Business Project Management
Every business has ongoing processes such as production, marketing, sales, accounting, and so on. These processes are things that a business does continuously, like your own daily or weekly routines. There is no beginning or end to a business process. But within each process there are always specific projects, too.
A project is group of activities that are intended to produce a specific result. A project has a beginning and an end, when the result is either realized or the project is abandoned. Within the ongoing selling process are an infinite number of selling projects, for example.
A selling project begins when seller meets prospective buyer. Many activities are performed by the seller in an effort to get the prospect to buy: conversations, questions, explanations, proposals, demonstrations, closing (request to buy, or contract). Ideally, the buyer agrees to buy and more activities are required to complete the sale: taking money, delivering goods or performing services, doing paperwork related to receipts and taxes and bookkeeping, etc. But if the prospect does not buy, the selling project is eventually abandoned. Thus every project has a beginning and an ending, as well as steps along the way.
Business project management may involve repeated projects, such as sales, or occasional projects that come up in response to perceived needs to make changes in the business. Laying off hundreds of employees is an example of a project that needs to be performed only occasionally (one hopes!)
Many activities go into a layoff, and it is a business project manager's job to see that all the necessary activities are identified, scheduled in the right order, staffed and conducted by the right people, and completed on time. Often one activity cannot be performed until one or more other activities are completed, so business project management requires careful orchestration. A business project manager is an orchestra conductor, you might say. He or she uses various tools, as a conductor uses a baton and music.
Business project management software helps keep track of the hundreds of activities that may need to be performed, how each is progressing, who is doing what, and when each activity is expected to be finished. It may also include collaboration tools that allow participants in a project to communicate with one another about what they're doing and what needs to be done.
Small business project management software doesn't need to be as sophisticated or expensive as enterprise business project management software. Nor does a small business project administrator need a Master's degree in project management administration. What's required are good organizational skills, a passion for details, and the ability to multi-task and work graciously with people of various backgrounds and temperaments.
Unlike construction project management, business project management often shows no tangible output such as a building or a bridge. Instead, a business project may consist of changes to business processes intended to make them more efficient and profitable. For instance, revising the steps taken to record a completed sale may save just a minute per sale, but multiplied by many sales per year it saves the firm thousands or millions of dollars in wages and frees many hours during which sales people can sell instead of just document sales.