​The Future of Project Management

Every year new business models appear on the market. Some of the business models change the way an entire industry does business. Successful organizations have an unusual vision of the future. They see the light at the end of the tunnel and are willing to take the necessary steps to get there.

​

Some companies never see this light or mistakenly believe they have enough time to respond if something bad happens. An example could be some of the companies in Romania that are already insolvent or some of the companies that have a massive decrease in turnover, although they are still on a positive level of profit.

​

Many of the companies affected by the new business models, or perhaps by how they adapted (or not) to the new business models (which include flexibility and adaptability to economic, political, legislative, technological, social changes...etc.) they were well-run companies that had a talented workforce and were responsive to their customers' needs. The mistake they made was spending more time worrying about short-term profits and less time focusing on the long-term success of their organization. Simply because there are no visible competitive threats currently forecast in the construction industry does not mean that they are not hiding "in the bushes".

​

There are always early warning signs of potential changes within an industry. Well-managed firms react quickly to change, while others rest on their laurels. Successful companies are proactive rather than reactive.

​

Over the years, most project management training programs have focused heavily on the Earned Value Measurement System (EVMS), used to "command and control" projects. While other project management topics were often included, the emphasis was on command and control using EVMS. Project management has rarely been considered as a component of a business model.

​

Project management was a means of coordinating the creation of a deliverable or result. Project Managers were assigned to operational projects rather than strategic projects. Strategic projects were managed by functional managers because executives trusted functional managers more than they trusted project managers.

​

There was also an inherent fear on the part of executives that project managers might start making decisions that were reserved for the highest levels of management.

​

Simply put, mistrust and fear of project managers led executives to create the position of project supervisor. Project managers only made predominantly technical and operational decisions. Business and/or strategic decisions were made by upper management levels or project supervisors. Business-related information was often withheld from project teams. Information was a source of power is one of the reasons why executives were reluctant to share this information. Even in the case of projects with multi-million euro budgets, the Project Managers were often treated as mere puppets.

 

When companies are successful and reluctant to change, we often hear the following arguments:

This is how we do business;

Our management is satisfied with the way we carry out our activity;

We see no reason to change at present;

We are very happy with our command and control system.

 

If these comments
are representative of your organization
then don't read any further.

Just close this message
and watch your competition pass you by
and exceeds you in terms of turnover, profit, number of clients, market segment...etc.