Until recently, project management was only in demand in the corporate sector. In addition, project teams were particularly popular in the IT sector. Over time, however, the technologies used in project teams began to spread to other industries.
Even government agencies are now embracing project management, and government standards and guidance documents are being developed and implemented. However, this does not mean that traditional management is being pushed into the background. Both concepts are usually used, just each for its own purposes and objectives.
In the following, we will guide you through the current scientific work and cite modern research that confirms the positive impact of project management on the market, business operations and global economic trends.
Global impact of project management
One of the largest institutes dedicated to the implementation of project activities and agile methodologies is PMI (Project Management Institute). It has created the PMBoK manual, which is used as a framework for working on all major projects in the corporate and public sectors.
PMI regularly conducts research into the market and the impact of project management. Some of this work is commissioned from specialist research agencies.
Here are a few examples of research.
Flexible approaches to large projects in large organisations.
The study was conducted in 2017 by Brian Hobbs and Ivan Petit. According to the findings, most large companies have adopted a project-based approach, but only a small proportion of these organisations actually complete the projects they start. The problem is that companies are still only looking at innovation and test management models. The high level of bureaucracy inherent in large companies and the lack of understanding of the approach on the part of those responsible for overseeing the introduction of new management methods hinder widespread implementation. No particular influence of the project approach was found.
As a result, it is objectively inappropriate to assess the effectiveness of implementation.
Achieve greater agility: people and process drivers that accelerate results
Another study released by PMI. This time the results were provided by Forrester Consulting and formed the basis of the Pulse of the Profession report. The agency came to the following conclusions:
- All project management approaches, whether predictive, hybrid or agile, lead to successful outcomes.
- Both people and project management process factors contribute to greater business agility.
- Organisations that prefer agile management have increased revenues.
These and other findings highlight that agility occurs when organisations recognise the need for continuous change and take an active role in implementing it. They achieve agility by balancing speed and flexibility with stability and scalability. Equally important is a diverse toolkit that allows them to choose the best approach to project implementation.
The bottom line is that a nominal implementation of the project approach will get you nowhere.
Project management and organisational change
The research was conducted by Lynn Crawford, Alicia Aitken and Anat Hassner-Amias. They looked at the kind of change that happens in companies that use the project approach. The study was not about general theory, but only about structural change.
The bottom line is that even when changes are not declared anywhere, they happen. The management structure of the company is being reformatted one way or another.
Exploring the value of project management
One of the first studies commissioned by PMI. The aim is to justify and try to actually calculate quantitative indicators of the real value of the transition or implementation of the project approach. The data has been collected over 3 years from companies that have implemented project management. All the conclusions are quite convincing.
Pulse of the Profession 2021 (PMI’s final annual report)
The most relevant market research currently available in a survey format. Anyone interested can study previous annual reports, but usually the Institute provides a comparative analysis of key indicators in relation to previous years.
Here you can find data on the successes achieved by companies and top managers using project management, the dynamics (growth, decline) of key indicators of project completion, how accurately they manage to meet the budget, plan for risks, etc.
There are also analyses of failures and the reasons for them — all in general terms, of course. There are no specific cases, only the conclusions of individual representatives.
The current study is based on a survey of nearly 4,000 professionals from regions including North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, and South, Central and East Asia.
Instead of conclusions
You can do your own research to prove the positive or negative impact of project management on your business or company as a whole, but any such research will only give you a general picture.
To understand whether the introduction of project teams will help your business in particular, you need to allocate resources (time, budget, space, equipment, etc.), form a team and just try it.
If everything is done correctly and with full acceptance of the ideas and concepts inherent in agile management methodologies, the project is likely to succeed. If everything is done to tick the box, you will have wasted money and time, and you will also find that the management system needs to be fundamentally reformatted in order to move to the project approach. Methodologies, adequate resources and training — all can be wrecked by the simple reluctance of people to do something they are not prepared to do.
