Limitations of Project Management

1. Lack of Long Range Planning: Organizations are involved in achieving the objectives of temporary projects. This may adversely affect strategic planning for long-term direction and scope of the organization.
2. Organizational Disruption: Projects compete for people and resources with functional departments. This may disrupt the normal functioning of the organization.
3. Constrained Human Resource Development: Shifting people form project to project may constrain the training and development of new employees by experienced employees.
4. Reluctance for Authority Delegation: Senior line mangers may be unwilling to delegate authority to project managers. They may be afraid of losing their positions to project managers. Top management support may also be lacking.
5. Organizational Restructuring: Organizational restructuring for project management may require changes. They may be resisted by employees in functional departments.
6. Team-related Problems: Members of project team lack stability. This constrains effective team work. Team identity and norms development take a long time. Team members have divided loyalty if they work on multiple projects and also report to line managers.
7. Conflicts: Conflicts in project team may not be managed effectively. They can disrupt the project. Project autonomy may create with line department.
8. Unsuitable: Project management may not be suitable for all tasks. It is not suitable for small organizations which lack resources.

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• Limitations of Project Management in Nepal
• Traditional Vs Modern Era Project
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• Emergence and Growth of Project Management

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Benefits of Project Management

1. Change Management

Project Management serves as a vehicle for introducing and managing change. It facilitates introduction of new technologies. It breaks down functional barriers which resistance to change.

2. Environmental Adaptation

Project management operates in a dynamic and risky environment. It has flexibility in operations. Adjustments can be made to adapt to changing requirements during the life cycle phases of a project.

3. Results-orientation

Project management is results-oriented. It gets the jobs done. It aims at continuous improvement of performance. It achieves project objectives within the constraints of time, cost and quality. It promotes efficiency and eliminates waste. There is greater accountability.

4. Coordination

The project manager has total responsibility and accountability for project results. The project manager serves as a single responsibility and accountability center. There is minimal hierarchy. This facilitates coordination across functional lines. The resources are efficiently utilized with customer focus. Decision making is faster. Conflicts are managed effectively.

5. Team Development

A project has a multi-disciplinary team drawn from various departments. Project management creates conditions for good team work by building trust and respect. It encourages development and creativity of team members through participation. A team identity is created. Moreover, team members can be changed as needed.

6. Re-engineering

Project management is based on temporary organization structure. It can be pure project structure or matrix structure. Generally, matrix structure is used which cuts across functional lines. The work flow is both vertical and horizontal. This facilitate re-engineering. Its temporary nature causes minimum organizational disruption. There are no long term commitments to employees. Business processes are radically redesigned.

7. Timely Correction

Project management requires integrated planning and control. Actual performance is measured against plans. Identification of deviations is done to  take corrective actions. Problems are solved as and when they arise. This improves capacity for future planning. This also ensures adherence to objectives and to time-cost-quality constraints.

8. Customer Satisfaction

Project management is customer focused. The results are achieved within the constraints of time, cost and quality. The needs of customers are satisfied. Satisfied customers tend to be lifelong customers.

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You may also like:

• Traditional Vs Modern Era Project
• Project Management Models
• Characteristics of Project Management
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• Emergence and Growth of Project Management
• Project Manager as Project Leader
• Historical Overview of Project Management in Developing Countries

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Characteristics of Project Management

1. Objectives oriented: Project management is focused on achieving specific project objectives with customer satisfaction. It is results-oriented.
2. Change oriented: Project management is a vehicle for planning and managing change in an organized manner. It adopts flexibility in doing things in a risky environment.
3. Single Responsibility Center: The project manager is the single responsibility center accountable for project outcomes. The role of project manager is crucial from inception to completion of the project. He is a project leader and champion. He motivates team members to excel.
4. Team-based: Project management consists of a multi-disciplinary project team with a wide range of skill and experiences. The team has project dedication. Each member has responsibility and accountability for a unit of work. Self-management is emphasized. So is member participation. The team membership is flexible and changes with project needs.
5. Functional Coordination: Project management requires coordination along functional lines. The work flow is both vertical and horizontal in a matrix organization structure.
6. Planning and Control: Project management required integrated planning and control systems for continuous improvement.
7. Constraints: Project management achieves results within the constraints of time, cost and quality. It is a time and resources limited activity. It is focused on customer needs.
8. Body of Knowledge: Project management consists of a body of knowledge like;

• Scope Management
• Time Management
• Change Management
• Integration Management
• Cost Management
• Quality Management
• Human Resource Management
• Conflict Management
• Risk Management
• Procurement Management

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You may also like:

• Traditional Vs Modern Era Project
• Project Management Models
• Benefits of Project Management
• Project Management Information System (PMIS)
• Emergence and Growth of Project Management
• Project Manager as Project Leader
• Historical Overview of Project Management in Developing Countries

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