Project Management and Startups: How Can PM Help?

I don’t know about you, but I come from the big corporate world of Project Management.  Starting with Project Management work I performed on very large $$ US Department of Education contracts in the early 1990’s, I’ve managed projects, programs and implementations in mostly large corporate settings for nearly 18 years.

Project Management practices in large organizations are usually fairly formal.  Either you’re helping put a Project Management Office (PMO) together or it’s already in place or there’s some other sort of formalized structure in place that you are a part of.  Policies are written – and always being re-written, templates are in place or being created.  It’s a never ending change process because no body seems to truly get it right.  But the structure is there and it’s somewhat formalized.

Do Startups Need Structure?

What about the small companies?  What about the startups?  Do they need the same structure?  Do they need formalized processes?  As they grow, do they need these processes in order to be successful and retain their new customers?  The answer is somewhere between “maybe”, “probably”, and “yes”.

Helping these organizations requires PMs to step outside the corporate world thought process.  These organizations are not likely in need of a full-time Project Manager.  What they often need is a change agent or a process engineer.  They need someone who knows how to do it in the large corporate world but also has the entrepreneurial spirit and business acumen to scale it for the new startup.  They don’t need the formal structure…yet.  They just need to know about it.  And they need you to rescue them from whatever it is that caused them to be interested in what you have to say in the first place.

Ways that PMs Can Help

Their problems come in all shapes and sizes.  Unless we’re Superman, as Project Managers we can only do so much.  But there definitely are things that the experienced Project Manager/Business Professional can bring to the table for these troubled organizations.  Some of the ways we can help – and that they definitely need help with are:

• Understanding how they got in trouble
• Setting up more formalized processes to track project status
• Creating templates for the projects they manage
• Mapping current business processes to identify change needs
• Resource management and oversight
• Budgeting, forecasting and estimating 

I’m sure there are more, but these are a few that jump out at me from experience.

Summary

PM is relevant for these smaller organizations.  We just have to think outside the box in order to help them.  And just like the PM-hating project sponsor in the big corporate world, the very talented CEO is not one to like to get help from the outside or give up $$ to do so.  Creativity is a must.  But these organizations need the process knowledge, strategic planning and big picture thinking that the experienced Project Manager can bring to the table. 

Next, I’ll run through a couple of ‘case studies.’  These will be examples of smaller, startup-type organizations that were in need and what I worked on with them to help them become more successful with their customers.

Related posts:

1. Project Management and Startups: How Can PM Help? – Case Study 1
2. Project Management and Startups: How Can PM Help? – Case Study 2
3. Project Management and Startups: Resource Allocation and Usage – Part 1
4. The Responsibility of Defining Requirements
5. The Art of Negotiation – Part 1