Conventional project management methodologies will work best if projects don’t have many uncertainties or moving variables to deal with simultaneously. Projects today are getting more and more complicated and the complexities are increasing compared to the old days when simple methodologies and project tools just aren’t feasible for today’s projects anymore.
These are some of the key differences between conventional and contemporary project management.
1. Conventional project management is suitable for projects with a low budget, containing only 2-3 variables and with an average time frame of no more than 6 months from conception to implementation. While contemporary project management is not feasible for someone without the necessary experience or skills to manage due to its complexities. That is the reason why the PMP certificate has been called today as a prerequisite for a project manager.
2. Replace predictive planning with adaptive planning. In the traditional world, everything is much simpler and therefore predictable. A simple project management tool will do the job for predictive project planning. We are now transitioning to a new scenario where project management skills are considered more and more “essential” in an organization due to the increasing complexities of today’s projects and the multiple issues that surround them, with so many limitations of the to take care of
3. The contemporary project manager’s response to changes with adaptive action and not corrective action, which has been commonly used as an approach in conventional projects. The fundamental problem with many conventional project management frameworks is probably even more relevant to science than business. In today’s world, the project manager must be flexible enough to handle and manage multiple changes simultaneously. To allow this, the only way is to adapt to the environment and the different limitations that the project has. The fundamental problem with many conventional project management frameworks is probably even more relevant to science than business.
4. Without a doubt, good planning is essential to launch a successful project, but a perfect plan is really a myth. The perfect plan and the perfect project do not exist. Theoretically, project management books will provide guidelines on the work from which a good plan can be made. However, from the eyes of a modern project manager, it is the ability to resist and adapt to these changes that makes the difference.
5. Contemporary project management emphasizes the EXECUTION, rather than the PLANNING aspect of a project. This is not to say that planning is not important, but the key emphasis and main focus should be on the EXECUTION aspect of the project once the project has moved out of the envisioning and planning phases. All outstanding action items need very close monitoring and supervision. This is to ensure that no items are unknowingly missing, no open issues or pending action items are overlooked, and no hidden gaps remain unexplored…etc.
6. The traditional project manager does not focus on teamwork collaboration for the project. They are taught with a top-down approach in mind and are not intended for open collaboration. Traditional project management tools make the project manager the centerpiece of communication, including the need to remind team members of deadlines and overdue tasks. Contemporary project managers see this as a waste of resources, as it is not the responsibility of the PM to keep reminding of deadlines, but rather to ensure that there is close collaboration within the entire team. If everyone on the project is fully engaged, reminders about deadlines or overdue tasks aren’t necessary at all.