About projects

Industry and commerce, public administration and organizations all over the world keep looking for new forms to create dynamics, flexibility and efficiency in their operations. Hierarchical structures are demolished, organizations are "flattened out" and projects, networks and dynamic organizations are coming into focus. The project format evolves from the traditional one for work, to becoming a format for organization, management and for learning.

Projects as a format for work

When we speak of projects, we are often referring to the overall concept as a format for work. This view dominates in the educational realm as well; over the years, methods and tools have come to focus on various parts of the project, from detailed planning philosophies and models to the interaction between project members and the art of working in projects.

Projects are an ideal format for work in all businesses and organizations that require a pooling of resources and result-orientation. The common methodology often provides the added benefit that project teams don’t have to develop their own tools and templates for the job. Instead, they can put their time into creating the actual project contents. Uniform methodology also creates greater opportunities for collaboration within and between organizations, since the concepts and language are the same.

With its structure and important features like goal formulation, planning, risk analyses and continuous follow-up, the project format enhances total efficiency.

Projects as a format for organization

Ever since the early days of industrialism, projects have been used to breathe life into existing organizations. Traditional organizational theories are often based on hierarchical models for decision-making. When the organizational format is a project, we must remember not to fall into this trap. Using the simplest possible organization structure opens the door to straight communication and effective interaction. A more bureaucratic method makes it hard to complete the task. Collaboration and rich initiative in the project team are important aspects - perhaps even more important than the team’s tools.

An organization that uses projects as its organizational format has great opportunities to free up energy at various levels. One reason that the project format has been so successful is that it allows the organization to create tailor-made teams based on the needs of each task. It does not need to consider the company’s structure, but allow free collaboration between department and units. This makes projects less sensitive to organizational changes.

Projects as a format for management

Projects are also being used more and more often as a format for management. In this context, it is important to clarify long-term goals for the project and coordinate them with the overall business planning.

As the need to react quickly to outside influences has increased, many management teams have changed the way they head their operations. Being clear when ordering new projects and quickly stopping ineffective projects are central tasks for modern top management. And this demands that we work better with project portfolios, how we evaluate individual projects in relation to the big picture and how we ensure that new projects are based on good, solid business.

Projects as a format for learning

Projects are also often used as a format for learning, which we see most clearly in the education sector. Many academic courses of study are largely project-based these days. And even outside the education sector, learning is a key factor in the application of the project format. The steps of the learning process - planning, realization, reflection and improvement - are all natural parts of a project. Often this process creates new ideas of how to pursue and change goals and focus. Each project team needs to discuss how the learning process can be furthered, and how other projects and the entire organization will benefit from the project’s experiences.

In many projects, learning is a major part of the results. It doesn’t take long to create models and processes, but it takes longer to acquire knowledge. Developing projects as a format for learning doesn’t just involve creating ways of storing information and experience. It is also important to create various forums where people can meet and discuss things. The most difficult, but also most important step in a continuous learning process is translating experience into practice.