The Importance of ITIL and PRINCE2® in Modern Day Collaborative Project Management

Collaborative project management is often the lifeblood of large industries. These usually include aerospace, mechanical engineering, energy and automotive industries. These sectors rely on project management due to the increasing demand for cross-company and cross-industry development networks. Bundling expertise to develop and manufacture materials across enterprises is fundamental in the increasingly globalised development environment.

Today, many successful project managers are highly qualified with accredited training from courses such as PRINCE2. With in-depth understanding of project management methodologies, project managers can work towards enhancing project productivity. Despite collaboration being a project management methodology that is key to industry success, many project managers struggle with its implementation. This is due to the fact that large projects combine various companies and industries, with endless employees in geographically dispersed locations. This makes collaborative project management a challenge. With shorter manufacturing cycles and higher productivity targets, many of these trades need end-to-end IT support and ITIL training to guarantee efficient collaborative project management processes.

BMW, leaders in the automotive industry, provide an excellent example of a company making the most of modern software in order to collaborate and communicate. They have shown the importance of networking sub-projects and using rapid communication to speed up problem resolution processes. Project managers can meet ever-increasing targets by using software and IT service training to create a cohesive communication network.

In the past, project managers were often isolated from their respective project workers. Despite the fact they had a wealth of information, this knowledge was often difficult to relay to the large workforces due to the lack of internet connectivity. Previous forms of communication that were relatively unreliable such as post and fax made document sharing a challenge. Where communication failed, collaboration also became hindered. Mistakes were made due to misinformation, therefore slowing down manufacturing processes. The introduction of internet connectivity and advanced communication technology at BMW meant a new transparency of information. Information can now be shared on large scales with ever increasing speed and efficiency.

This transparency of information was especially beneficial for BMW in a number of ways. The first huge benefit was the newfound precision of planning and scheduling. IT support meant employees could collaborate on a number of administrative matters. For example, increased communication meant double bookings were avoided due to scheduling tools. Small administrative matters such as this are one of the many things that can contribute to delayed project completion. BMW use the software to reserve meeting times and be made aware of attendees and resources available at any one time.

One huge aim of collaborative project management is to minimise the chances of errors and overspend. BMW used the transparency of information given to them by end-to-end IT software to share budgeting and spreadsheets. The communication of these important documents leads to increased accuracy from employees. Being continually aware of financial planning with changing budgets and up-to-date spreadsheets meant precision during automotive production was no longer a guessing game.

Collaborative project management is about people and the software at BMW helps employees work together effectively to share information with the right people at the right time. The applications used on computers, laptops, tablets and mobile devices are integrated to support sophisticated communication between employees and companies. IT service training teaches project managers to use these applications to help the company and its projects to change, transform and grow.

As the technological landscape continues to evolve, so does project management. Having a broad and comprehensive understanding of IT systems will support future project managers who need to implement collaborative project management initiatives continually. Training and understanding of IT infrastructure and service management enables project managers to use IT resources to deliver business goals. ITIL training will help project managers know the best ways to communicate, not only with colleagues but also cross-companies and industries. Understanding collaborative project management methodologies with a basis in PRINCE2 training is fundamental. However, the project manager who does not pair their project management methodologies with effective IT service management training is at risk of failure.