Synergy in Project Management :: Project Management

Project management synergy beyond traditional processes Abstract Project Management - The term that dictates the future of a project. A successful project owes all its credits to the Project Management and the evidence is obvious when the service (result of the project) meets all its expectations. Yet we have witnessed several projects failing even after having a plan in place, following the plan and meeting all the requirements. Why have these projects failed and what more is critical to the success of the project? All projects are conceived with a vision to satisfy certain needs of the business. Hence the beneficiary of these needs become key stakeholders. Appropriate participation of this key stakeholder in steering the project insures the success of the project. Also businesses are impacted by competition and changing market place resulting in skewed expectation management. Managing expectations enhances the success of the project immensely. Now, goal of the project plays a pivotal role and hence respecting it, is an important task, in project management. Governance in projects plays this role in guaranteeing the projects success. This is what I call Project Management Synergy beyond traditional processes. Introduction The connotation that has always been associated with Project Management is more like "€˜an inward focused activity". An assignment given by the customer has to be delivered in time and within cost constraints by working out permutations and combinations of resources across the phases of the project lifecycle. The execution has almost become a mechanical process of following and adhering to a set of predefined rules. What is missed out in the process is the main objective for which the project was conceived, the need, the business requirement. Business Improvement Architect's annual research of project managers at ProjectWorld 2005 in Toronto, Canada indicated that à ¢Ã‚€Â˜Training of Project Sponsors' fifty-eight percent (58%) as something that would benefit them most to improve their ability to manage a project. As well they said they would benefit from 'Communication Skills' (42%) and à ¢Ã‚€Â˜Leadership Skills' (36%). These knowledge areas have increased in importance over previous years. (Figure 1) Migrating from Crisis to Controlled environment is the need of this Era and it can be achieved by Synergistic Project Management. Several research studies indicate that organizations are in a crisis with respect to how projects are managed. The key factors contributing to this crisis that need to be managed is discussed in this paper. Figure 1 * Source  © Business Improvement Architects Stakeholders Participation Right from the initiation stage, a legal contract dominates the relationship between the customer and the vendor based on the terms and conditions.