How to Share the Secrets of Project Management

Project managers can often be confused with magicians in the business world - those who, when there are changes in the business folded Merlin -like complex, with large tables, PC and scary words like risk, resources and Critical Path. Then, as if by magic, make it all happen.


In reality, however, project management is not magic. It is based on a methodical approach to planning, implementation, monitoring and modification of the original plan. Those who practice the art do not possess superhuman powers.

They are, however, experts in their field. When change has to do both these capabilities, along with all the necessary skills in the field, which came together to bring a lot of knowledge about how things are today, and how we want to do tomorrow. In other words, facilitate business change.

Take for example the introduction of a new system to manage the workflow of a department, and the following groups within the company who may be interested:

• The end users – their day to day work is about to change.
• Human Resources – they may need to negotiate changes in working conditions.
• IT department – they will have to act as frontline support.
• Training department – they will need to carry out upgrade training for existing staff as well as training new staff.
• Corporate Communications – they will need to dispel the FUD factor (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) and help ensure smooth changes, while maintaining business as usual.

On the face of it, even a simple change can have far-reaching effects within an organization. With this level of potential impact, it is not surprising that things do not always go as planned.

Project for any business is by nature a temporary body set up to make the change. It dissolves once the change has been implemented and beds to become habitual.

But each of the areas in the above example can be considered a small project in itself - and the staff can make a positive contribution to our understanding of project management processes , and in an ideal world , also get involved and support the project manager (which has never refuse offers genuine help and support. )
So it's worth sharing the secrets of project management, such as learning what a critical path is and how to build one - or better yet, do some basic training.

While management of the project may not be necessary to know the full range of management risk analysis and Monte Carlo techniques, to understand what is a clear requirement is and how to plan and connect a set of dependencies that go a long way to help and support the project manager and as the impact on performance in other parts of ' enterprise.

Organizations that allow staff to practice witchcraft this does not guarantee success, but it certainly does not prevent it .The divisions are also beneficial. While project managers may be needed for major changes, some of the smaller projects can be given to other members, for example:

• The HR Manager who needs to plan a recruitment campaign.
• The Marketing Manager who needs to organise a successful conference.
• The Training Manager with a new programme to implement for key staff.
• The Office Manager with a new system to implement across the company’s different locations.
• The Production Manager who needs to get a special order out for a client.

All these would benefit from knowledge of the tools and techniques that today’s project managers use.
For more information on the skills and standards needed to become a project manager, watch the ESI Managing Projects video.