IS PROJECT MANAGEMENT A

DISCIPLINE?

David Fuschi

Table of ContentsDefinitionPurposeOrigin & ExamplesMethodologiesDomainsSources & StandardsA personal reflectionConclusion

Definition

“A project is a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product, service or result”

(PMI - Project Management Institute, 2013)

Definition

“Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to plan activities to meet project requirements”

(PMI - Project Management Institute, 2013)

Definition

However, although clearly defined and benefitting from a number of methodologies and standards, too often project management (PM) turns into:

an ART rather than a DISCIPLINE1

1 15-20% US SW project fail due to: poor project management, etc. (IEEE Spectrum Sep 2005)

Purpose

PM aims at providing a solution to the management of a process (the project) that represents, per se, a micro-cosmos

(in this respect PM is a DISCIPLINE)

PM also entails learning how to diplomatically handle situation and people

(in this respect PM is an ART)

Origin & Examples

In construction PM has been used since the times of:

Vitruvius (De Architectura 15 BC) or Lucius Flavius Silva (Masada 73 AD) in the western word and …

Li Bing (Dujiang Weir 256 BC) in the eastern world

Ponte Fabricio Pont du Gard Masada Dujiang Weir

Origin

The renaissance gave a strong impulse to PM with its architects & scientists (Brunelleschi, Palladio, Leonardo, etc.)

St.Maria del Fiore Villa Capra Organ Gun

Origin

Enlightenment and the industrial revolution gave further impulse to PM (Vanvitelli, Wren, Telford, Brunel) and led to its progressive formalisation (Taylor, Gantt, Fayol)

PontcysyllteAqueduct & Canal

Caserta Greenwich Hospital Royal Albert Bridge

Origin

Yet the number of artefacts from the past that have “not survived” is by far larger than that of those we can admire because …

… at the beginning PM was, often, more a matter of trial and error than a formalised discipline(see Saint-Pierre de Beauvais)

Saint-Pierre de Beauvais

Methodologies

PRINCE2 Critical chain project management Event chain methodology Lean project management Process-based management AGILE

… SIX SIGMA, TQC (quality assurance)

Domains

Government / Defence

Construction

Software

Pharma/FDA

Etc.

Sources of Standards

Project Management Institute (PMI)

Association for Project Management (APM)

International Project Management Association (IPMA)

OGC ISO 21500

A personal reflection

Project management entails:

Many different operation areasMany different skillsConstant education and professional developmentLearning from the past and in particular from errorsBeing proactive in identifying potential risksBeing creative in finding solutions to problemsBeing empathic to manage and interact with peopleBeing flexible and adaptableAt times it requires to:

“Adapt, improvise, achieve the objective”

(Grøtan et al., 2008)

Conclusion

Project Management is:

Discipline (where structures can be applied)

Art (when the human factor plays a significant role)

THANK YOU!Questions?