What are the Pillars of Project Management?
If a project fails, a project manager is the one who is to be blamed.
41% of businesses have a high failure rate due to the lack of involvement of a senior project manager.
This is an alarming figure considering the fact that project managers are the glue that holds the project together. Lack of involvement by them can cause considerable losses to the company in the form of project failures.
Even the finest and most experienced managers can succumb to a lot of pressure. A majority of project managers are not satisfied with their performance in leading projects. They experience missed deadlines, going way over budget, missing several crucial elements, and no proper documentation. What can be done to avoid this? Project managers should implement the pillars of project success in their strategies. These pillars can help them understand the requirements of the project as well as the team members.
You can understand the importance of these pillars by pursuing
project management courses in India. However, till you decide to enrol in one, here’s a guide to some of these essential pillars.
Related : Turn your projects into profits with Project Management from XLRI
4 Pillars of Project Management
- Building Trust Goes a Long Way
Project managers are required to make several decisions every day. All these decisions have a significant influence on the project and its resources. However, the impact is felt mainly by the team members. A single decision, if not conveyed appropriately, can cause conflicts inside the team.
It is your responsibility, as project managers, to ensure building trust within the team. They should have confidence in your decisions and know that all your actions are in the company’s best interest. Additionally, it is also vital for you to trust them with their ideas and suggestions.
Having confidence in the system prompts team members to explore beyond their comfort zones and spark their creativity. Instead of hiding information and miscommunicating the goals, a team should look out and help each other overcome obstacles. Lack of trust results in a wastage of time and effort. Moreover, it reduces the motivation of employees, causing them to adopt conservative behaviour.
- Ensuring Motivation in Team Members
Motivation is a crucial element for performing tedious tasks in long-term projects. Without any driving factors of motivation, team members will not be inclined to perform to the best of their abilities; ergo, there will be delays in delivering projects. By motivating them, not only will you complete projects on time, but will also have fewer problems and conflicts along the way.
As a project manager, it will be your responsibility to ensure that the team works harmoniously and achieves organisational goals and objectives. Some initiatives that can help motivate people include:-
- Establishing a culture of innovation.
- Involving the team in setting goals for the project.
- Encouraging them to find creative solutions to a problem.
- Providing growth opportunities to maximise strengths and minimise weaknesses.
- Recognising and celebrating the hard work of members.
Of course, skills like planning projects and identifying risks are essential for project managers. However, other soft skills like effective communication and resolving conflicts help develop and maintain motivation in the team. Institutes like
IIM and
XLRI provide the best project management courses in India that can help you acquire the skill of building trust and motivation among the team members.
Related : Phases of Project Management
- The Need for Accountability, Not Just Responsibility
Responsibility and accountability are often considered the same. However, there is a massive difference between a responsible person and the one who is accountable. A responsible member is an individual assigned a task and has an obligation to fulfil it successfully. In contrast, an accountable person is the one who is answerable for a particular decision or task.
Accountability in project management is as essential as responsibility. Project managers frequently assign the responsibility of completing tasks within deadlines to several members. However, what they do not provide is accountability. With increased responsibilities, but not much accountability, team members may escape duties and blame others.
Project managers alone mustn’t be held accountable for all the activities of a project as they are primarily dependent on the team to complete tasks. Having the same person liable and responsible for a job helps avoid the blame game when things go wrong. To gain the practical knowledge of managing people, you can enrol yourself in the
XLRI project management course that can help you manage and assess project teams’ performance.
Related : Skills Required For A Career In Project Management
- Importance of Change Management
The only thing constant in any business is change. With something so unavoidable, it is best to understand its importance and how to deal with them. As project managers, you should bring new, challenging, and exciting changes to the current structure of the projects. However, not all team members are keen on adopting these new changes.
Human nature remains more or less the same. To that end, fear makes team members uncomfortable accepting any changes in the organisation. There are various reasons that people resist changes, some of which include:-
- Employees may feel that they do not have the relevant capabilities to survive the changes.
- Some people are accustomed to working in their comfort zones and do not want any changes in them.
- Some employees have a fear of technology replacing them.
- Team members resist changes with a fear of working more on the same incentives.
“Change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end.” Robin Sharma
You may be required to make changes in the structure of the project due to several reasons like government policies, changes in competition, economy, and legal requirements. They may seem complicated but once implemented effectively can benefit the business and its people. As a project manager, enrolling in the XLRI project management course can be an ideal choice for you. This course from XLRI can help you manage resistance to change and influence team members to understand their importance.
Related : Skills Required For A Career In Project Management
To Sum Up!
Managing and delivering a project requires several team members’ skills and expertise, which is why project managers have to manage people as well. Project management courses in India can help you learn the importance and acquire the skills for a successful project.
So now that you know the pillars of project success, what are you waiting for? Enrol in the XLRI project management certification course and get started with delivering projects resulting in impactful changes to your business.
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