We have seen the Project Management profession develop over the last 10 years or so. It has moved from purely being in sectors such as IT and Construction to being much more main stream. You don’t have to be a Project Manager to use the techniques and they can make a huge difference to many smaller projects you might be working on.

So what defines a project versus business as usual? The dictionary definition of a project is: “An individual or collaborative enterprise that is carefully planned to achieve a particular aim.”

Some key differences are:

  • Projects are time-bound whereas business as usual is ongoing.
  • Projects involve cross-functional teams whereas business as usual involves functional teams.
  • Project teams are made up of people filling particular roles. These aren’t job titles but positions within the project with distinct responsibilities.
  • Business as usual has functional teams made up of experts in their own right but grouped together as a division and normally with less cross-functional overlap to other departments than project teams.

Business as Usual teams run the business. They keep the lights on, they meet customer needs and hit targets. They can be the ones who identify the need for change, where things aren’t working properly and no longer meet the business need. This can then kick off the need for a project. Projects can then be setup to look at implementing the change.

Here are five reasons why applying project management techniques to smaller projects can help achieve success:

1. Create Order from Chaos – by defining a project plan you can help to reduce the level of chaos. Having a clear plan mapped out from start to finish helps everyone understand what is required.
2. Clear Goals – by establishing project goals from the start everyone knows what they are working to, you have a common goal and vision and can more easily measure success.
3. Encourages Teamwork – projects can bring people together in sharing a common goal and sharing ideas and knowledge. Collaboration is key for a successful project outcome.
4. Schedule, Cost and Quality – by ensuring everyone is clear on when things need to be done, the budget available and the standard needed it means everyone knows what they are working to.
5. Lessons Learnt – sometimes projects do fail, it is important to learn from project success and failure to ensure failure is not repeated and success is built upon.

If you would like to learn how to apply project management techniques as part of your role then our Managing Smaller Projects course is just for you, view our Public Programme Dates, to see the next available training date for this course.

Click on the link below to go to our website and see full details of this and other programmes that we run or feel free to email us on training@underscore-group.com to book your place or if you have any questions.


Read Next

  • people working on laptops with a gantt chart overlay

Skills for Project SUCCESS

If you’re a project manager, project success is probably the one thing you think about day in day out. More specifically, you probably worry about how you can make sure your project(s) gets completed [...]