Promoting the Value of Project Management

  Strategy   Knowledge Shelf  

Project managers employed by firms that have never used a formal project management methodology can find themselves frustrated with an executive manager’s reluctance to embrace the project management discipline. It is important to understand that senior level managers are only doing what comes naturally in the business world, relying on hard-earned experience to keep their firms from wasting time, resources, and money in the pursuit of the unknown. Although it is important to respect the opinions of a senior manager, it is just as important to find a way to convince him or her of the opportunities to save time, resources, and money by implementing a project management process.

Small companies can be particularly reluctant to change, especially because owners of small firms have personally invested a lot of money and hard work while working in the trenches, developing and expanding their companies. In a smaller firm, more often than not, this same entrepreneur is still very much involved in the day-to-day operations and holds on firmly to existing processes and procedures. In these situations, it is difficult to introduce new methodologies, especially if there is an ingrained perception that the return on investment will not be positive. It is the mission of the project manager to disprove this perception in order to bring about a profitable result.

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