IntroductionProjects and project management, like general management itself, are constructs of man. These things do not appear spontaneously in the physical universe. You will not find them in the great outdoors of nature, in the forests or in the wilderness for example. You will, however, find the results of these constructs in the townships, in the built environment, and the burgeoning electronics industries for example and to which we have all become accustomed. That's because of man's desire to create and, in doing so, always to do more with less. If all of that is true, then what we are looking for is the best possible recipe to meet these human aspirations. To find that, we need some basic principles to work on and, here, we are reminded of Henri Fayol's famous words of caution: "Principles that are established should be viewed as flexible, capable of adaptation to every need. It is the manager's job to know how to make use of them, which is a difficult art requiring intelligence, experience, decisiveness and, most important, a sense of proportion." | Henri Fayol, General & Industrial Management[2] |
Figure 1 displays a colorful graphic in an attempt to conjure up the environment of a significant project, typically under some form of contract, usually written but also generally understood between the parties. Figure 1: Relationship between project management and product creation[3] However, the first point of departure is to distinguish between managing a project, aka single project management, and general management, aka business-as-usual. Here are a few key differences:
| General Management | Project Management |
1 | Process without an evident ending | Process complete when outcome is delivered | 2 | Generally steady state | Successive phases are quite different | 3 | More efficient production is the objective | Predetermined objectives that when met signal the end of the project | 4 | Limited emphasis on planning | Continuous striving towards more and better planning | 5 | Heavy reliance on equipment | Heavy reliance on people performance | 6 | Repetitive and non-unique activities | Generally non-repetitive and unique activities | 7 | Generally established team work | Intensive team building | 8 | Manager's position is typically long-term | Manager's role is temporary | 9 | Reducing staffing is generally considered good business practice | Creating an added contingency reserve is essential for dealing with unexpected risks | 10 | Self discipline is implied | Self management has to be encouraged
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2. Henri Fayol (29 July 1841 - 19 November 1925) was a French mining engineer, mining executive, author and director of mines who developed general theory of business administration. His theory included 14 Principles of management. wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Fayol
3. Copyright: R. Max Wideman, copied from maxwideman.com/pm_101/in_general.htm
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Foreword
