FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

1. What is Project Management Important in Today's Environment?
2. What is A Project?
3. How is A Project Work Different From Any Other Work?
4. What is Project Management?
5. What Knowledge Should A Project Manager Master?
6. Is There Any Standard In Project Management?
7. Which Industries Have Used Project Management?
8. What Happens When Project Management Is Not Used?
9. Why Do Organizations Need Project Management?
10. What Is The Origin Of Project Management?

1. What is Project Management Important in Today's Environment?

   The twenty first century is here along with tighter budgets, less time to get things done, and fewer recources. Competition will continue to pressure us to come up with better ways of doing our business. A flexible and responsive approach to changing customer requirements is important. In other words, to master the business in the future, we eill need to build things faster, cheaper, and with a better quality than our competitors.

   Project management makes it possible to focuss on priorities, track performance, overcome difficulties, and adapt to change. It gives us more control and provides proven tools and techniques to help us lead teams to reach objectives on time and within budget.

2. What is A Project?
   

   Every project should have a clear start and end, a defined set of objectives, and a sequence of activities in between. According to PMI's PMBOK ® : a project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service. Temporary means that every project has definite beginning and a define end. Unique means that the product or service is different in some distinguishing way from all similar products or services.

   Examples or projects include:

   • Writing and publishing a book
   • Promoting a product in a two-week program across the country
   • Opening a new sales office
   • Developing a new product or service
   • Designing or acquiring a new or modified information system
   • Organization restructuring
   • Constructing a building or facility
   • Arranging a wedding ceremony, birthday party, etc.
   
   
3. How is A Project Work Different From Any Other Work?
   

   If you refer the definition of a project then any work is considered routine. Therefore routine work is usually ongoing, repetitive, and process-oriented. As a continuous process, routine work is not considered a project.

   For example: manufacturing bottled coke on a continuous basis.
   

4. What is Project Management?
   

   Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities in order to meet or exceed the stakeholder needs and expectations from that project.

5. What Knowledge Should A Project Manager Master?
   

   The Project Manager should be proficient in the knowledge and practice of nine knowledge areas: Scope Management, Time Management, Cost Management, Quality Management, Human Resources Management, Risk Management, Communications Management, Procurement Management, and Project Integration Management. These knowledge areas are further described in PMBOK®.

6. Is There Any Standard In Project Management?
   

   The answer is YES! There are a number of "de facto" standard that are accepted across many industries both nationally and internationally. Individuals who wish to demonstrate their competence in the field of Project Management can draw upon two standards:

   • The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOOK®). This standard belongs to the Project Management Institute, USA. All activities related to PMI's certification are developed, deployed, and maintained by adhering to acceotable psychometric principles.
   • The Natinal Competency Standard for Project Management (NCSPM). This standard resides in the public domain in Australia and has been adopted by the Australian Institute of PM (AIPM) and the Indonesian Society of PM (IAMPI) as the minimum standard for certification as a professional. This is an evicence based assessment process. This standard is also being used as the basis for the global PM standard.
     
     

   Organizational competency standard similar to the ISO 9000 quality management standard are currently under development and should become available in 2002.

7. Which Industries Have Used Project Management?
   

   Based on research, the key industry areas represented within the Project Management Professional Association are as follows:

   • Telecommunication...10%
   • Management System...6%
   • Construction...7%
   • Information Technology...10%
   • Software/Computers...11%
   • Other (various industries, including Banking, Manufacturing, Military Industry, etc)...56%
     
     

8. What Happens When Project Management Is Not Used?
   

   The following characteristic are some of the consequences:

   • Missed deadlines
   • Work is redone or duplicated
   • Cost overruns
   • Unclear project progress
   • Staffing conflicts within project assignments
   • Lack of competence of the project team members
   • Continuouschange of project scope
   • Employees or staff show resistance and do not "buy-in" to ongoing projects
     
     
9. Why Do Organizations Need Project Management?
   
   Project Management techniques contributes to:
   • Meeting or exceeding customer requirements or needs
   • Eliminating "reinventing the wheel" by standardizing repetitive project work
   • Reducing the number of tasks that could be overlooked
   • Eliminating duplication of effort
   • Controlling project schedules, budgets, and resources
   • Maximizing the use of resource
     
     
10. What Is The Origin Of Project Management?

    Historically, the construction industry was the major user. People used to apply project management only for physical or tangible projects. Nowadays, more and more people get the benefit in applying the project management approach for non-physical/intangible projects such as organization restructuring, information technology, e-business, etc.