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Updated: December 7, 2020 Ask ACE

Ask ACE: Here's why 'project management' is important

By Jim Milliken

Q: I hear a lot about project management, but I don’t understand the value. It seems complicated and cumbersome, when people could just go ahead and do the job. What’s the big deal?

ACE advises: Most of what we do doesn’t require project management, although some of the skills and practices can save time and improve everyday work.

On the job we usually are repeating regular actions that produce something or provide services. While there may be slight differences each time, the general nature of the work can be learned and improved. As we become familiar with our job, we trim out variances, making it more efficient and productive.

That is normal functional work. It rewards devotion to established processes and behavior, and any changes disrupt it.

Then management changes things to meet new needs or update a process.

If the change is significant, implementing it is a project. In fact, introducing project management into a functional organization is itself a project. Projects are unfamiliar, often risky group actions that require the participants to learn or invent practices that differ markedly from what they’re used to.

Managing such an effort calls for a different kind of thinking. The project manager must be alert to factors and events that demand fresh ideas, especially when they are deceptively similar to what the staff people are used to.

We all tend to default to familiar ways of doing things — the famous comfort zone. That can seriously damage an effort at innovation. We may not even be aware we’re doing so until it becomes obvious our new process is off the track.

The tools and practices are designed to keep that from happening.

Jim Milliken, a consultant, can be reached at Jim@Millikenproject.com

The Association for Consulting Expertise (ACE) is a nonprofit association of independent consultants who value “Success through Collaboration.” The public is welcome to attend its regular meetings to share best practices and engage with industry experts. For more information go to www.consultexpertise.com.

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