Benefits of Hiring a Project Manager – Moving a project forward can be an arduous task, especially for small businesses and start-ups with limited resources. Often, the team is juggling project-specific tasks with other important roles and responsibilities. The burden of moving the project forward rests on the entire team, or one leader who takes charge.
The key to successfully completing a project and staying within scope is to hire a project manager. Here are five compelling benefits of hiring a project management consultant.
Knowledge and Experience
The overarching benefit of hiring a project management consultant is the invaluable knowledge and expertise they bring with them. A skilled project manager can look at the destination, then draw the best route to get there. They will outline the necessary pit stops along the way, assign responsibilities, and set a timeline. Then, once the map is drawn, they act as traffic control to keep everything moving smoothly.
Look for a project management consultant with proven experience, preferably with a Six Sigma Certification. This person should be an effective communicator with amazing organization skills and the ability to perform well under pressure.
Outside Perspective
Another notable benefit of hiring a project management consultant is that they bring an outside perspective. They’ll have in-depth knowledge about how other businesses are accomplishing tasks and moving projects forward.
Project managers also have the unique ability to see the proverbial forest for the trees, and won’t have the same limiting mindset that often settles in over time. In other words, they won’t get hung up on the way things used to be done, because they never experienced previous routines or processes.
No Bias or Conflicts
Outsourcing a project manager is like starting with a clean slate. This consultant won’t be ingrained in the company culture or have history with any underlying politics and conflicts. They won’t have a bias toward one person’s idea over another, and will be able to approach problems logically, and without emotional hang-ups.
This layer of separation allows a project management consultant to do their job effectively. One of the daily tasks of project management is ensuring other people are on task and on time — a role that isn’t always well-received, so to be effective, one needs the right set of skills.
Dedicated Focus
Everyone within an organization has a variety of responsibilities and tasks to accomplish each day — and this is why projects often get delayed. When a project manager walks into a business, their sole job is to focus on the project. This dedicated focus is essential for keeping a project on time and on budget.
That’s not to say that a project manager doesn’t wear many hats in their role, as they’ll often have various responsibilities spanning across numerous departments. However, they don’t get inundated with the day-to-day minutiae that creates so many challenges for in-house project leaders.
High ROI
Time and money are two very important components of a project plan. Going over budget can be damaging to a business. Furthermore, delays also cost money in lost revenue and earning potential. For example, if you’re set to have a product launch in September and it gets delayed until November, your business will miss the holiday sales season and lose that potential income.
Hiring a project management consultant has a high ROI (return on investment), in that the time and money saved throughout the project pays for the consultant. Whether you’re at the ideation phase of a new project or trying to get a wayward timeline back on track, hiring the right project management consultant is well worth the resources.
Finding the Right Consultant
Take your time when searching for a skilled project manager consultant for your start-up. Ask around for recommendations and request case studies and proven results. Besides looking at overall experience and continuing education, remember to look for someone who has relevant experience in your industry or business niche.
Ingrid Maldine is a business writer, editor and management consultant with extensive experience writing and consulting for both start-ups and long established companies. She has ten years management and leadership experience gained at BSkyB in London and Viva Travel Guides in Quito, Ecuador, giving her a depth of insight into innovation in international business. With an MBA from the University of Hull and many years of experience running her own business consultancy, Ingrid’s background allows her to connect with a diverse range of clients, including cutting edge technology and web-based start-ups but also multinationals in need of assistance. Ingrid has played a defining role in shaping organizational strategy for a wide range of different organizations, including for-profit, NGOs and charities. Ingrid has also served on the Board of Directors for the South American Explorers Club in Quito, Ecuador.
