The training of project managers

PROJECT: from the primary school pupil to the company chairman, we all have a feeling for what the word means. Indeed, many of us quite consciously organise aspects of our everyday lives on a project basis, whether it be organising for the annual holidays, or getting ready for Christmas. Professional organisations, whether industrial concerns, commercial undertakings, the Public Services or the Armed Services, frequently and increasingly organise the tasks they have to perform, which are distinguishable from their on‐going day‐to‐day activity, into projects. Precisely what a project is will vary considerably from organisation to organisation. To a chemical plant contracting company for example, it could be the specification, design, procurement, erection and commissioning of a £100 M or more fertiliser complex, or any one of a multitude of sub‐projects within this overall master project. It is not only engineers who organise their work in this way: market research will generally be conducted on a project basis; even scientific research is usually organised this way. In the latter case, this may be rather artificial since the projects may really be quantised (by money, effort or time) parts of continuing day‐to‐day activity, but the necessity for effective managerial control dictates the need for a project system.