Basic Rules for Successful Project Management

On November 4, a training seminar for employees of the State Customs Service of Ukraine on project management was held. Ernestas Sysojevas, Project Management Trainer for EU4PFM, is a Certified Expert in this field (Project Management Professional (PMP), PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) CompTIA Project, Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT)).

To date, Ernestas Sysojevas has delivered over 400 training courses in the field and has 15 years of teaching experience.

“Project management is similar to house construction: we know exactly what result we expect, and, implementing projects in various fields step by step — from project development and foundation laying to wallpapering — we build our house,” says Ernestas Sysojevas. He also emphasizes that the project activities are implemented in the Lithuanian public sector at the legislative level and help public institutions to accomplish their strategic objectives and programs.

Today, the project management in Lithuania is carried out on the basis of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania On Strategic Management, and the Project Management Standard has been developed, which is regularly reviewed and updated. The developed standard is a methodological instrument that recommends the application of systematized theoretical and practical knowledge on project management for the effective implementation of projects, project programs, and portfolios in the public sector.

The seminar participants had an opportunity to add to their theoretical foundation and systematize the knowledge of project management and analyze in detail the components of the global standard of project management.

The participants got acquainted with the main concepts used in project management; project management standards within the organization depending on the areas of knowledge and groups of processes; international experience of project management in public institutions, etc.

During the training, Ernestas Sysojevas drew attention, inter alia, to the factors exerting the greatest impact on the project’s success. In the first place, the involvement of direct clients and stakeholders. This makes 15.9% of success. In addition, such factors as management support (13.9%), clear statement of procurement (13%), long-term planning (9.6%), realistic expectations (8.2%), and competent staff (7.2%) are also important. And only 2.5% of the project’s success depends on the team is ready to work overtime.

The effectiveness of project work in the public sector directly depends on the availability at the state level of official standards of project activities in government agencies, and on the scale and quality of staff training for this work, as well as on the involvement of all stakeholders in such activities.

“As the EU Public Finance Management Support Programme for Ukraine (EU4PFM), we are aware of how the results of all well-planned changes directly depend on the people introducing them day by day in government agencies. The training of staff in modern knowledge in the field of project management is an important issue for the development and effectiveness of the organization,” says Edvardas Žukauskas, International Expert on HR/PAR for EU4PFM.

Let’s implement changes together!