-profit membership associations for project management profession, with more than 650,000 members and credential holders in more than 185 countries" (“Project Management Institute,” 2012). "The Project Management Institute estimates 1.2 million new positions annually on a global scale over the next decade. Given the vast job opportunities, it is far easier to explain the exploding demand side of this phenomenon than the more lethargic side" (Halfond, 2011). It's pretty exciting time for me to learn and apply what I have learned from this course and know that I have chosen an excellent field that is still evolving. Project management gives me the opportunity to apply leadership, technical, management, business, interpersonal and personal skills. It also prepares a project manager to the future of globalization, advancement in information technology to become a leader that truly makes the difference. References Berkun, S. (2005). The Art of Project Management: How to Make Things Happen. Retrieved from http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa480154.aspx Halfond, J. A. (2011). Projecting Project Management’s Future Within the Academic Landscape. Retrieved from http://www.nebhe.org/thejournal/projecting-project-management%E2%80%99s-future-within-the-academic-landscape/ Larson, E.W., & Gray, C. F. (2011). Project management: The Managerial Process (5th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill. Project Management Institute. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.pmi.org/ The Value of Project Management. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.pmi.org/business-solutions/~/media/PDF/Business-Solutions/Value of Project Management_FINAL.ashx