The application of professional Project Management principles to various projects associated with the current rapid expansion of the business sector in Guyana is critical to their cost effectiveness and to the realization of their investment goals, according to Project Management specialist Hubert Robertson.

Major copnstruction projects like the new Republic Bank biulding require a project management input.

And Robertson says that Project Management is particularly important to the efficient growth of the private sector given the surfeit of investment projects currently being undertaken in the construction, hotel, restaurant and other industries.

Robertson, who was one of several speakers to address the launch of  the  Guyana Committee of the Port-of-Spain based Southern Caribbean Chapter of the International Project Management Institute told the gathering that many of the inefficiencies that surface both during and after the execution of projects in Guyana result from the fact that project approaches are not being used where applicable. “It has been estimated that at least 15 per cent on-time and on-budget project delivery can be met nationally if this if this approach is utilized and promoted by the sponsors and stakeholders,” Robertson said.

Project management is the discipline   of planning, organizing and managing human and material resources with   a view to realizing the successful completion of project goals and according to Robertson the acceleration of both public and private sector project-based initiatives has been responsible for the current status and recognition                             of project approaches locally.

According to Robertson, “traditionally, except for a few large enterprises, projects have been perceived as interventions by government, funded by donor agencies for developmental purposes.” And while Robertson acknowledges that “the idea of applying project management approaches to business in Guyana is yet to “catch on” he contends that the scale, size and complexity of some projects being undertaken in the private sector render a project-based approach increasingly necessary. “New businesses are springing up  with unaccustomed  frequency” and specifically, Robertson  pointed to the surfeit of hotels, restaurants, banks, warehouses and apartments that are being constructed and the expansion of trading activities including merchandising, wholesaling, retailing and marketing as justification for the application of project management principles. “Anything that has to be done must be done quickly, effectively and must be done correctly the first time around. Here, there exists a situation where interventions have to be effected within the triple constraints of scope, time and costs. Does this not sound like the kind of environment which suggests the use of project management approaches,” Robertson asked.

According to Robertson some professional managers who are “generalists” may well be tempted to assume that project management “is simply the application of general management principles to a project in the hope of achieving a desired result.” This kind of management, however well-intentioned can render the life of a professional project manager very miserable to the ultimate detriment of the project.  However, Robertson says that project management is “quite different,” and, as such, requires the development of distinct technical skills and the adoption of a separate management philosophy.