THE NEXT level

BAD NEWS IS SOMETIMES GOOD. Had it not been for the failure of so many projects in Europe, project management would not have rooted itself so strongly in the region, according to Herbert Gonder, PMP, principal of Gonder Consulting and vice president of the PMI Munich Chapter. "Many resourceful projects that have failed actually contributed to the recent popularisation of project management techniques", he says.

However, project management is not yet recognised as essential for business results at all organisational levels or across all sectors in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. It is not yet a prerequisite in European Union (EU) calls for tender or competitions for large-scale projects, for example. Today, the use of project management terms is "more popular than their actual methodical and systematic application", says Vincenzo Torre, director of Project Management Services, Naples, Italy, and president of the PMI Southern Italy Chapter.

As a formal profession, project management doesn't have a very long history in EMEA. However, there already are more than 15.000 who hold the Project Management Professional (PMP) credential in the region and the demand for project managers is increasing. For instance, Alcatel, Paris, France, launched an innovative accreditation programme two years ago to further its project management best practices. Today, the company seeks to accredit 30 project directors per year and 200 project managers. "Project managers are not only the ones who make sure that Alcatel fulfils its commitment to the customer and delivers what was ordered on time and to budget", said Olivier Houssin, president of Alcatel's private communications group. "They act as a general manager of a small company during the completion of a contract. Thus, they should have skills in planning, anticipating, reviewing and evaluating to deliver results". Mr. Houssin made the comments when recognising the contributions of the profession at an award ceremony for project directors.

VARIED APPLICATION

Just as in other parts of the world, project management in EMEA is not equally developed across the region and different sectors. In many European countries, project management was introduced in the 1990s in specific industries, such as construction and engineering. "Only 10 years ago, it was almost impossible to find project managers in Spanish companies", says Alfonso Bucero, PMP, managing director of Bucero PM Consulting and past president of the PMI Barcelona Chapter.

In Germany, companies were "motivated by the need to comply with a public administration standard and in parallel with the construction of the new Munich airport", Mr. Gonder says. "This project used sophisticated project management techniques and was delivered on time. There were no delays and some plans even included deadlines that were as specific as to mention the delivering hours. It was an extraordinary project at the time".

In Italy, project management growth is more recent. "Italy owes the spread of project management culture during the 1960s and '70s almost exclusively to engineering companies", Mr. Torre says. "We had the first professional certified in 1986. In the 1980s, project management spread into the IT and telecommunications sectors, but the turning point was really in the last five years".

In the Middle East and Africa, project management is, in general, less used than it is in Europe, with some exceptions. "Project management practices in Nigeria have remained rudimentary and underdeveloped, except by large multinational companies, especially in the oil industry", says Chima Okereke, managing director at Total Technology Consultants Ltd. and chair of the steering team at the Port Harcourt, Nigeria, Potential Chapter.

Across the Arabian Gulf, project management is established within the construction, oil and gas industries and now is developing in IT and financial sectors, according to Mounir Ajam, PMP, CEO of SuKad FZ LLC and certification director at the PMI Arabian Gulf Chapter. "These are pockets of interest but project management is not a generalised practice".

The PMI Arabian Gulf Chapter has seen "the numbers of PMP holders grow from 60 in 2002 to about 550 nowadays", Mr. Ajam says. "In 2005, we have seen about 60 percent growth in membership, whereas our PMP growth was close to 200 percent".

In Russia, economic changes are driving a strong need for increased project management activities in real estate, manufacturing, retail and banking, says Alexander Pavlov, managing partner with PM Experts and vice president of public relations for the PMI Moscow Chapter.

CURRENT TRENDS

Taking a cue from Fortune 1000 firms, global governmental bodies are beginning to require certified project professionals. "Up to now, the Italian government did not consider project management as a critical success factor, except in a few cases", says Luciano Mariani, project manager at Eni Corporate University and secretary of the PMI Rome Chapter. "However there are strong signals that things are changing".

Proper project management system implementation has been required to bid for high-speed train contracts since 1999, and organisers of the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin followed project management principles, he says. The use of project management in such large-scale projects can boost the image of the profession across EMEA, especially if they're successful.

Rapid growth across multiple sectors-construction, civil engineering and IT in particular-in the EMEA region also is contributing to a stronger demand for established project management. In November, the European Parliament adopted a resolution that stresses the need for high-level project management skills and qualifications in work supported by regional funds, which represent more than a third of the EU budget.

