7 Executive Myths about Project Management

JoAnn Becker, M.S., M.B.A., PMP

If youre a CEO, president, head of an agency, or perhaps a CFO, COO, CMO or even the CIO in any type (profit, nonprofit, health care, government, education, etc.) of organization this article is for you. Executives in leadership positions bring a variety of experiences and skills with them - accounting, operations, sales, and finance. But relatively few have had project management experience. That can be a problem in todays environment. A clear and consistent message I hear from students in my classes is that very few of their senior managers and executives have an adequate understating of how to effectively and profitably manage projects and change. So just what is Project Management? Project management is a basic business process of moving from here to there. In his examination of todays businesses, Execution Management, Larry Bossidy defines project management as the discipline of getting things done. Simply put, a project is a temporary endeavor with a definite beginning and deadline, along with specific, desired results defined. In my experiences, many of todays leaders arent as aware as they need to be of just what it takes to achieve the results of the change they need to lead. While there is a lot of information around about effective project management, there are also myths. Id like to dispel some of them. Myth 1: Project Management Is a Skill for Lower Level Workers. Many senior executives picture project management as a technology person in front of a PC creating Microsoft Project schedule charts. And they stop there. While setting up schedules, milestones, and measurements is a key step, it represents less than 30% of the entire project management process. Current research identifies project management as a core competency for organizational growth and profitability. It is a required competency at the individual, team and organizational levels. Check any organization having a successful track record - they deliver business results on time and on budget. People throughout their organization work on projects and at multiple levels, not just the project manager and a couple of folks from the IT department. Myth 2: Project Management Can Be Eliminated or Cut Back. Every project moves through distinct stages specific to the discipline and industry of the project. The project life cycle includes what you need to do to do the work and successfully deliver results. The project management life cycle is what you need to do to manage the project and successfully deliver results. Project management is risk mitigation and the insurance to get the business results defined at the beginning of the project. Myth 3: Project Management Is for Technical People and Departments, Not for the Rest. The fact is every project is an organizational investment project, regardless of what technical work is needed to complete the deliverables. As a leader, the question you must ask when major project decisions must be made Should models and paradigms of business, or of technology, be used to make those decisions? Myth 4: Project Managers Must Be Experts in the Subject Area of the Projects they Manage. Detailed subject matter experts are needed to complete project work. The project manager must be a subject matter expert in project management, though needs a basic understanding of the projects subject matter. This is also the position of the international Project Management Institute (PMI). Myth 5: Project Managers Only Need the Technical Skills of Project Management. Current research has identified that superior project managers use 70% soft skills and 30% hard skills to deliver results. This explains why projects with a lot of technical activities led by a technology skilled person (maybe with minimal project management skills) complete late and over budget, and do not generate desired organizational results. These soft skills include influence, communication, negotiation, trust and relationship building, team building, and stakeholder expectation management, to name just a few. Myth 6: You Learn How to Be an Effective Project Manager through Class Room Training. Those 30% hard skills (scheduling, GANTT and PERT charts, Earned Value Management, budget, variance analysis) are easily learned in a traditional course, or online. Gaining an understanding of the soft skills is possible from classroom or online courses. Becoming competent in performing soft skills requires a different learning approach. Experienced-based training is how people learn-by-doing. They have coaching for ongoing feedback, support of their learning, and suggestions to grow and enhance competencies. Knowing what to do and doing it as automatic behavior are different. Myth 7: Only Profit Making Organizations Need Project Management. All organizations engage in two activities: ongoing repetitive operations, and projects. For-profit, not-forprofit, government, education, or other organizations must also complete projects. Profitability and growth are goals for all organizations, and directly depend upon successful execution of change.

Organizations engage in two types of activities: ongoing and repetitive operations work, and change (or project) work. Leaders must deliver results with fewer people and in less time for both. Understanding the thinking for change or project work helps everyone do that successfully. Organizational survival and sustainability in todays world is requiring people in all roles, including CEOs and other executives, to understand the basics of this 5-step business process, and its role to Achieve Results from Change (ARC) for sustainability, growth, and improvements.
JoAnn Becker works with leaders and their organizations to Achieve Results from Change (ARC) - for growth, profitability, workforce development, plus other types of improvements by getting things done with Program, Project, and Stakeholder Management. She has taught at the University of Illinois Chicago colleges of business and nursing and their Institute for Health Care Innovation; the Illinois Institute of Technology Stuart Graduate School of Business; and many organizations. She is writing a book, Stakeholder Expectation Management Works for Everyone. She may be reached at 847-682-5665, JoAnn@AchievingResultsfromChange.com or JoAnn@TransformingHealthcare.com.