Still, how does a business project differ from a business process and where is the border between them that companies will have to cross in the future?
Since the 30-50s, Western management has been developing approaches and methods of system project management, according to which the project is defined as a unique enterprise involving the coordinated implementation of interrelated actions to achieve certain goals in conditions of time and resource constraints.
Despite the fact that projects and processes consist of work, are carried out by people, require the availability of resources, the number of which is limited, there are a number of key differences between them (Table 1).
| Table 1. Differences between projects and processes | ||
| Element | Process | Project |
| Jobs, Interactions, Resources, Roles | Habitual, repetitive | New, one-time, diverse |
| Environment | Familiar, stable | New, changing |
| Time | Current | Limited |
| Priorities | Reproduction | Achieving the goal |
| Key elements of the life cycle | Realization | Planning, implementation, control, completion |
| Changes | Turning resources into a product | Purposeful change of the system in which the following is carried out:
|
The need to manage a large number of new works and resources is the main difference between projects and business processes, since everything new and unusual carries a big headache for managers.
By its nature, the project is like a small company created for a short time within a large organization. At the same time, the project works are so heterogeneous that they cover all components of management and decision-making (Figure 1.).
The need to manage a large number of new works and resources is the main difference between projects and business processes, since everything new and unusual carries a big headache for managers.
By its nature, the project is like a small company created for a short time within a large organization. At the same time, the project works are so heterogeneous that they cover all components of management and decision-making (Figure 1.)
If we consider the life cycle of a project and a business process from the point of view of a manager (Figure 2), we will see that a project is a business process that is executed once. A significant stage of the life cycle of a business process is its repeated implementation and business process management is the management of this particular stage. For a project, the planning, implementation and completion stages are equivalent and for effective project management it is necessary to skillfully manage all of them. Often the stage of project planning exceeds the time of its implementation, and as practice shows, increasing the time for planning greatly increases the efficiency of the project and reduces the full time of its implementation.
An important feature of projects is that they change the environment in which they take place and project management is to a certain extent the management of changes that must be made as a result of its implementation.
Due to the differences between projects and current activities, their management also has many features and methods inherent in them.
Currently, a number of institutions in the world are developing approaches and methods of project management (Project Management), which represent a set of formalized procedures and approaches necessary for effective project management. In addition, these institutes train and certify managers in the field of project management. It is believed that coming to any company, such a manager implements any project much more efficiently than specialists who are well versed in a particular functional area, but do not have knowledge of project management. This is explained by the fact that due to the wide variety of works included in the project, the project manager must be well divided in all areas of management: from strategic planning and organizational design to financial management and information technology. There are few highly qualified, but "narrow" functional managers who fall under these criteria.
Currently, there are many disputes on this topic, but as practice has shown, the participation in the implementation of the project of both specialists in the field of project management and highly qualified specialists in functional areas significantly led to an increase in projects completed on time, within the allotted budget and with a given quality.
Improving the efficiency of project implementation using project management approaches is explained by the fact that in projects 80% of management activities and related problems are typical and only 20% are situational.
Formalization and use of those 80% of management procedures and decisions that have proven successful in practice make it possible not to "step on the rake" and not to "reinvent the wheel" again, which in turn leads to a reduction in costs and an increase in the efficiency of project implementation.
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