Project management training is a necessity today. Management has begun to understand that computer projects can have a major impact on the organization. Part of this realization has been due to the Year 2000 Problem. The Y2K situation is different from other computer projects in that it has an external determined completion date. The fact that the completion date is not flexible, and there is the risk of being put out of business, compound the problem.

In addition to the Y2K problem more computer projects today involve how an organization operates its business. Computer projects are no longer mechanization of a manual operation or a conversion to a larger computer.

Management looks at major projects and is concerned that the past history of completing computer projects on target has not been good. The management concern then becomes questions of how to improve project performance. A frequent answer is to install a project management software tool. One of the most popular tools is Microsoft’s Project.

Microsoft’s Project package, as well as packages from other vendors, will prepare GANTT charts and PERT networks, calculate the critical path and slack times, level resources, print reports, and generally do everything you ever wanted on project control. The tool will give you blinking lights on the screen and print graphics and charts in splendid color. These packages are reasonably complete and are complex.

Does the management decision to install a project control tool solve all the problems of managing projects? Unfortunately the forced installation of a complex software package may create additional problems. Many organizations have found that their project people are not ready for such a tool. Project teams have to stop and learn to use the tool. Some project teams have abandoned the use of a project control package, with or without the approval or knowledge of management, after spending valuable project time trying to learn a package and applying it to their project needs.

The bigger question in installing a project control package is whether the project team understands the basic concepts of project management and control. Without understanding the concepts, a fool with a tool is still a fool. If project team members and leaders do not understand what the critical path means and how it can change, or what can be done with slack time, giving the team a tool that calculates the critical path and slack time by task in microseconds does little good for the project.

We should step back for a moment and consider the varied aspects of project management. Managing a project involves many areas including estimating tasks, evaluating alternatives, selecting and controlling vendors or other suppliers, establishing goals and milestones, managing people, dealing with Users and management, communicating with everyone, and making the changes required to bring the project in on time, within budget, and with the right deliverable. Using a project control package such as Microsoft Project helps in several ways, especially in the communication areas. Unfortunately the package does not define tasks, determine who is qualified to perform which task, estimate task length, determine task relationships, or establish User reviews to insure quality of work.

Your project teams and team leaders should be given training in project management concepts before they are given a project control tool. This includes experienced staff who have probably learned on-the-job to manage projects.

Project management training in itself is a good investment. A three-day project management and control concepts course should result in saving several times that number of days in projects over the next year. We believe that training pays rather then costs.

This article was written by Paul R. Saunders. Paul is President of the Saunders Systems Training Corporation. He can be reached at 615-367-1717 or Paul@SaundersSystems.com for questions or comments.