Governments can profit from the use of project management in multiple ways, which sometimes go well beyond the project itself. "The structured methodologies of modern project management, including transparency in every aspect of the project, should be an effective tool against corruption", Mr. Okereke says. "Therefore, if the government buys into modern project management as a profession, it will be doing a good service by acquiring effective tools that should enable the eradication, of corruption".

Projects worldwide increasingly are characterised by complexity and interdependencies, in addition to compliance initiatives, which also have driven the profession in EMEA. Regulatory requirements such as Sarbannes-Oxley, International Financial Reporting Standards and Basel II have contributed to growing project activity in 24 percent of the global companies polled in KPMG's 2005 Global IT Project Management Survey.

Across EMEA, project management is most frequently used in multinational projects, while it remains unfamiliar to smaller enterprises with more of a traditional operating culture. For instance, "two years ago, about 60 percent of the PMPs in the Arabian Gulf region worked for international companies", Mr. Ajam says. The situation is similar in Nigeria. "Large multinationals are using modern project management techniques and the examples of success, such as Shell projects in Nigeria, should be used to stimulate a wider use of project management", Mr. Okereke says.

BUILDING IMAGE

Although current trends show that project management is on the rise across EMEA, some areas need to be improved. "Many senior managers and executives do not have a clear understanding about the strategic aspects of project management and their impacts on organisational business results", Mr. Bucero says. "Executives often see project management as a necessary tool, but fail to understand its strategic importance". This claim is backed up by KPMG's research, which reveals global executives' perception of the strategic function of a project management office has not improved over the past several years.

Creating a consciousness of the strategic importance of project management among senior management is a current challenge. Other issues faced by the profession in EMEA are linked to the scope of project management use, the maturity of programme and portfolio management processes as well as the development of project managers' leadership skills.

In Southern Italy, "small and medium enterprises remain in most cases unfamiliar with project management, and very few enterprises adopt a programme or project portfolio management practices", Mr. Torre says. Perhaps telling of the link between project management and results, Agenzia Giornalistica Italia claims that "Italy is also losing importance in the European demand for engineering project services, dropping from 6,1 percent in 2003, to 4,5 percent in 2004, and to 4,1 percent in 2005.

"Last year, France, with 4.902 tenders, accounted for 38,9 percent of Europe's total, followed by Spain with 12,3 percent, United Kingdom 10,1 percent, Germany 7,3 percent. Even Poland is ahead of Italy, with 660 tenders (5,2 percent)".

Another key challenge is linked to development of people skills. "Areas in which project management is in general more immature are organisational factors, such as communication and teamwork", says Martin Price, managing consultant at PMSelect and former director of programmes at the PMI U.K. Chapter. "There is a need to go beyond the PMP certification and invest in qualifying project managers to deal with people issues, such as communication, teamwork, et cetera".

MANAGING CULTURAL DIVERSITY

Cultural diversity and the consequent differences in working methods have a considerable influence on project results across EMEA. It's widely acknowledged that many projects fail due to the inability to manage intangible factors, such as culture and its impacts on organisational maturity and working procedures.

Introducing modern project management techniques requires a cultural acceptance of change-and that doesn't always play well. For example, "in Italy, there is a cultural tendency for a certain reluctance to accept the concepts of planning or investing time in team-building", Mr. Torre says. "Italians are likely to reject planning and control tools, while they are excellent in using their creativity and improvisation for last-minute problem solving, to the detriment of acting in a proactive planned mode".

In the Arabian Gulf, "challenges are still considerable due to high levels of bureaucracy and also language issues, as most government agencies in the region operate in Arabic and project management activities are promoted in English", Mr. Ajam says.

Different cultures also have different ways of talking about business. "Challenges in international staffing rise from different terminologies", Mr. Gonder says. "But A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) gives a satisfying basis for clear communication on an international level".

Despite the challenges ahead, large European projects that apply project management techniques showcase the impact that project management can have on project results. "To name just a couple of projects, we could mention Airbus and Galileo", Mr. Gonder says.

If project management practices continue to be adopted at the current rate, there are surely many more successes to come.

For more information on project management in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), contact PMI EMEA Regional Service Centre / 300, Avenue de Tervueren / B-1150 Brussels, Belgium / Tel: +32-2-743 15 73; Fax +32-2-743 T 5 50 / E-mail: EMEA-servicecentre@pmi.org * PMI Global Operations Center / Four Campus Boulevard / Newtown Square, PA 19073-3299 USA / Tel: +1-610-356-4600; Fax: +1-610-356-4647 / E-mail: customercare@pmi.org * Publication services provided by Imagination Publishing / www.imaginepub.com