Project management is a business critical, transferable skill

Project management as a discipline has gone from being a nice to have to an essential part of everyone’s IT toolkit. It’s not just because everything is project based, but because all business is demanding, fast moving and dynamic;  and project management is a business critical, transferable skill. Project skills are not only important overall, the components will make you better at your job, no matter what it is.

Why? Here’s a few ideas:

IT projects are technically and logistically complex

They involve multiple stakeholders and often multiple aspects of tech across your organisation – it can be like herding cats trying to line them all up to be ready. You need people in your project to address the technical and business aspects of any project. It’s so often the logistics of getting everyone to use the new services correctly that cause projects to not deliver on their promise.

Scope creep is endemic in IT projects

So many development projects start out small and grow like topsy. If nothing else PM skills enable you to say no when it’s needed and for the right reasons! How many times has someone said or implied: “it’s just a matter of programming” – as if that will solve everything?

Timing is everything

If you don’t get that server upgrade done overnight, then no one can work the next day. Or you have to unwind the auto upgrade from a large OS provider because it clashes with one of your core apps and again nothing gets done while it’s all down. PM skills focus you on intended and unintended consequences as you map out progress.  It doesn’t matter if you are planning an end of year party, PR launch or a software implementation.

Risks

Risk management is a crucial part of PM. The whole business can revolve around your network/program/app for its day to day operations, financial stability and existence. The skills you derive from planning a project, noting and managing risks, are among the most transferable skills. How often does a new product get launched without a proper risk assessment? The Edsel for example nearly killed Ford’s reputation back in the late 1950s and $2 shops are littered with products that failed at launch.

Compliance 

Risk’s partner is compliance. These days if you don’t meet requirements in almost any aspect of your business, from email marketing, financial transparency to staff conditions, it can mean fines or other harsh restrictions on your ability to prosper. The skills learnt in project managing give you proper frameworks to manage compliance without strangling your operations.

These are just a few of the ways in which project management is a business critical, transferable skill. It’s nearly universally applicable to any job role. Here’s a more personalised view on transferable pm skills. So when you’re weighing up areas to study always keep project management at the forefront of your aims.  It doesn’t matter if it’s industry forums, university (like an IT Masters’ Master of Project Management) or other classes, it will pay you back immeasurably, particularly if you work in IT.