PANCHATANTRA – 6.PROJECT MANAGEMENT

The students assembled around Vishnu Sarma in the evening and posed their query of the day….

Sir! . You gave us some examples on communication which were illuminating. We realize that there could be much more to learn on that, but we have a nagging doubt on another aspect. We very often find senior administrators shifted and put in charge of large projects or assignments, once in petroleum, then in steel, then in power and so on and so forth. Many a times they are not even aware of any technical aspects of the task at hand.

How are they appointed like that and how do they Manage?

Vishnu Sarma replied –

Well, this once again is a large canvas to cover, but let me give the principal ideas suitable for your understanding to handle such cases of Project Management. Any job, big or small, which has a specific content, can be called a Project.

There are three things-one should try to watch and control,

1.Time schedule for completion,

2.Cost allocation for the project and

3.Specified quality of the product to be delivered.

Let us briefly dwell on each of these important aspects with simple examples.

1. Time schedule

This is often not given its due importance or is under-estimated, particularly in developing countries, though it is the most important feature. In-fact it can out weigh all other considerations. But, due to a horde of reasons including, lack of planning & accountability, bureaucratic hurdles & other indecision zones, they have a poor record on this score. However the situation is improving and there is a lot more awareness to day on this aspect than earlier.

To understand its importance, let us say you wanted a dress to be delivered for a wedding. Suppose it is delayed and delivered after the wedding. Then it becomes irrelevant.

Imagine an examination or a sports competition without time limit. They lose their relevance.

When a project is delayed, its fruits cannot be realized in time, the money spent will idle and a host of other losses may occur.

Our teacher used to convey it in a very telling manner in this way.

When a student failed to answer a question in time, he used to ask about his younger brothers or sisters and retort ‘why your younger sister can do this problem!’

When the student protested saying she cant do ,the teacher used to add coolly
'in 3 years!!!’, as the sister is 3 years younger. This in short conveys the message effectively. There is no use if the job is completed late after the due date.

2. Cost

By the same reasoning, if the cost of a Project escalates, it may not yield the desired profits and may even be borne sick. This aspect has a better appreciation, but failures in practice are innumerous, largely due to lack of accountability and planning.

3. Quality

Once again, though this is understood, it is usually the most often sacrificed resort by many as the easiest expedient. But it will have a telling effect in the end. You might have noted our use of the word ‘specified quality’. This is important and there is no necessity to go for superior quality if it is going to effect time and cost as they are generally interrelated. If a tiled flooring is specified, there is no necessity to go for marble flooring.

Hence, if the Project Manager takes care of these 3 aspects, with the aid of suitable experts, and facilitates the work towards that end, he can fulfill the requirements.

It was getting dark and the students got up to go to their homes pondering over the
moral.