Managing Business Strategies through Project Management
By: Samuel Lartey, Project Manager.
Projects are a means of organizing activities that cannot be addressed within the organisation's normal operational limits. They are often utilized as a means of achieving organizations strategic plan-all organisations have strategies. Business strategies often talk about all the wonderful things they want to achieve. Traditionally organisations have employed project management as a means of implementing business strategies in terms of constructing physically structures, products and networks. Thus, common in the construct ion and manufacturing sector, where the project teams are employed by the organisation or are contracted service provider.
Business organisations all over are being faced with the common challenge of satisfying the same consumers, hence adopting strategies that would attract customers profitably to their side. The new dimension to managing this challenge is translating business through Project management. Where, project management has the objective of setting up project as distinct from operational performance. Projects are setup to attain a specific objective and terminate. A project concludes when specific objectives have been attained. Operations on the other hand are to sustain the business.
Today, project management has taken a new dimension. Projects are typically authorized as a result of one or several factors arising from strategic considerations. Some of these strategic considerations may come from organisations having to produce terms, conditions and guidelines for the use and accessibility of a product or service (Legal consideration). Others may be as a result of market demand, the provision of customer request and needs, technological advance, and for competitive advantages.
The rapid rate of change in all these areas such as, technology, legal, socio-cultural, market and environment has created enormous strains upon existing organisational resources, be it time, money, human, or materials. The needs to facilitate and to participate in high performing business challenges require a new look to managing the business, hence, managing business strategies by projects. Project Management has been identified as one of the several workable solutions to making better use of existing resources, by getting work to flow within the orgnaisation. When managed effectively, it maintains realistic expectations levels and completes business objectives within budget, scope, time, and resource constraints.
Project Management provides a new approach to managing teams, forecasting and managing all risks and issues that would hinder the progress of the product or service when delivered, setting clear and achievable project goals, high performance and quality standards. In this process management strategies are delivered faster, with fewer resources, and with much quality standard that would delight the customer. Teams are effectively managed and third parties are identified.
The most interesting aspect of managing projects to realize business strategies is the fact that the organisation releases its executives and operational teams that has a critical part to play and good knowledge to contribute on this project to realize the business objectives. This is so because the project management defines clearly what is to be delivered, give simple understanding to all stakeholders both positive and negative so that their inputs can benefit planning, organizing and controlling the entire project, which would meet the objectives of the business within the constraint of time, cost and performance. It promotes and support commitment, conformity and uniformity of project responsibilities.
When business strategies are managed as projects it ensures the reduction in operational stress levels. It increases staff potentiality and performance levels because all members are charged and committed to specific responsibilities within certain period and provided certain resources that would facilitate their work. Business objectives are realized with all risks and issues well identified and managed. It increases business relations between internal and external customers and facilitates open partnership between key internal and external stakeholders. It enhances business communication through cross functional teaming and communicating business goals and standard excellence.
In conclusion it would be said that managing business strategies through project management is far more that a strategic objective than managing business strategies. It facilitates the re-shaping of the organisation and its innovations. It creates coherence in business management and creates the synergies for growth in all the business areas and units to drive home the organisations profitability.
