The Role of Project Management in Todays Business Environment

Question: Discuss about The Role of Project Management in Todays Business Environment. Answer: In my opinion project management is actually a discipline. A discipline that requires careful planning, initiating, executing, closing, and controlling the operation of a group or team of professionals engaged in particular job oriented to achieve definite goals and success criteria. A project is a temporary or short term endeavor set by most businesses these days for the purpose of attaining certain stipulated goals (A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK guide), 2004). These goals may be oriented towards production of goods, or catering services which further have a definite beginning and an end time stipulated prior to the commencement of the project. According to me project management is an efficient discipline which can be implemented in business operations from time to time with the aim to bring about an added value to the business or beneficial change. The provisional nature of the projects contrasts the perpetual operations of the businesses and requires much more efficiency in regards to managing the activities involved (Graham, 2011). I believe the chief reason that present day businesses require project management is because of the changing nature of the people across the world around which a business revolves. With proper implementation of project management businesses would not only be able to meet with their customers changing demands but also will be able to meet those demands efficiently and in due time. In my experience I have gathered that the core framework of the project management is that it allows me make use of the time more efficiently. In addition, I found it to be more useful in ensuring that the achievement of the goals stipulated prior to the commencement of the project is certain (Heaslip, 2014). The importance of project management in contemporary businesses is very important as it helps businesses to cope with their shortcomings effectively and positively. The day to day business operations often fail to achieve the daily targets which result in the shortcomings in the first place. Furthermore, with an appropriate project management framework I am able to convert the day to day business operations into short term projects. For instance, declaring a certain months operation to be a project I am able to achieve a better success rate than a regular operational month (Kerzner, 2001). This is due to the series of planning that is involved with the project. Before initiation a project requires a great deal of planning, significantly setting the targets to be accomplished and the way the project is about to be carried out. This will involve in setting individual roles for each of the members of the group involved in the project. Subsequent to this a definite time period will be set for the project. Now, the members involved in the project will have a clear perspective in regards to their role in regards to what they have to achieve and the ti me period in which they have to achieve. Most importantly as a result of the short term nature of the projects members involved in projects operate in a highly motivated manner, this is because that they are aware that work pressure is temporary and as per the targets and job responsibilities are previously stipulated they will get paid accordingly, resulting in a higher rate in employee satisfaction and successful conclusion of the project (Kerzner, n.d.). In my opinion when it comes initiating a project I would rather hire a team of professionals as per the nature of the project than carry out the project with my regular work staffs. This I feel because professional project management teams have higher proficiency in terms of controlling, managing, executing and completing the project goals. If I am able to achieve an aggregate of 70% out of the project with the regular staff I would be able to increase my success rate to 15-25% more with the help of professional teams (Lock, 2007). Most of the reputed corporate businesses like Apple, IBM, and Microsoft have their very own project management teams which they use to coordinate various projects that help the company accomplish a little more extra. For instance, the game developing department of Microsoft uses their project management teams to sort out bugs and glitches in the new games they launch, while their team of developers works on other stuff. This helps the company to motivate i ts staffs to their originally designated works, and the project management teams carry out the work which could have hindered the business operations. I feel that businesses should incorporate project management in their infrastructure more and often (Organizational learning and knowledge, n.d.). This would not only help the businesses to achieve more out of their operations but also will enable them to understand the potential of the business they are carrying on.