The Digitalization of Project Management

Vikas is a consultant in Germany.

  Information Technology   Work Breakdown Structures (WBS)  

Most project managers focus solely on the product or services the project should deliver. However, project management is not only about delivering products or services. It is the knowledge of skills, techniques and tools necessary to manage projects successfully.

Project management is defined to achieve a common goal by organizing resources systematically in a governed space. It has grown and changed over centuries, from the age of the Egyptians and the Great Pyramids of Giza to the building of the Great Wall of China, also including the Parthenon, the Taj Mahal  and the Transcontinental Railroad.

The great pioneers like Henry Gantt (1861–1919), known as the father of modern planning and control techniques, and Frederick W. Taylor (1856–1915), inventor of scientific management, played a major role in developing modern project management. Gantt not only invented the Gantt chart, but also designed the “task and bonus” system of wage payment and additional measurement methods to increase worker efficiency and productivity. Taylor introduced modern project management tools, including work breakdown structures (WBS) and resource allocation.

The 1950s marked the beginning of the modern project management era, which gave greater control to project managers. Among the new methods introduced were the critical path method, the program evaluation and …

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