The need for Project Managers to look beyond Projects

I have often been asked, as a Project Manager what is the extra that one can do to ensure that they deliver the expected outcomes.

Well… it is difficult to answer this, especially when the times are tough and situations are unpredictable. But I personally believe that the one thing they need to do is look beyond their project. In fact, Project Managers need to wear the hat of program managers and not get restricted by their title. I feel they should start viewing themselves as program managers, and think, act, walk and talk like program managers even if they are managing a project. This way they will be able to ascend beyond the project and see what extra value can be provided to the stakeholders. Also, in the environment of a program, it helps to understand the “big picture” of the value creation while managing their part of the engagement, ie the project, effectively and efficiently.

When it comes to organizations they need to look beyond project management. Today when most organizations have started implementing an integrated project management effort to achieve business strategy but to remain competitive, organizations will need to generate more value for their customers and stakeholders. It is Program Management that can help them derive several benefits unavailable by managing projects individually…

Lastly, Project Managers need to understand the environment in which they operate, deal with the dependencies, the politics and power struggles and proactively generate more value for their stakeholders.