Government is investing in more information systems today, and they are larger and more complex than ever, pointed out Martin Cole, a managing partner for Andersen Consulting. And if today's large systems are any indication of what's to come, government executives and senior managers will have their hands full developing and deploying tomorrow's systems. With the federal government about to give states a freer rein on how they deliver social as well as other types of services, agency executives will find themselves in the position of not just deploying large-scale projects, but also creating them as well. To succeed will require a heavy dose of project management skills. That's what concerns Kapur.
Project management is the necessary skill for taking an idea and bringing it to closure.
THE ROLE Projects are temporary jobs undertaken to create a unique product or service. They can involve any number of people and are led by project managers who must balance demands of scope, time, cost and quality in order to meet a client's requirements and expectations. For decades, project management has been a discipline in engineering, construction and other industries where a key management skill has always been the ability to complete a job on time and on budget. Yet it's only been in recent years that the discipline has moved from a niche role to its current status as one of the leading reasons for success in some of the country's best companies, according to research in the Harvard Business Review. As a result, project management has been touted as a new and better way to run a business.