Situations where project management is not effective?

There are some situations where project management is not the right approach.

Projects with few task

If you have a project for a client that only requires one or a few tasks, creation of a project management process would be overkill. Keep it simple.

Projects with a short timeline

Some projects may only take a few hours from start to finish. Especially in consulting and advertising industry you experience a lot of ad hoc projects. In these situations, setting up a project plan would often be too time consuming.

Projects with small teams

If you are only a few people, an elaborate plan might be too complicated. If you are working together, a person dedicated to running the project will often be too much, as there would be too little to do for him or her.

When is project management appropriate?

There are plenty of situations where project management is the right approach.Whenever you find yourself in a situation where you need to manage resources, maintain schedules, and coordinate different activities and tasks to different people, project management is called for. Here are a few situations where project management is relevant.

Projects with complex tasks

If you have projects where many tasks depend on each other and should be done by certain people, at certain times, project management is crucial for everything to come together.

Projects with a long timeline

Some projects may take months - even years. Just think of the construction industry. Without project management, the team may lose track of where they are going, or what is supposed to be done when.

Projects with large teams

Who is doing what, when, and how? If you have to manage a large team of people with different skills and talents, it is important to have a sound project plan, enforced by a talented project manager.