Project Management is such a broad term. It covers all sorts of jobs and scopes of work. In its broadest sense it reflects a stakeholder who requires a specific outcome, in a specific time, against a specific budget. That stakeholder then appoints a person (the Project Manager) to deliver that outcome. However this is where the problems begin and they can be tracked back to two key specific issues –

1. The absence of a clear scope of works and understanding of the role and responsibilities of the project manager and;

2. A lack of Project Management experience and the absence of appropriate training in the skills of Project Management

As is often the case, the person chosen to be the Project Manager for a specific project is normally a very good employee who is very good at their current role in a specific area of the company. One of the most common appointments is the Engineer who is an extremely good engineer, is innovative and a problem solver in their field. However being a great engineer is a vastly different set of skills to being a skilled Project Manager who can manage people and resources to achieve a desired outcome.

What often happens is when a specialist is tasked with managing a major multi-disciplined project, it becomes difficult for that specialist to remove himself from his area of expertise and remain focused on the ‘big picture’.

Project Management is about managing people and personalities first and foremost. You are managing a team, and as such you must give your team freedom to create and solve within the bounds of the project parameters. As the Project Manager your key role is to keep the project driving in the right direction, on time and on budget, and as such the understanding of human nature, people and personalities, becomes a critical skill that needs to be developed if you want to be successful.

The Art of Project Management (Part 1)