Towards management efficiency

Tools to implement structured project management practices on the ground.

- DEBABRATA SAMANTA

Most people spend more time and energy going around problems than in trying to solve them. - Henry Ford

As per Economic Survey Report of 2017-18, India will require investments of around $4.5 trillion by 2040 to develop the infrastructure for sustaining its economic growth.

It has been observed that more than 37 per cent of 1754 of the central sector projects worth ₹150 crore and above are running beyond their scheduled date of completion, and have cost overrun of around ₹4.43 lakh crore. (MoSPI, 2019)

And, as per “Report (14 June, 2019) on the Taskforce on Project and Program Management from Niti Aayog, Government of India, the key issues of conventional approach of project delivery across different sectors in India are identified as follows:

(i) Uncertainties in land acquisition process and regulatory approvals;

(ii) Lack of comprehensive upfront planning and risk management; and

(iii) Low maturity of project management processes to adequately plan for such factors.

The factors mentioned in points (ii) and (iii) above can be addressed by adopting structured project management practices such as project scoping, planning, scheduling, risk management, communication management, change management, quality management, HR management, cost management etc. This boils down to the requirements of right people, right process, and right tools in order to implement structured project management practices on the ground.