Project Management for All

One of the first things I remember thinking while studying for my Project Management (PM) Professional certification exam was, Why doesn’t everyone learn project management?! PM methodologies seemed like such a logical approach to Getting Sh*t Done that, proprietary limitations aside, I could not understand why it wasn’t a standard of education or work training.

Though I valued PM principles, I was initially hesitant to register for the PMP exam because I thought the certification was limited to professions bound by more technical workstreams——like Engineers or Construction Contractors——and I doubted its relevance to my career. After all, so many of the concepts and tools associated with Project Management (i.e., Work Breakdown Structures, Gantt Charts) seemed better suited to technical projects (like building a program or car) that require extensive testing, tweaking, and quality monitoring to deliver the best possible output. I registered anyway and passed the exam.  PM turned out to be quite useful in useful for adapting to change and solving complex problems in various work environments.

The PM approach is designed as a comprehensive guide for starting and completing a project——a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result——and provides extensive detail at each critical step for achieving project objectives in a structured fashion. While following every step of each PM Process Group (Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and Controlling, and Closing) during the life cycle of any given project may be a bit unrealistic, the Process Groups are commonplace in PM practice and organizations, and provide a foundation for ensuring that all project activities are executed in accordance with a project’s objectives. It is expected that project requirements may change along the way, or that some other factors will cause certain aspects of the project to change, so understanding the iterative nature of a process is integral to understanding the PM approach. At its core, the PM framework establishes documented plans, accountability measures, and a core model for the work being performed.

PM methodologies offer incredible insight into managing relationships, budgets, and risks, tracking timelines and outputs, and organizing various resources; this is why I appreciate project management as a skillset and body of knowledge and believe that PM methodologies are theoretically adaptable to most work-related (and even day-to-day) tasks. The Project Management Institute’s (PMI’s) national standard, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), devotes a section to each of the PM Knowledge Areas——Integration, Scope, Time, Cost, Quality, Human Resources, Communications, Risk, Procurement, and Stakeholder Management——which can be helpful for accomplishing tasks across certain of the Process Groups. Communications Management in particular details the tools and techniques for effectively planning, managing, and controlling communication activities during the life of a project, and I’d like to personally gift this section to anyone who has ever had to collaborate with another human in the workplace.

I will highlight a few of my favorite principles from the PMBOK as well as their applicability to various workstreams or environments. In the next post, I will discuss Stakeholder Management.  Stay tuned!

-T