Most companies realize the need for project management in order to help projects succeed. That is why so many project team members have 'project manager' or 'project lead' in their job titles. The problem is that too many people in charge of project decisions are given a copy of Microsoft Project with no other help and expected to effectively manage projects. It doesn't happen.

Laurence Peter established the "Peter Principle" to describe the effect of promoting successful individuals until they reach a level of incompetence. This "principle" is clearly in effect for many projects. Talented technical resources are constantly being handed the reins of projects and being asked to manage project completion with no training or guidelines to help them manage a project. In the pharmaceutical realm, this is often a laboratory analyst that knows business processes and laboratory analyses.

While the term "project management" encompasses many skills which are considered common sense, assembling them all into a coherent management style is not trivial and it not something that an untrained resource will stumble onto by themselves. I see so many project managers whose style of "management" resembles someone playing Tetris. They are constantly reacting to the situation and trying to fit the new crisis (Tetris piece) into the environment. Sooner or later all of the pieces reach the top of the playing area. If your project is being run like a game of Tetris, it is only a matter of time before it will fail.

Certainly, institutions like the Project Management Institute (PMI) are available for training and certification. What a responsible project manager really needs, though, is a solid project management framework to work within. Often, these frameworks are called Methodologies. The word "methodology" often carries a negative connotation, though. Methodologies can be seen as being overbearing or not complimentary to existing processes. A good project management framework fits within other methodologies and provides a project manager with the tools to plan ahead and proactively manage a project no matter what existing methodologies are in place.

There are many good project management frameworks available for any industry. We use the TenStep Project Management Process™ at J&R Consulting, Inc.

If your project is a Tetris game, I suggest you look into providing the project staff with more than just Microsoft Project.