Project Management Approaches
Project management approaches can be differentiated by the way in which projects are perceived. Traditional method-oriented project management approaches are based on the perception of projects as tasks with special characteristics. The systemic and process-oriented project management approach of Roland Gareis’ Project and Program Management is based on the perception of projects as temporary organizations and as social systems.

Roland Gareis’ Project and Program Management

Influences of Organization Theory.
The perception of projects as temporary organizations promotes the awareness that every project requires a specific organizational design that goes beyond the definition of the formal authority of the project manager. In addition to project planning, a situational design of the project organization should contribute to the success of the project.
The organizational design of projects includes the definition of project-specific roles, the development of project organizational charts, the definition of project-specific communication structures, and the agreement on project-specific rules. Through the temporary character of projects, the design of the project start and the project close-down obtains a special importance.
Relatively new management approaches, such as customer orientation, empowerment, flat organizational structures, team work, organizational learning, process orientation, and networking, can be implemented in projects to contribute to project success. The management approaches “learning organization,” “lean management,” “process management,” and “total quality management” therefore are to be seen as an additional, new theoretical basis for project management.
The perception of projects as temporary organizations also promotes the development of a project-specific culture. Such project management methods are, for example, the choice of the project name and the formulation of the project mission statement and project-specific slogans.

Influences of Social Systems Theory.
The perception of projects as social systems enables the use of views and models of social systems theory for project management. A “systemic” project management builds not on traditional project management but rather puts its methods into a new framework, interprets them, and promotes the development of new project management methods.
Because of the need to manage the boundaries and the context as well as the complexity and the dynamics of projects, new potential avenues and challenges arise for project management. A new understanding of the project management tasks to be fulfilled is enabled. Instead of planning, controlling, and organizing the project, the tasks of constructing the project boundaries and the project context, building up and reducing the project complexity, and managing the dynamics of the project become relevant.

Construction of the Project Boundaries and the Project Context.
Construction of the project boundaries and the project context ensures a holistic view of the project. Definition of the project boundaries should enable an integrated consideration of technical, organizational, personnel, and marketing objectives in the project.
For detailed management of the project boundaries, the following project management methods are available: project objectives plan, objects of consideration plan and work breakdown structure, project schedule and project resource plan, project costs and project income plan, project organization, and so on. For an analysis of the project context and the design of project context relationships, project environment analysis, analysis of the pre- and post-project phases, business case analysis, and analysis of the relationship of the project to other projects and to the company strategies can be used.

Building Up and Reducing Project Complexity.
Projects require a certain amount of complexity in order to be able to relate to the (infinitely) complex environment. The building up and reducing of complexity is a project management task.
A holistic project view, creativity in the project, and acceptance of project-related decisions can be ensured through adequate communication structures. The performance of project workshops at the project start process, at milestones, and at the close-down process of the project, as well as the performance of project team and project owner meetings, promotes the building up of complexity in a project. The differentiation of project roles, the definition of the relationships among the roles, and the inclusion of different specialist disciplines and hierarchical levels in the project team are further organizational possibilities for the building up of complexity in a project .
By using different project management methods, different perspectives for designing a project are chosen. Only the linking up of these different views in a “multimethods approach” enables appropriate consideration of the project complexity.
To ensure continuity in a project, redundant structures should be created. A reduction of project complexity is achieved through agreement on the project objectives within the project team. Furthermore, the use of project management standards, the establishment of project-specific rules and norms, the development of project plans, and the performance of integrative project team meetings gives repeated orientation to the work of the project.

Management of the Project Dynamics.
The dynamics of a project result from the interventions of relevant environments, as well as through the self-reference of the project. Examples of interventions from relevant project environments are new legal requirements from public authorities, a change in scope by the customer, cancellations from suppliers, an unexpected media response, a demotivated project team, and so on.
The formal communication structures of a project enable its self-reference. Project management methods, such as the work breakdown structure, the milestone plan, and the project environment analysis, can support the communication in the project.

The possibility of change in a project depends on its relationship to relevant environments. Only when the functionality of the (relative) project autonomy is recognized and therefore the interventions of the permanent organization of the project-oriented organization are limited is there a possibility of self-reference.
In order to promote change in a project, reflections and metacommunications, that is, communications about communications, are necessary. Time, space, and the corresponding know-how are all necessary for reflection. In a cyclic process, the structures necessary for the performance of a project are formed, questioned, and possibly adapted according to the new requirements.
Self-referencing processes in a project or interventions from project environments can lead to continuous or discontinuous changes in a project. Continuous changes in projects are considered in project controlling. Continuous changes in projects take the form of adaptations in the project structures, such as new project slogans, new formations of relationships to relevant environments, new definitions of project roles, new demands on the project team members, new planning of the scope and the project schedule, and so on.
A discontinuous development in a project comes about when a change in the project identity takes place. This can result from a substantial deviation from the project objectives. A project discontinuity can take the form of a project crisis, a project change, or a structurally determined change in the project identity.

Process-Oriented Project Management.
Method-oriented project management focuses on the project management methods. The use of methods for planning and controlling project scope, project schedule, project resources, and project costs is understood as project management. The success of project management is assessed on the basis of the method application. Competence for the application of the project management methods is achieved through training. There is a supposition that good knowledge of methods ensures good project management.
Roland Gareis’ Project and Program Management defines project management as a business process of the project-oriented company and focuses on its subprocesses. The project management personnel require competencies for managing the subprocesses project start, continuous project coordination, project controlling, and project close-down and possibly resolving a project discontinuity. The success of project management is assessed on the basis of the professional performance of these processes, not on the basis of a project handbook that meets all formal demands. In so doing, the relationships among the subprocesses also must be considered and optimized.
For performance of the individual project management subprocesses, the corresponding project management methods are used. The importance of the methods does not get lost. Definition of the subprocesses of project management adds an integration level for ensuring the professional application of project management methods. Producing an optimal project schedule cannot be an objective in itself, but it must be an overall integrative objective to start the project in an optimal way.
Management of project objectives, management of the project schedule, management of the project cost planning, and so on cannot be accepted as project management processes because only an integrated consideration of all methods of project management can lead to optimal results. The management of project plans as “processes” cannot ensure a holistic management.

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