Would you hire an experienced project manager for a regular operations role in an organization?
Serena AghaHR Transformation Program Manager| Sidra medicineLahore, Not Specified, Qatar
Although I believe operations can be chunked and taken up as seperate projects that need to be managed and delivered, however, the principles underlying project delivery and operations perhaps are incongruent. Thoughts? Saving Changes...
Aws NabeelInformation Technology Multimedia Educational Technologist| Dhofar UniversitySalalah, Dhofar, Oman
As project managers dedicated to get things done, i believe they can manage operation role with an adjustments to the style of management.
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1 reply by Serena Agha
Jul 02, 2018 10:10 PM
Serena Agha
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Flexibility indeed is the key!
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Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
Including my actual work place I see that more and more organizations are using project management and started project/programs to manage things that could be considered operations. In my personal opinion it works because while I did not believe on that in the begining I am seing that this approach is a mean to solve problems on operations. The key is to select what inside operations deserves to be considered a program/project from the point of view that it could be solve a problem or problem situation. Saving Changes...
I don't think project management skills are needed in operations so there is no point to hire an experienced project manager.
Business as Usual (BAU) unlike a project is an ongoing activity that has no determined end date. Of course a project can be extended but you still expect for it to end, BAU theoretically never ends.
In a project you have a fixed budget, again that can be extended, that needs to be used to deliver whatever needs to be delivered while in BAU you continuously receive money for years and years in order to run your activities.
Also the activities done in BAU can't easily be put in a project scope. For instance in IT support if a computer breaks you go and fix/change it ASAP, you don't make a task for it to be put in a project management software. The user logs an issue in a special software system and the IT Support Technician closes it once the work is done.
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1 reply by Serena Agha
Jun 30, 2018 11:55 AM
Serena Agha
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Absolutely. However if you dig a bit deeper the underlying principles (as opposed to practices) of project management, is setting and achieving targets. Would it not help operations if the leader, a project manager, is able to set neat targets?
It can be done, but why do it? Also, why would an "experienced" project manager want to work in a "regular" operations role?
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2 replies by Adrian Carlogea and Serena Agha
Jun 30, 2018 8:51 AM
Adrian Carlogea
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I don't think it is possible to perform all the operations activities as projects. For instance if you have an IT Helpdesk Team composed of operators that answer users phone calls you can't use projects and project management for its work.
In many operations activities you have employees standing by to perform tasks for issues that can be raised at any time. Once the issue is being raised the operations worker must start work on it ASAP. If there are many issues they would just wait in a queue and the worker would pick a task according to its severity and the time the tasks has waited in the queue. It's like triage in an emergency hospital room.
Jun 30, 2018 11:20 AM
Serena Agha
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Dysfunctional organizations perhaps need project managers to get things redirected/ transformed??
It can be done, but why do it? Also, why would an "experienced" project manager want to work in a "regular" operations role?
I don't think it is possible to perform all the operations activities as projects. For instance if you have an IT Helpdesk Team composed of operators that answer users phone calls you can't use projects and project management for its work.
In many operations activities you have employees standing by to perform tasks for issues that can be raised at any time. Once the issue is being raised the operations worker must start work on it ASAP. If there are many issues they would just wait in a queue and the worker would pick a task according to its severity and the time the tasks has waited in the queue. It's like triage in an emergency hospital room.
