
Have you ever wondered “Why is project management important?”
If you’ve never worked with a project manager before, it can be tempting to forego the expense in favor of managing a project yourself. After all, project management can be a hefty financial investment, so why not just do it yourself?
But that would be a mistake.
A good project manager is the glue that holds a project together and ensures quality and objectives are met on time and on budget. According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), organizations that undervalue project management report an average of 50% more of their projects failing outright. Fifty percent.
Failed projects can quickly derail your initiatives and delay or even prevent business growth.
Project management is more than simply tracking deadlines and setting a budget. A good project manager takes control of a project from beginning to end, ensuring that the initiatives and goals are strategically aligned, the project has stakeholder support, and everyone is on the same page.
What is project management?
To understand why project management is important, we first need to define exactly what project management is.
PMI defines project management as “ the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements.” A basic project management lifecycle covers four stages:
- Initiation
- Planning
- Execution
- Closure
In other words, the purpose of project management is to plan and manage a project to successfully complete its listed goals and deliverables. It involves identifying and managing risks, careful resource management, smart budgeting, and clear communication across multiple teams and stakeholders.
Why is project management important?
Because projects are often complex and involve numerous stakeholders, having a project manager to lead the initiative and keep everyone on the same page is critical to project success.
In fact, PMI found that organizations using any type of project management methodology are better at meeting budget, staying on schedule and meeting scope, quality standards and expected benefits.