Project Management: An Art or Science?

“Where are you?”, a stern voice on the other side of the mobile asked. “I am on a coffee break” was the calm response. “NO! Do not spend time on anything else. You need to be back. There’s a high business impact emergency”. After putting a long day and deservedly having a coffee break, the skilled subordinate walked back to the workstation. The issue was fixed in no time, much ahead of the agreed timelines with the customer. The Boss won the ‘Schedule Management’ battle but lost the ‘Stakeholder (Internal)’ confidence.

Our friend in the story somewhere tilts himself into the category of an autocratic leader who gets his job done.

There is another community that liberalise itself to a complete democratic mode, leaving all the nuances of the deliverables into the hands of subordinates. The method may give a free hand to deliver but potentially impacts costs, scope, schedule and may result in risks that have no mitigation.

Whichever is the endeavour, long or short one, ultimately fits itself in a category called ‘Project’. The one who manages it, is the leader and typically has to work on the principles of’ Project Management’ or ‘Science of Project Management.

Project Management, by no means, can be learnt on its own. It is an amalgamation of knowledge and experience. The skillset over a period has evolved and has set guidelines to make it easy for the Project Management Disciple. 

A project is a journey from initiation to closure. What lies within is vigilant planning, executing, monitoring, and controlling. 

The Project Manager is normally the first one to onboard and the last one to get released from the project. We will now see the different phases of the project which are the responsibilities of the Project Manager.

1) Initiation: Project Charter and Identification of Stakeholders are the key takeaways of this phase. Identification of stakeholders is very critical component, and the methodology can give guidance, however, no science can teach how to identify the ‘Unknown Stakeholders’who have the potential to influence the project. To overcome this challenge is an art that one must inculcate for a successful endeavour.

2) Planning: This planning phase encompasses Project Management to engage with stakeholders across various knowledge areas. The science helps to plan scope, schedule and costs which are the critical takeaways. However, no planning is complete without quality, associated risks, resources and their activities. The art indwells in the judgement and assessingthese areas beyond what is planned.

3) Executing: You reap what you sow. If the planning is not full proof, execution becomes a challenge. This is a phase where adherence to planning, quality and stakeholder’s management is the key however the real calibre is to manage and develop a team. This phase revolves around communication. High-quality project delivery is of no use if there is a lack of communication. It is an art that can keep the human aspect of any project connected; else it is bound to culminate into escalations.

4) Monitoring and Controlling: As the project nears its journey towards closure, volatile parameters are bound to put spokes in the moving wheel. If the Scope, Schedule, Costs, or risks start showing their tangible deviations then the Integrated Changes or the Stakeholderscan pose questions beyond the methodology. A Project Manager needs to rise beyond his role, boardroom talks and need to manage these challenges by thinking out of the box. This art comes from the experience and needs to be assimilated by the Project Manager as he moves across the projects or aims to move to a bigger platform called a ‘Program’.

5) Closing: The closure, by far is the toughest phase of any project. It is a review of all the phases which were delivered. Data points shall prove that the project has come to an end. However, it is the Project Manager who shall need his ‘Art of Convincing’ to bring all the stakeholders in sync for the final sign off before he can make a successful exit from the project.

With the advent of technology, human demands, and competition to survive it's not only the Science that can make a project successful but also it will need an art called ‘Pragmatic Project Management’ as a skillset for the future. The days for an autocratic or a democratic leader are soon going to be a story of the past.

Disclaimer: The above article takes the liberty to utilise and stitch the project management methodology to a human approach. The thoughts are individual, and do not propagate any methodology or represent any organisation.