Project management is an important activity that determines the ability to operate and develop sustainably of a business in any field or industry. In the following article, 1C Vietnam invites businesses to explore in detail the role of project management and the important skills to become a professional manager.

1. What is project management?

Project Management is understood as the process of applying knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to control and adjust the project to meet the requirements within the scope of time, cost and resources of the enterprise.

A project management process usually includes activities such as: Defining goals, planning, allocating resources, monitoring progress, managing risks, monitoring quality and communicating with stakeholders. Accordingly, project management must follow standard project management methods, and use supporting solutions such as: Gantt charts, PERT diagrams, project management software to manage and monitor progress.

2. What is project management?

A Project Management Office (PMO) is a group of people responsible for supporting project management within an organization. PMOs can be organized in a variety of ways depending on the size, complexity, and specific requirements of the organization. Additionally, PMOs can be organized by function, project, or geographic area.

Although organized in many different ways, a Project Management Board should be led by an experienced and knowledgeable manager who is also responsible for ensuring that the project management board operates effectively and achieves the organization's goals.

3. What areas need to apply project management?

Most fields of operation in the market need a project manager to improve work efficiency. Some important fields include: Banking and finance, real estate, telecommunications, software development, etc. Each project has its own characteristics, industry, scale and complexity, so the manager needs to adjust the content of project process management and professional knowledge to suit the nature of the project being implemented.

4. Examples of project management work in various fields

Project management is a job that requires ensuring that the project plan is completed on schedule and on target. It includes planning, allocating resources and using appropriate budgets to bring optimal results for the project. Below are some typical examples of project management jobs in the fields of construction, information technology and marketing.

4.1 Construction project management

A construction manager is a person who plans, organizes, monitors and coordinates the activities of a construction project in its various phases. The job of this department includes the following tasks:

Preparation phase

• Survey and report on current status.
• Make an overall plan for the project and detailed plans for each work item.
• Prepare construction project cost estimates.
• Search and select the right contractor.
• Negotiate and sign contracts.

Construction phase

• Supervise construction process, check quality of construction materials and equipment.
• Directly resolve problems during construction.
• Update construction progress.

Project completion phase

• Inspection and acceptance of construction works.
• Project handover and warranty.

4.2 Information technology project management

Project management duties can vary depending on the size and scope of the project. Here are some common duties that project managers typically undertake:

• Define the project objectives, scope and requirements.
• Plan project time, resources, techniques and budget.
• Monitor progress and make adjustments to ensure the project runs smoothly.
• Communicate with stakeholders to understand and analyze their requirements. From there, determine the functions and technical requirements of the system/application,
• Allocate resources efficiently such as people, equipment and project budget.
• Assign tasks, supervise work and create a positive work environment.
• Manage and assess risks to develop timely response strategies.
• Collaborate with stakeholders, communicate progress, issues and project outcomes.
• Create quality standards, test and ensure standards are followed.

4.3 Marketing Project Management

Marketing project management is the process of planning, leading and monitoring marketing work to ensure it is completed on time and to the set goals. The job of a Marketing project manager will include:

• Identify project goals, metrics, and plans to achieve them.
• Develop detailed plans, including work schedules, resource allocation, budget determination, etc.
• Monitor project progress and coordinate with stakeholders to ensure project is completed on time and achieves desired results.
• Allocate and use resources efficiently, as well as adhere to project budgets.
• Assess, monitor and implement measures to control and minimize the impact of risks.
• Maintain close communication with stakeholders to ensure everyone is working in the same direction.
• Review and learn from the project. Compare with original goals to improve for future projects.

5. The importance of project management in business

Each business will have different roles and titles depending on the size and field of operation. However, in general, all project managers have the following overall roles:

5.1 Achieve the set goals

Project managers can apply skills and knowledge to achieve the objectives and ensure that the project is delivered on time, on budget and to the required quality. This can be done by identifying and managing resources, planning projects, monitoring, managing project risks, managing issues, and communicating and coordinating with stakeholders.

5.2 Effective project resource allocation

In many projects, the proper allocation of resources is an extremely important activity. Each project may use many resources from the enterprise or need to mobilize resources from other market relations. At this time, the project manager has the task of allocating project resources appropriately and for the right purpose. At the same time, ensure that the work and stages in the project receive enough necessary resources, complete the goal without creating waste.

5.3 Complete the project on schedule

Project managers play an important role in promoting projects. They are the ones who plan, manage, and coordinate project activities to ensure progress is followed. Through clear and reasonable assignment of tasks, solving arising problems and periodic monitoring, project managers can complete the project, limiting losses in budget and staff effort.

5.4 Handling arising problems

Solving problems during project implementation is one of the main roles of project managers in every business today. Typically, managers will be trained and equipped with the necessary skills to identify, assess and solve problems.

By identifying problems early before they become serious through close monitoring of project progress, communication with stakeholders, and regular quality checks, project managers can find effective, cost-effective solutions that can be implemented within the appropriate time and scope.

5.5 Report on project progress to stakeholders

Project progress reporting is a method for managers to share with stakeholders about the project status, then receive feedback from them to improve the progress. Project progress reports can be presented in many different forms, for example: Tables, graphs, text. At this time, project managers need to choose the appropriate reporting form according to the objectives and target audience of the report.

6. How to set successful project management goals

Project management needs to be carried out in a clear, coherent and highly effective process. In particular, setting project goals is a guideline for managers to monitor and grasp project progress. Below are 4 ways to help businesses set effective project management goals:

6.1 Have a clear purpose

Project management objectives should begin by articulating the purpose clearly and concisely. This helps ensure that the project fits into the broader goals of the business.

