successful project management - Commonwealth of Learning

that it is complete, it is no longer regarded as a project. The continuous programme
of maintenance, to keep it in good condition is something separate. You may want to
relate this example to your project.
The Standish Group (www.standishgroup.com) offers interesting statistics about the
success and failure of projects in the United States of America. This is with specific
reference to software projects. It was found that only about 17 percent of the projects
meet the PCTS targets; 50 percent must have the targets changed, that is, they are
late, overspent and have the performance requirements reduced; and 33 percent are
actually cancelled.
This is quite informative and causes us to reflect on the significance of the statistics.
Isn’t it somewhat surprising that as many as 83 percent of projects either fail to meet
targets or are cancelled altogether? If anything this state of affairs proves that it is
necessary for you to learn something about project management towards a better
understanding of procedures and skills the project manager ought to be acquainted
with. So, what is project management?
What is Project Management?
Before reading on, mention any three things you are expected to do as project
manager in a distance education set up.
You may now add to your interesting response the explanation that project
management is the facilitation of the planning, scheduling and controlling of all
activities that must be done to achieve project objectives. The objectives include the
PCTS targets previously alluded to. Many people share a common misunderstanding
of the role of the project manager. In educational contexts, project managers have
been known to have practically nothing to do except to:
• decide for members what is to be done;
• tell somebody to do what needs to be done and why it should be done;
• listen to excuses and promises from the person supposed to do
something, and to follow up again to see if the task has been done;
• wonder whether it is not time to get rid of the person who cannot do the
thing right;
• consider how much simpler and better the task would have been done if
the manager had done it himself/herself; and
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