Exploring the concept of project management

Here are excerpts from an interview on Project Management was carried out with, Hugo Wisidagama President, PMI Colombo Chapter

President, PMI Colombo Chapter Hugo Wisidagama

Q: Why do you say project management is the best method of implementing change?

A: Mainly because it brings discipline to your work. Change is implemented in order to improve the quality of services or processes. Project management is a discipline that helps a result-oriented professional to drive towards business and profitability.

Q: How does project management assist in improving the efficiency of application in different areas such as social, professional, academic etc.?

A: The simplest answer is good planning but planning is not that simple. The primary objective of project management knowledge is to plan execution according to the scope expected from the stakeholders.

With the improvement of project management knowledge, better outcomes will be achieved resulting in better services to society. Professionals and academics who have such knowledge and implement such practices will serve society with a sense of responsibility.  

Q: How would a well-trained project management workforce give an organisation an edge in today’s competitive environment?

A: It brings business value to the organisation. Good project management will result in high quality. Quality products and services delivered on schedule, within the budget which will definitely give an organisation a competitive advantage.

Q: What are the critical skills that project leaders must develop for their agile projects to deliver real results?

A: Taking something big and making it small. Delivering in smaller increments allows more customer feedback, more frequent lessons learned and less risk at the end of a project.

Build in slices, not layers; it’s not enough that each departmental team builds its work up in small pieces – you are now expected to bring all together into something that actually works.

Learn to soften the blow - changing from large technical layers to small business slices requires considerable change. Such change could lead to a ‘stress storm.’ Therefore project managers have to practice some emotional exercises to ease the pain of team experiences when moving to an agile approach.

Q: What initiatives has PMI taken in order to promote project management among entrepreneurs and other professionals employed in different industries?

A: PMI is involved with skill development, guiding and giving advice on good governance and project management methodologies, along with creating awareness amongst private sector and government organisations, working with professional groups and inviting them to participate in events. PMI uses electronic media newsletters and publications to reach the academia, professionals and social organisations to promote PM practices. PMI also conducts conferences, congresses and seminars to attract professionals.

Q: What is green project management and how is it different from project management?

A: Project managers and  project management best practices add value to projects at virtually every stage of the sustainability supply chain - from planning and implementing environmental initiatives to tracking and reporting their results.

More and more organisations are taking notice.

The global market for environmental products and services is projected to double by 2020 according to the United Nations Environment Programme. This will result in jobs in diverse areas such as agriculture, energy, transportation, IT, construction and manufacturing.

Q: Moving on to risk management, how do you monitor risks to the project and mitigate them?

A: Risk assessment begins at the first sales meeting; it starts with a focus at the kickoff meeting and is part of every milestone review. By capturing lessons learned in previous projects, one becomes aware of the potential problems and the measures that need to be taken to mitigate them.