One way to improve understanding of project management is to contrast project management with operations management. Whether in an economic, socioreligious, or government organization, managers are charged with effectively and efficiently achieving the purpose of the organization. Typically, a manager of an economic organization focuses on maximizing profits and stockholder value. Leaders with socioreligious organizations focus on effective and efficient delivery of a service to a community or constituency, and governmental managers are focused on meeting goals established by governmental leaders.
Operations managers focus on the work processes of the operation. More effective work processes will produce a better product or service, and a more efficient work process will reduce costs. Operations managers analyze work processes and explore opportunities to make improvements. Total quality management, continuous process improvement, lean manufacturing, and other aspects of the quality movement provide tools and techniques for examining organizational culture and work processes to create a more effective and efficient organization. Operations managers are process focused, oriented toward capturing and standardizing improvement to work processes and creating an organizational culture focused on the long-term goals of the organization.
Project managers focus on the goals of the project. Project success is connected to achieving the project goals within the project timeline. Project managers are goal directed and time sensitive. Project managers apply project management tools and techniques to clearly define the project goals, develop an execution plan to meet those goals, and meet the milestones and end date of the project.
An operations manager may invest $10,000 to improve a work process that saves $3,000 a year. Over a five-year period, the operations manager improved the profitability of the operations by $5,000 and will continue to save $3,000 every year. The project manager of a one-year project could not generate the savings to justify this kind of process improvement and would not invest resources to explore this type of savings.
An operations manager creates a culture to focus on the long-term health of the organization. Operations managers build teams over time that focus on standardizing and improving work processes, that search for and nurture team members who will “fit in,” and that contribute to both the effectiveness of the team and the team culture. Project managers create a team that is goal focused and energized around the success of the project. Project team members know that the project assignment is temporary because the project, by definition, is temporary. Project team members are often members of organizational teams that have a larger potential to affect long-term advancement potential. Project managers create clear goals and clear expectations for team members and tie project success to the overall success of the organization. Operations managers are long-term focused and process oriented. Project managers are goal directed and milestone oriented.
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