Photo: blackstock [FreeDigitalPhotos.net]“Mónica Iglesias Sanzo is coordinator and professor of the Master in Project Management at Bureau Veritas University Center .”
Project Management is a discipline that aims to teach how to successfully manage a project, meeting its objectives and requirements, within the established time frame, cost and quality, and satisfying the needs of the client or user of the project and the rest of the identified stakeholders.
A formal definition of Project Management can be obtained from the Project Management Institute (PMI): “the application of knowledge, capabilities, tools and techniques related to projects that meet their expectations.”
In this sense, good Project Management is what makes a chinese america data project a success. Poor project management (or its absence) can nullify the effort of even the most talented personnel. It does not matter how brilliant the result of the project may be if it has ended up costing twice as much as budgeted or has been finished a year late. With this I do not mean to say that the work itself of carrying out the project is not important, but it is not the most fundamental part of it.
In Project Management we teach tools, techniques and the skills that a project manager and his team must develop in order to successfully complete the project work . Project Management is multidisciplinary and can be applied in different fields such as: engineering, architecture, public works, industry, research and development, automotive, advertising, information and communication technologies, etc. In addition, I always say in my classes that we all have personal projects in which this knowledge can also be applied: a long trip, a move, the opening of a new business or company, a course, a wedding, the recording of a video, etc.
The issue is that in Spain, many engineers and architects are good professionals doing the technical part of the projects, the calculations, the drawings, the technical specifications, etc. but both in Spain and in other Latin countries, these professionals often neglect the training and skills necessary for project management, the ability to initiate, plan, control and close them.
Another big problem in projects is that the risks that can affect the success of the project are not identified. By this I mean that the events that can cause the established objectives to not be achieved are not identified. Events that, in the personal projects I mentioned earlier, can be the following: bad weather on our big trip, a new restaurant with no experience at the wedding, not having enough boxes at the right time to move, etc.
Today, with the enormous competition in the markets, the increasingly shorter life of products, the decrease in serial or process work, less standardization, and the fact that due to the current economic context, the demands for effectiveness and efficiency for all types of organizations are greater, the science of the project and Project Management is more necessary than ever for people, groups and organizations to achieve the objectives of scope, deadline, cost and quality in the projects in which they participate.
For all these reasons, I recommend studying Project Management, not only to engineers and architects in construction, public works, industry, IT, telecommunications, etc., but to all those people who work with projects in different sectors such as: education, design, tourism, administration, commerce, marketing, event organization, advertising, banking, finance, politics, research and development, etc., given that managing projects efficiently has become essential for companies .