The concept of Project Management has been around since ancient times. However in today’s fast-paced world, Project Management has become more of a necessity than ever before and has revolutionised society and the working environment. With its rise, there has been an increase in the amount of speculation and curiosity surrounding the role of a Project Manager and Project Management as a the whole. This has resulted in Project Management myths that have caused many missed opportunities for Project Managers, who have fallen into the trap of believing these myths and thus found themselves restricted. Below are five of these Project Management myths debunked:

1. The agreed deadline is more important than the quality of the product

While it is necessary and important to agree on certain timelines and deadlines with your clients, there is nothing more important than quality. Businesses often resort to compromising the quality towards the development of a product or the rendering of a service, in order to accommodate the clients’ requests and deadlines. Project Managers should ensure that quality is never compromised.

2. A Project Manager is the one and only expert

The purpose of the Project Manager is to manage and assist the experts in delivering quality work, NOT to do it all themselves. Their roles include leading, facilitating, supporting, and encouraging team members throughout the Project Lifecycle.

3. Project Managers need to be detail-oriented and not attentive to strategy

While it is important to be detail-oriented, the Project Manager has the responsibility of ensuring that the business strategy aligns with the project. In fact the Project Manager should understand the business vision before the initiation of the project, in order to optimise the development of the business as a whole.

4. Everything that fails can always be fixed

Sometimes it is better to admit that something has failed and move on to trying an alternative, rather than trying to rescue it and wasting more resources.

5. Activity equals productivity

Initially this statement seems contradictory, however studies have shown that when team members are allowed free time they appear significantly more productive at work. Therefore a higher number of hours worked does not always refer to more work being achieved.

The Project Management myths discussed above are only a few of them. It is important to debunk these myths in order avoid falling into the trap of restricting your business, and to achieve ultimate productivity out of the project.