Project Management - an essential skill for leaders

Project management is one of those things we all do to varying degrees. We often call it juggling, as we try to balance competing constraints and the needs and desires of all stakeholders while implementing something that has been handed to us. But there is an actual science to project management, and a better understanding of project management skills and processes may allow us as educational leaders to be both more effective, and more efficient!

In order to define project management, one must start by defining a project. A project is a limited-term strategic initiative that brings value to the larger organization or structure. Project management then is the set of knowledge, skills, and processes that will best bring that project to fruition. There’s an old adage that when you are working with a contractor on a project, the options are good, fast, and cheap - pick two! With that in mind, it is clear that balancing timeline, cost, and quality of product are the three requirements of effective project management.

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The Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK) describes nine key knowledge areas within project management (in Dinsmore & Cabanis-Brewin, 2010).  Each of the nine knowledge areas have sub-processes in which a project manager must be skilled. It begins with integration management; being able to balance all of the requirements of the project in such a way as to support the mission of the larger organization or structure. Integration management may include initial project plan development and design in addition to managing the process once the plan is written. Other knowledge areas include management of scope, time, cost, quality, human resources, communications, risk, and procurement. These key processes must be managed in a way that is fluid, always balancing growth and setbacks in one area with complementary actions in other relevant processes. While the knowledge areas and sub-processes are generally accepted “good practices” in project management processes, those practices are applied differently in different project types of different scope and audience.

In K-12 settings, project management is an expected skill of educational leaders. Many times the scope, outcomes, budget, and schedule are pre-determined, and the project must be conducted within those constraints. Particularly when implementing grant programs, even sub-processes are pre-determined, whether or not they are appropriate for a particular individual situation. So I would propose that a final skill required for project management with educational settings in particular is embodied in the Serenity Prayer - grant me the serenity to accept that which I cannot change, the courage to change what I can, and the wisdom to know the difference!