I wrote this article in 2015 in an internal blog and reproducing it here:
Let me share my experiences and ideas of the value of project management in our personal as well as professional lives.
I attended PMI National Conference last year and happened to know views of the famous Indian Cricketer VVS Laxman on ‘Project Management’. He was surprised to know that the principles and practices of project management are actually followed by him in his personal life. He had given assurance to hundreds of PM practitioners from diverse backgrounds present on that day that if we follow the PM principles and models and if we have these models in our mind, we will not only gain growth in our career, achieve success in our project but also we will have sustainable growth and success in our lives.
We can treat our own lives as a ‘project’ (fits perfectly with the PMBoK definition of ‘Project’) and can apply many of the project management principles. A few areas that I am interested to highlight are ‘Conflict Resolution’, ‘Change Management’ and having effective ‘Communication’ between all stakeholders. In our personal lives we face lot many conflicts in everyday life. We can apply PM knowledge for resolution of conflicts. This knowledge can help us to effectively manage the ‘change’ in our own lives at every juncture. Many of our personal problems are attributed to lack of effective communication between key stakeholders of our own personal ‘project’. We can effectively bridge these ‘communication gap’ issues with PM knowledge.
Coming to professional life, knowledge of Project Management principles and practices can help us immensely. It can teach you to have holistic view of a project, plan well for execution, identify risks at right time etc. One of my friends asked me the question ‘What is the advantage that you are gaining by achieving 3 PMI certifications that you hold, are you really implementing that knowledge in projects’. Let me share with you we cannot implement our knowledge from PMI certifications 100% in any project. But that knowledge can definitely benefit us at both work/life and all the stakeholders of project.
PMP certification will help you do the things in planned and structured manner. It emphasizes on the need of proper Communication in the project for the benefit of all stakeholders. Agile methodology not only restricted to SW projects and can be applied other industries as well. In fact there was a webinar in PMI website on using ‘Agile’ methods to reduce one’s body weight. Daily Standup Meetings are one of the best practices from Agile. If conducted these meetings will yield better results, just imagine DSM at every level in Organization and the benefits we can get. Risk Management knowledge will help you identify Risks, plan for mitigation before they can actually occur and eventually damage your project.
But what are the impediments in applying this knowledge in real world projects? I think the following are some of the reasons that have profound influence:
- Professionalism at work.
- Opportunities for right people at right time.
- Proper communication channel.
- ‘Can do’ attitude.
- Team Motivation.
- Clearly defined roles and responsibilities.
- Better planning at every level.
The above are my thoughts on the interesting subject of ‘Project Management’ in general. Thank you for reading and happy new year.