Project management is a unique process of doing things in the most appropriate manner. It is a special process that is used to plan, operate, and monitor projects. Its major objectives are achieving project goals effectively and solving specific problems. It is the way of managing changes to meet some specific obligations through the introduction of new ideas or improving the existing ones.
It focuses on controlling the introduction of desired change by planning what need to be done, when, by whom, and at what standard.
The managers are responsible of overseeing the project through team building, coordinate the work of different people, and monitoring how the work is done until the final results are attained. Project management has both advantages and disadvantages thus the managers need to maximize on advantages as they minimize on the disadvantages.
The first advantage of employing project management is that it yields to efficiency in service delivery. This is because it provides a direction to be followed to get to completion easily. Project management helps in forecasting the areas that can cause delays and plan on how they can be avoided before the commencement of the project.
They help in estimating the scenarios that are likely to occur and therefore, the managers can decide on the appropriate cause of action to take to ensure there is efficiency and effectiveness in operations. This facilitates customer satisfaction, which ensures that the business create a wider market share that in turn increases profitability.
Project management tools facilitate the development and maintenance of artifacts such as project schedule. This helps in analyzing complex situation that would take long to analysis without the aid of these tools. They ease the process of recording, linking and analyzing data thus ensuring smooth flow of the project within designated project stages.
Another advantage is that management projects facilitate objective comparison of alternative actions by providing repeatable results. Managers can apply the same strategies that contributed to successful completion of one project to other projects in the future without rigidity because they leave room for flexibility. The managers can opt to take another direction if they discover a better method of improving the project.
This increases the chances of the quality and quantity of production since implementing the basic project management strategies helps in narrowing focus. When the focus is directed to some specific and achievable goals, they can be attained at a reasonable time span and within the budgeted costs.
The main disadvantages associable with project management are of overheads, obsession, and lack of creativity. Overheads that relate to Project management include cost, time, and communication overheads. Cost overheads are financial obligations that need to be met to ensure that the project is carried out effectively.
Organization need to hire more managers who ensure that the project is carried out appropriately, and the required outcome is achieved. There are direct costs that are involved in training the project managers, developing programs, and changing the organization to align with the project demands.
Communication overheads increase due to the introduction of another level in the management team that breaks the flow of information. The information ceases to move from functional manager to team manager, but a third department of project manager is involved. Time overheads come as a result of delayed communication and other protocols that need to be followed.
Obsession is in the mind of the project managers. It can be methodology, process, or stakeholder obsession. In most cases, obsession is triggered by the fear of loss of control and other insecurities from the managers. Lack of creativity can be procedural or administrative.
Procedural non-creativity results from rigid procedures and fixed time span being set to perform tasks. Administrative non-creativity comes as a result of following the set procedures without improving.
In conclusion, project management can be both advantageous and disadvantageous to the company. Managers responsible in running project management should be keen to ensure that the project work for the best of the company. this is achieved by ensuring that they maximize on advantages and develop ways to minimize on disadvantages.