 Contracting a project management professional to manage a project offers advantages in leadership, experience and cost savings. Yet as expected, some projects are better candidates for contract project management than others.
Answering these four questions can determine whether or not to contract the project's management.
- Is the project similar to other projects in the organization?
One-time projects such as compliance projects, special projects and at times fast-track projects are candidates for contracted project management.
- What is the length of the contract?
Projects with 3–14 month durations are the norm. Short projects have little time to ramp up or down. And longer projects begin to risk
reclassification by the tax authorities as employment.
- Will project require significant maintenance?
The lower the maintenance requirements, the higher a project's potential for contracting leadership.
- Is the project manager expected to lead the project, have specialized skills or both?
Projects that need both also need to ask whether that rare combination in a single individual is attainable.
A one-time, 3-14 month, low-support projects interested in leadership are optimal for contract project management.
Similarly, short-term increases in demand respond to a contracted project manager who offers:
- Experience
Contract project managers bring with them experience from a variety of projects and organizations.
- Objectivity
A low personal agenda and lessons learned from outside the box provide contract project managers with perspectives unencumbered by office politics.
- Schedule Management
Building, maintaining, and managing schedules, are standard project management practices for contract project managers.
- Cost Management
Project managers use cost management to predict time to complete, cost to complete and how productivity tracks with schedules and
expenditures. Estimating, budgeting, allocating, analyzing and reporting are all in the day's work.
- Leadership and Communications
Professional project managers are experienced at leadership without line authority, well-versed in written and verbal communications.
The contract project management decision typically rests on combining these qualities with the types of project best suited to receive them.
Technical Pathways for information about contracted project management services.
Use of e-mail addresses is limited to correspondence about the topic of inquiry. |
