Project management

Nowadays, project management is an essential skill for a business person. Younger age, all you have to do is to obey an order of your boss. Technical skill and knowledge are your advantage to perform a particular work. But, getting older, being promoted, you should manage not only work but also human. Therefore all business persons who belong to an organization should learn about it.

However, in Japan there is little opportunity to learn systemically about project management. Many people teach themselves this kind of skills.
Especially, IT engineers tend not to be able to manage their colleagues well. Many engineers consider that they can be successful when they can write code well. However, a lot of middle aged engineers are suffering from maladjustment with work. It does not due to their ability of IT skills. Simply, they cannot work well as an administrator.

To avoid this problem, several questions about project management are covered in Information Technology Engineer Examinations performed by Information-technology Promotion Agency, Japan.

Actually, physicians are not familiar to project management. A physician is an ultimate practitioner to save the life of the patient in front of him. Patients are various one another. Before a patient, what he must do is not different, whether he is the boss or a resident. He is responsible for his patient's life, so he will not obey the order of his boss when he thinks it is not for the patient.

In Japanese legislation, the director of a hospital must be a physician. However, it is not said that all experienced physicians who are well talented about medical skills can role an act as a top manager. So, not a few hospitals face a financial crisis even if the hospital is trusted by citizens.

The situation is similar in professors of medical schools. They are excellent researchers. But their administrative skills are quite various.

I will write some principles about project management below. If you do not meet any of them in your current task, I recommend you reconsider the strategy or at least tactically.

(1) The goal of the project is quite concrete. Anyone can judge whether the project has accomplished or not yet.

(2) The members of the project team are chosen along with the policy. No one is almighty. To utilize the each advantage of the members strengthen the team itself.

(3) The team members must share the process of the project. When every member knows the impact of his own contribution to the project, motivation of members will maintain. If not, some will lose his way.

(4) The direction must be clear. If each direction is vague, some members can translate it based on his particular thought. This results in the collapse of team work. Perhaps, some creative works may be born after a mistake. However it is no good as a project management.

(5) The administrator must not change the policy easily. If he must do, he should explain the necessity of altering to all members. Sharing the goal again is a complicated task. But it is inevitable.

Recently, I had an experience of the contrary of all of them above. It was a really tough time for me.