The Value of Project Management

Some one rightfully asked me the other day of the value that project management can add to their organization and as an individual wanting to go into the profession.For many people, the idea of a structured process represents change, which is often unwelcome; and it is thought to be overly burdensome and even costly. In reality, successful project management offers important benefits to ensure goals are effectively accomplished for the benefit of the organization.

Some of these values that PM brings to the table includes:

• Establishes accountability -Project status reports track progess on deliverables,ensuring project stays on track and on schedule.
• Manages Risk -potential risks or threats to the success of the project are identified early and manged accordingly by putting necessary risk mitigating processes in place
  
• Mitigates Cost -most projects major issues are that costs are always overiden,but this can be corrected by using techiques and tools to manage cost variances
  
• Prevents Scope Creep- you don't want your project to continue in a never ending cycle.The term, scope creep, is often used to describe what happens when a project continually evolves beyond the initial scope of work. More often than not, the uncontrollable growth of a project landscape is a result of the lack of project management and almost always guarantees the downfall of a project.Scope is controlled by using a scope baseline in PM
  
• Ensures Ontime Delivery-The value of project management is that it provides a means for setting specific goals within realistic timeframes. As part of the process, the project manager then tracks each of the deliverables to ensure on-time completion.
• Establishes a Communication system on projects-Everyone is on the same page as to what goes on in the project.having a clearly identified project leader, means clients have a direct and known point of contact with whom to communicate.
• Better expectation-setting through up-front estimating, planning, and project definition.
• Faster execution through the reuse of common processes and templates.
• Fewer project problems encountered when utilizing proactive project management processes.
• Better organizational decision making through more effective project communication.
• Higher client satisfaction and less rework by building a higher quality product the first time.Etc