The prime objective of a project manager is to complete the project and achieve their goals. Project managers do not believe in its not possible to move ahead of this obstacle, as they are so passionate and motivated about their work no obstacle for them is too big. Project managers can also be known as problem solvers in a project. Project managers do not only handle money, material, progress of the project but also take care of their team. As project managers believe a good project manager is one who can motivate employees and build a project oriented team, which eases the tasks of a project manager. In the past, mostly a project manager was called for external projects of a company like building a bridge, road, skyscraper etc, but recently seeing the skills of project managers in handling situations, organizations have also started appointing project managers for internal operations for instance developing a new product, improving customer satisfaction, opening a new branch etc. And therefore, the scope of project management had widened massively due to the opportunities coming to project managers to accomplish various tasks of organizations.
Since the field of project management is becoming so popular and the demand for project managers is continuously expanding, it is important to know from where it all started. Project management has been under practice since Egyptian civilization dating back to hundreds of years. But a more formal approach was introduced around 1950's to handle complex projects. The complexities began in US Navy, in handling of its Polaris Missile Project. The exclusivity of the contracts and the required development and manufacturing works for the parts of the missile was never done before, and therefore difficulties started surrounding it for which a formal approach to project management was adopted. The Polaris Missile project was described as a very uncertain project since time and cost neither could be even estimated. Hence, the time required to complete the project was based on probabilities and were refereed as optimistic, pessimistic and most likely time required for completion. These three scenarios provided an estimate for calculation of the completion of the project and later this technique came to be known as program evaluation review technique (PERT). Initially PERT only estimated the time required completing the project, but later on the cost feature was also added to this technique and it used the same three criteria mentioned above to estimate the required cost of the project. And till today the PERT technique is widely used in estimations of a project. Moreover, E.I du Pont de Nemours Company, which was involved in construction of a massive chemical plant in US, found PERT technique not sufficient for them, and therefore they introduced a new technique which provided a realistic approach to time and cost involved in the project which was named as planning and scheduling (PPS). Consequently the PPS methodology was further enhanced and was known as critical path method (CPM), which became a very famous technique among construction industry. During the period of 1960 and 1970, both the techniques as discussed above PERT and CPM became very popular within various public and private sectors. Not only did the US Navy use these tools for estimations but also other defense departments of various other countries started using it. Furthermore, NASA also started using these techniques to reduce uncertainty and bring efficiency in its operations to handle schedule driven projects and large budgets.
The popularity of these tools in estimating the two most important factors in a project which was time and money corresponded with the development of computers and making software that specialized in estimating critical components of a project. However initially these software's were very expensive as they could only be operated on a main frame computer, but since the introduction of personal computers (PC's) in 1980's, the project management software's came in reasonable packages. Hence, during this period construction sectors saw immense growth in adapting to new projects management practices. Furthermore, project management tools also played an important role in the computer programming sector during the boost of dot com bubble. For instance, in order to write lengthy computer programs, project manager were appointed to bring their expertise in project management to organize teams and divide the program to various programmers, and then collaborate their work to generate the final product.
According to the website of Project management institute, PMI is one of the largest professional membership associations, with almost five hundred thousand members in more than 180 countries. Project management institute is a no profit organization that is involved in advancement of the project management field through globally recognized standards. PMI also have created collaborative communities to carry out research programs for the advancement of the institution. PMI also provides opportunities for project managers by providing them resources for their career development. According to PMI, a project is a temporary group of activities, which are undertaken to provide a particular product or service in a specified time period. A project is said to be temporary because it has a defined beginning date and an end date. Consequently, it also has a defined scope or performance to achieve with the given resources. PMI defines every project to be unique, as in every project people change, locations changes, characteristics of the project are different, cost changes and therefore every project is unique is its own way.
Project management has defined three prime objectives of a project which are performance, time and cost. People usually think about the success of a project through its outcome that is its performance. Secondly, the success of a project is also measured by the time taken to complete the project as late projects results in higher cost. And lastly, what was the expected and the actual cost incurred in completion of the project. Although time, cost and performance are the three main objectives of project management there is a fourth one also known as expectations of clients from the project. A project cannot be very deviating from what was the actual requirement of the client. Time, cost and performance are the objectives to be achieved by a project manager keeping the expectations and demands of the client in mind. For instance, the project of Ibn Batuta Mall was completed but considering the opening of Mall of the Emirates, project managers decided to downsize the objectives to be achieved in Ibn Batuta Mall to cut the time required to open the mall. Many such deviations have to be considered by project managers by the force of clients to complete the project before time or to reduce the cost involved in the project. Therefore the objectives time, cost, performance and client expectations in the field of project management cannot be assured during the implementation stage of any project.
Some of the projects which have been left incomplete due to various factors in past are Siena Cathedral in Italy, the work started in 12th century but till date has not been completed. The Palacio Legislativo Federal (Federal Legislative Palace) in Mexico, the construction work started in the early 19th century but it never got complete till today. The Olimpijka bridge which was a highway project connecting Berlin and Poland also never so completion. Most of the projects are terminated due to lack of resources or do not seem feasible after its construction begins. Above were just a few examples of incomplete projects and therefore, seeing the difficulties being faced in completion of the projects, the project management institute was formed which is commonly known as PMI, to act as an institute for project managers providing guidelines in evaluating the project, and strategies to lead the project till successful execution. In contrast to above, some of the toughest project completed till date which of course were not possible without project managers are (i) The Central Artery/Tunnel Project in Boston which was also known as The Big Dig (ii) International Space Station (iii) Burj Dubai (iv) Yas Island Abu Dhabi.
In conclusion, project management has become the ultimate tool in helping organization realize any project they dream of given the resources provided. Project management methodology provides tools to achieve the goals of a project effectively and efficiently. The prime goal of a project manager is to take the project towards accomplishment and fight whatsoever problems arising during the development of a project. The project manager has major responsibility in the success or failure of the project. Project manager organizes, directs, controls and runs the whole show to get best results from the project, and deliver the project on time and on budget. Lastly, in the words of K. Tate who was a past board member of PMI, he describes the importance of a project management team such that "Trying to manage a project without project management is like trying to play a football game without a game plan".
Work Cited
1. Rick Edmondson's Unfinished Buildings. Web. 14 Dec. 2010.
<http://www.unfinishedbuildings.org>
2. Azzopardi, By Sandro. "The Evolution of Project Management." Project Management Templates Articles and Events: Project Smart. Web. 10 Dec. 2010. <http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/evolution-of-project-management.html>.
3. "What Is PMI? | Project Management Institute." PMI - the World's Leading Professional Association for Project Management. Web. 3 Dec. 2010.
<http://www.pmi.org/About-Us/About-Us-What-is-PMI.aspx>.
4. "Project Management Quotes - Famous and Factual Quotations." Project Management Training Consulting Audit Review Evaluation Project Auditors. Web. 7 Dec. 2010. <http://www.projectauditors.com/Company/Project_Management_Quotes.html>.
5. "History of Project Management: How Did We Get Here? by Daiv Russell Envision Web Marketing." SearchWarp Writers' Community. Web. 9 Dec. 2010. <http://searchwarp.com/swa296171.htm>.
