Project management is the most critical business skill and competency of today that forms the basic building block of knowledge based company for businesses and professions in oil and gas, petroleum, petrochemicals, chemicals, metal and mining, infrastructures, buildings, IT, Healthcare, Finance, Telecoms, Manufacturing, and many more services and banking industries. Fortune Magazine calls project management “Career Number 1″ on earth. PMI reported recently that nowadays more and more companies and government agencies are adopting and making Project Management a strategic competency.

The old school thought that the project management knowledge is only applicable to some physical project development is now history. Organizations and companies of today see and understand that knowledge in project management brings about into their businesses ability to plan the cost, time, and resource elements, to implement the plan, and to monitor and control the outcome of a project with much more certainty to achieving their business destiny. Good project management is now perceived an insurance policy in business. It prevents project disasters.

In today’s project environment, project managers are challenged to meet the demands of both customers and their own organization management in delivering projects to at least be on time, within budget and within scope. This responsibility cannot rest with the project manager alone. In order to achieve these objectives, all members of the project management team must become aware of and use sound project management practices. Project management team shall therefore equip themselves with project management knowledge and skills that will enable them to support the planning, implementation, and monitoring requirements of the project.

Most people spend a lot of time in formal educations with expectation to succeed in career life. Living life to the fullest would mean to always have an opportunity to explore, appreciate, and expand our life potential for better achievements and be able to actualize ourselves in society. We have aspirations to someday achieving our life potential to become a figure, a model, or be in a role we have so much wanted and would fight for to achieve. In many cases, we have not or may not yet find the right opportunity to do so. This could due to lack of experience, expertise, knowledge, or simply just lack the determination to leave our comfort zone to seize opportunity to learn & succeed when there is one available. Seize chance to fight for what we believe we can achieve and do not let anybody including yourself kill your dream will be key to achieving your dream.

So remember CONTINUOUS LEARNING IS CONTINUOUS EARNING. No doubt you surely know where to go to learn the required competency in practical project management.

Good luck.

Article by Herry Hendarto PMP,

A project management mentor and coach, promoting good project management practices through www.projectmanagement-mentoring.com at HEROLIAN International.

Herry has over 25 years of working experience in the capacity as president, vice president, technical resource management, and in project management roles in a number of multi national companies in engineering, procurement, and construction of oil & gas, petrochemicals, chemicals, and refineries in the Asia Pacific region.

Email: herolian@projectmanagement-mentoring.com