Distinguishing Features of Project Management while in the 21st Century

The aim of the article is to look into the current very hot topics of venture administration. In the ?work collaboration tools twenty first century, there exists a distinct swift from difficult units approach of task management to tender things, a demand for strategic pondering in project management (Buttrick, 2000), new good results aspects (Atkinson, 1999) and project uncertainty administration (Ward & Chapman, 2003). Broader task administration theory and more intense research efforts are also a trend during the field (Winter & Smith, 2005).

Human beings have been executing projects from ancient times (Kwak, 2003). From relocating a tribe to constructing enormous buildings such as the pyramids, projects were a dominant element of history. Not long ago, those involved in projects understood that they needed methods and processes to help them manage these projects more efficiently. To meet this need, scientists and practitioners worked together to form a new concept which was called «project management». According to the PMBOK's definition "project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to challenge activities to meet challenge requirements". (A Guide to Project Management Body of Knowledge, 2004). There are many different views during the literature concerning the birth of task management. Maylor (2005) mentions that "project management while in the way that we would understand it today did not exist until the 1950s" and Wideman (2001) tracks the first use of venture administration inside the UK's Institution of Civil Engineers report on UK post war national development first published in 1944.

Since then, there have been a lot of changes. "The difficult programs approach, which treated the challenge as a mechanical activity, has been shown to be flawed" (Maylor, 2005). The comfortable skills of job administration are getting more attention because it is now clear that "the ability to apply these skills effectively throughout the life cycle of a job will enhance the achievements of a task exponentially" (Belzer). In spite of the perfect understanding of planning, scheduling and controlling, projects have still a high rate of failure. Belzer points out that "more often they fail because of a job manager's inability to communicate effectively, work within the organization's culture, motivate the task team, manage stakeholder expectations, understand the business objectives, solve problems effectively, and make clear and knowledgeable decisions". To address these problems in the twenty first century, a venture team needs to develop a series of delicate skills such as "communication, team building, flexibility and creativity, leadership and the ability to manage stress and conflict". (Sukhoo et. al, 2005).

In addition, task management requires a stronger strategy orientation. "More than 80 per cent of all problems at the undertaking level are caused by failures at a board level in firms to provide distinct policy and priorities" (Maylor, 2001). The technique that Maylor suggests is very different from the traditional link between strategy and projects, as he proposes a "coherent, co-ordinated, focused, strategic competence in venture management which eventually provides source of competitive advantage". This two-way methodology that relates organisational and job strategy is illustrated in figure 1. To better understand the project's strategy, there is certainly also a need to analyse "the experiences from past activities, politics during the pre-project phases, parallel courses of events happening during venture execution and ideas about the post-project future" (Mats Engwall, 2002).