Distinguishing Features of Project Management in the 21st Century

The purpose of this article is to investigate the				interesting view of risk as he describes it as "a
current hot topics of project management. In the				reflexive phenomenon - we respond to perceived
21st century, there is a clear swift from hard				probabilities and magnitudes, thereby altering them", a
systems approach of project management to soft				definition that differs from the traditional quantitive
factors, a demand for strategic thinking in project				analysis of risk. Green broads even more the scope
management (Buttrick, 2000), new success factors				of risk management and includes the clients. He thinks
(Atkinson, 1999) and project uncertainty				that "the process of risk management only becomes
management (Ward & Chapman, 2003). Broader				meaningful through the active participation of the
project management theory and more intense				client's project stakeholders". In his point of view
research efforts are also a trend in the field (Winter				there is a new way of assessing risk management
& Smith, 2005).Human beings have been executing				that "depends less upon probabilistic forecasting and
projects from ancient times (Kwak, 2003). From				more upon the need to maintain a viable political
relocating a tribe to constructing enormous buildings				consistency within the client organisation".The
such as the pyramids, projects were a dominant				conventional theory of project management consists
element of history. Not long ago, those involved in				of a narrow focus on projects as unique and totally
projects understood that they needed methods and				separated units of work. But current projects tend to
processes to help them manage these projects more				be integrated smoothly in the general context of
efficiently. To meet this need, scientists and				organizations in order to "develop the
practitioners worked together to form a new				Â«management of project portfoliosÂ» and
concept which was called Â«project				Â«programme managementÂ» which are
managementÂ». According to the PMBOK's				more strategically orientated towards Â«doing
definition "project management is the application of				the right projectsÂ»" (Winter & Smith, 2005).
knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project				It is common ground in the literature that the theory
activities to meet project requirements". (A Guide to				of project management needs more research.
Project Management Body of Knowledge, 2004).				Koskela and Howell (2002) suggest that the
There are many different views in the literature				theoretical base "has been implicit and it rests on a
concerning the birth of project management. Maylor				faulty understanding of the nature of work in
(2005) mentions that "project management in the				projects, and deficient definitions of planning,
way that we would understand it today did not exist				execution and control". From their point of view,
until the 1950s" and Wideman (2001) tracks the first				enrichment of project management with new
use of project management in the UK's Institution of				methods and techniques cannot be done with any
Civil Engineers report on UK post war national				stable theoretical background. As a result, there is a
development first published in 1944.Since then, there				trend of putting more effort in research and
have been a lot of changes. "The hard systems				rethinking the way which Â«bodies of
approach, which treated the project as a mechanical				knowledgeÂ» is written so that complex projects'
activity, has been shown to be flawed" (Maylor,				actions will be better documented.As a conclusion, we
2005). The soft skills of project management are				could use the words of D.T. Jones (2005) who writes
getting more attention because it is now clear that				that "project management is no longer about
"the ability to apply these skills effectively throughout				managing the sequence of steps required to
the life cycle of a project will enhance the success of				complete the project on time". He adds that "it is
a project exponentially" (Belzer). In spite of the				about systematically incorporating the voice of the
perfect understanding of planning, scheduling and				customer, creating a disciplined way of prioritising
controlling, projects have still a high rate of failure.				effort and resolving trade-offs, working concurrently
Belzer points out that "more often they fail because				on all aspects of the projects in multi-functional
of a project manager's inability to communicate				teams".References1. A Guide to Project Management
effectively, work within the organization's culture,				Body of Knowledge, 2004, 3rd Edition, Project
motivate the project team, manage stakeholder				Management Institute2. Adams, Review for THES
expectations, understand the business objectives,				Risk Decision and Policy, Cambridge University Press,
solve problems effectively, and make clear and				[Electronic]3. Atkinson, 1999, Project management:
knowledgeable decisions". To address these problems				cost, time and quality, two best guesses and a
in the 21st century, a project team needs to develop				phenomenon, its time to accept other success
a series of soft skills such as "communication, team				criteria, International Journal of Project Management
building, flexibility and creativity, leadership and the				Vol. 17, No. 6, pp. 337Â±342, [Electronic]4. Belzer,
ability to manage stress and conflict". (Sukhoo et. al,				Project Management : Still More Art than Science,
2005).In addition, project management requires a				[Electronic]5. Buttrick, 2000, The project workout,
stronger strategy orientation. "More than 80 per cent				2nd edition6. Engwall, 2003, No project is an island:
of all problems at the project level are caused by				linking projects to history and context, Research
failures at a board level in firms to provide clear policy				Policy 32, pp. 789-808, [Electronic]7. Ferguson, 2005,
and priorities" (Maylor, 2001). The approach that				First Tutorial on Strategic Management, Full Time MSc
Maylor suggests is very different from the traditional				in Project Management, Lancaster University8. Green,
link between strategy and projects, as he proposes				Towards an integrated script for risk and value
a "coherent, co-ordinated, focused, strategic				management, Department of Construction
competence in project management which eventually				Management & Engineering, The University of
provides source of competitive advantage". This				Reading, UK9. Jones, 2005, Foreward to Maylor's
two-way methodology that relates organisational and				book Project Management, FT Prentice Hall, UK10.
project strategy is illustrated in figure 1. To better				Koskela & Howell, 2002, The underlying theory of
understand the project's strategy, there is also a				project management is obsolete, Project
need to analyse "the experiences from past				Management Institute, [Electronic]11. Kwak, 2003, The
activities, politics during the pre-project phases,				Story of Managing Projects, Quorum Books,
parallel courses of events happening during project				[Electronic]12. Maylor, 2005, Project Management, FT
execution and ideas about the post-project future"				Prentice Hall, UK13. Maylor, 2001, Beyond the Gantt
(Mats Engwall, 2002).Moreover, Maylor highlights a				Chart:: Project Management Moving on, European
change in project's success criteria, from				Management Journal Vol. 19, No. 1, pp. 92-100, 2001,
conformance to performance. In 1960s project				UK, [Electronic]14. Sukhoo, Barnard, Eloff, Van der Poll
managers seek to comply only with the documented				Accommodating Soft Skills in Software Project
specifications of the project, while current projects				Management, Issues in Informing Science and
require real performance. In other words, the success				Information Technology, University of South Africa,
criteria of the 21st century as indicated by Maylor				Pretoria, South Africa, [Electronic]15. Ward, 2003,
have changed to as short time as possible, as				Transforming project risk management into project
cheaply as possible and towards a maximum				uncertainty management, International Journal of
customer delight. Other academics imply nowadays a				Project Management vol.21, pp. 97-105, [Electronic]16.
much simpler view of success criteria which is				Wideman, 2001, Criteria for a Project Management
focused only in keeping the client happy (Ferguson,				body of knowledge, [Electronic]17. Winter & Smith,
2005) in contrast with the 90s view of just finishing				2005, 'Rethinking Project Management, Making Sense
the project on time and on budget.Changes in risk				So Far: Emerging Directions and Future Research',
management are also one of the hot topics of				Rethinking Project Management (EPSRC Network
project management in the new century. Ward				2004-2006), [Electronic]Dimitris Litsikakis is currently
(2003) propose the term Â«uncertainty				studying MSc Project Management in one of the top
managementÂ» and recommends that a "focus				business schools in UK, Lancaster University. He has
on Â«uncertaintyÂ» rather than risk could				published a series of articles in Ne.O (New Technology
enhance project risk management". Adams has an				Observer).

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Distinguishing Features of Project Management in the 21st Century

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