Before you begin any large undertaking, it is always wise to stop a second and take stock of the full situation. Be certain that the steps you are about to take really will get you where you want to go.
With Project Management, there are a few evaluative tools you can use to decide whether or not project management is what your company needs.
Start by making sure you’ve distinguished between project work and operations.
Operations are continuous. They are ongoing, repetitive, and often daily.
Typical business operations might include purchasing, manufacturing, marketing, or sales.
Even sweeping the floor or unlocking the front door can count as operations—anything your company must do to produce or manufacture their advertized services. You have probably already hired employees to handle each of the daily operations. The Operations of a business falls under the heading “Business as usual”
Business Operations is quite different from Project Work.
Project Work is temporary. Company projects come up when there is this one (often large) task or function that needs to be implemented company wide.
Some typical projects might include software implementation, company merger, or marketing of a new logo.
Project Work and Business Operations are different no only in scope, but also implementation. For this reason, it is often necessary to bring in someone from outside the company to serve as the project manager since, as we already mentioned, the current employees are running the operations.