6.2 Applying the SMART criteria

Dividing project management goals into SMART criteria (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) provides a structured and actionable framework that helps project managers clarify expectations and empower project teams to work toward clearly defined outcomes.

6.3 Engaging stakeholders

Stakeholder engagement is critical to setting project schedule management goals. Their input contributes significantly to a comprehensive understanding of project requirements, fostering accountability and commitment from staff. At the same time, involving stakeholders from the outset ensures that their views are heard and increases the likelihood of project success.

6.4 Key elements for effective project management

In addition to the above goal setting methods, businesses need to understand the key factors for effective project management. These factors will be listed as follows:

• SMART Model: As mentioned above, SMART helps businesses ensure goals are: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely. Thereby, providing a clear and comprehensive framework.
• Milestones and Deadlines: Create specific checkpoints and deadlines throughout the project, helping managers track progress and ensure timely course corrections.
• Prioritize: Rank the priorities based on the impact of the goals on the success of the project. Addressing the important factors first helps managers allocate efforts and resources appropriately.
• Collaboration: Promote collaboration among team members by encouraging communication and ensuring everyone is on the same page about goals to improve project efficiency.
• Communication: Communicate project goals regularly. Reaffirm the importance of each goal, ensuring consensus and motivation throughout the project.
• Adaptability: Monitor project progress and be willing to adjust goals (if needed) to address emerging challenges or opportunities.

7. Skills required of a project manager

To successfully manage project progress, a manager must not only be solid in professional knowledge, but also need to have the following fine-tuned skill set:

• Visionary

Project managers need to have a long-term vision to understand the project in general, detect potential trends and future development directions. This skill helps managers recognize challenges and opportunities from external factors, such as: Market changes, technological developments, social trends, competitors and political issues... Thereby, project managers will have appropriate plans and strategies for businesses to "adapt" to these changes.

In addition, a long-term vision also allows project managers to see the long-term goals of the business and customers. At the same time, they have the ability to coordinate with stakeholders and other working teams to create a close connection between projects and the common goals of the business.

• Highly responsible

Project managers are responsible for all aspects of a project: planning, implementation, monitoring and completion. They also ensure that the project is completed on time, within budget and meets customer requirements.

A sense of responsibility helps project managers build strong relationships with stakeholders, resolve conflicts, and motivate the project team to complete tasks.

• Withstand pressure

Project management work often requires enduring pressure from many aspects such as time, cost, quality and stakeholder requirements. Therefore, the ability to withstand pressure is one of the necessary skills for project managers. Without this skill, project progress managers will easily become stressed, slow down the project progress or even make wrong decisions, go astray.

• Communication skills

Communication is a useful means of conveying information clearly and effectively between stakeholders such as customers, suppliers, project teams, etc. Communication skills also help managers resolve conflicts, build good relationships between employees in the business, and collect feedback and make project adjustments.

• Problem solving skills

Throughout the project management process, countless problems will arise, from small difficulties such as lack of materials and personnel to larger challenges such as changing customer requirements or technical problems. Managers need to know how to identify problems quickly and accurately in order to come up with effective solutions.

In addition, problem-solving skills help projects be completed on time, within budget and with expected quality. At the same time, risks are minimized and customer and stakeholder satisfaction is increased.

• Leadership skills

Leadership is a must if you want to become a talented project manager. This skill helps motivate, strengthen relationships between team members and direct work effectively. This creates a positive working environment, enhances cooperation and resolves conflicts during project implementation.

At the same time, leadership skills also help project managers make the right decisions, know how to motivate individuals and team members to develop, and expand learning opportunities and promote progress.

• Delegation skills

Delegation is one of the main responsibilities of a project manager to ensure that everyone in the team understands their tasks and completes the project on time. Delegation skills allow managers to set schedules and deadlines, and allocate resources appropriately to each specific task. This helps optimize resource utilization, minimize conflicts, and reduce unnecessary errors.

• Teamwork skills

Project managers will have to work with a group of people with different roles and skills to complete a project. Teamwork skills help them manage their team effectively, create consensus, handle conflicts, listen and encourage the development of each member's talent.

8. What is the salary for a project manager position?

The nature of project management work is full of challenges and complexities for large, difficult-to-implement projects. Therefore, this position requires sufficient knowledge, a broad skill set, understanding of society and a lot of experience. Along with the above, the salary of a project manager is also really attractive and not small. For new graduates with no experience, the salary will fluctuate around 6 - 7 million/month. The more experience, the higher the salary, even up to 20 million/month. Especially for professional engineers, the income will fluctuate from 50 - 60 million/month.

9. 1C:ERP - Resource management solution, supporting businesses in professional project management

1C:ERP is a comprehensive solution that helps businesses effectively manage projects of all types and sizes. With 1C:ERP, employees and businesses can easily plan, prioritize work and monitor project progress in a visual and convenient way. Specifically:

• Provide detailed project planning tools, create new or edit projects. At the same time, allocate resources and assign tasks flexibly to each position and department.
• With 1C:ERP, project managers can easily generate real-time management reports and change reporting options without needing to understand programming.
• Support to optimize workflow, eliminate duplicate work or manual operations.
• With tight encryption and authorization capabilities, 1C:ERP helps project managers easily streamline information, while recording user edits and operations.
• Support managers to control project goals, estimate performance and efficiency of employees and departments to achieve the overall goals of the business.

Thus, 1C Vietnam has mentioned the role of project management and the skills needed to become a professional project manager in the above article. Hopefully, the article will provide useful information for your business to make appropriate decisions. For more details about the 1C:ERP solution, please contact 1C Vietnam immediately for the most dedicated advice.