In the project management field, business process management and project management are often used interchangeably.
It’s important to realize, however, that these are two very different business techniques with varying goals, objectives, and stages. Understanding the difference between process management vs project management can help improve efficiencies throughout the workplace.
This article explains the difference between process and project management and answers some of the most commonly asked questions.
Additionally, we’ll provide details and links to both process management and project management templates to help maximize efficiencies when you’re using these business techniques.
Process management vs project management: one is for daily efforts, the other is not
Process management deals with ongoing strategies, while project management involves one-time events that typically have a defined start and end point. In other words, process management focuses on maximizing the efficiencies of day-to-day business processes, whereas project management oversees singular events as the need arises.
It’s possible, even probable, for these two management techniques to overlap. For example, managers commonly develop a number of business processes during the project management phase. While project managers work to develop these processes, it’s the process managers who then take over to assess, adjust, and optimize these processes on a daily basis. Since this is quite a broad explanation, we’ll take a closer look at both business management solutions.
What is process management?
Process management focuses on improving the efficiencies of business processes throughout the company. It requires process managers to review, analyze, and optimize every step of these defined processes to improve efficiencies and quality while simultaneously saving time and money and reducing waste. Unlike project management, process management doesn’t have a clear start and end point because the process is already in place. Instead, the process manager continuously works to optimize business operations.
What is project management?
Project management works to implement change that brings value to the company. The technique is temporary and works toward meeting a defined goal or objective set by the company within a clearly set budget and timeline. The implementation of new technologies, integrations of automation in the workplace, construction of a building, or development of new products or services are prime examples of project management.
Project management is critical to business success because it helps improve productivity, cut costs, and reduce waste. With the rise in automation in the workplace, the demand for management of projects and processes is even greater today. In fact, for many businesses to remain competitive, they must know the right time to invest in project management.
Signs you may need to invest in project management
Some companies are hesitant to invest in project management. However, this type of investment offers an exceptional return on investment when used correctly. The trick is to know when it’s time to invest in project management. Here’s a look at seven of the most common signs that it may be time for project management.
- Missed deadlines: If teams are struggling to meet external or internal deadlines, the company can improve efficiencies and productivity output with project management.
- Outdated technology: If your company is still relying on Excel spreadsheets to track information, now may be the time to use project management to integrate new technology into the workflow to stay competitive.
- Lack of real-time insights: Are you struggling to make sound business decisions due to a lack of real-time insights? A strong project management plan can help with this issue.
- Issues with scalability: If your company is finding it impossible to scale the business to meet demand, project management is a must.
- Team miscommunication: Miscommunication between project team members can be a costly and time-consuming issue. You can fix this problem with a sound project management plan.
- Poor customer relations: Customer relations is crucial for business success. If your company is not meeting customer service expectations, a project manager can identify the problem and develop a plan to fix these issues.
- Budget issues: Going over budget on a continuous basis can destroy a business over time. You can avoid this problem by investing in project management to tackle budget issues.
At monday.com, we offer a variety of customizable templates to help companies improve their project management and process management strategies.
Using monday.com to manage daily processes as well as projects
monday.com is an open, cloud-based platform that allows businesses of all sizes to use and customize strategic templates within our Work OS system. Our templates help companies improve efficiencies, increase visibility, enhance collaboration, and gather real-time insights. This combination can positively impact a company’s bottom line by helping employees increase production, reduce waste, maintain budgets, and make sound business decisions. While monday.com offers a wide range of templates to help companies improve workplace practices, our Project Management Plan Template and Single Project Template are ideal for project and process management.
Two monday.com templates that will get your workflows up and running as efficiently as possible
Here’s a quick look at the top monday.com’s templates for project and process management.
Project Management Plan Template
Our comprehensive Project Management Plan Template allows managers to track all five major processes of a project.
A project manager can handle everything from risk management to quality control with our Project Management Plan Template, which helps ensure each stage of the managed process is optimized for efficiency. It also offers greater visibility for stakeholders by providing a full analysis of all vital data points within the project. Most importantly, our template is completely customizable and user-friendly, so managers can quickly make adjustments to meet the company’s specific needs.
Single Project Template
Our Single Project Template is ideal for those one-time, temporary projects that require detailed tracking and visibility.Project managers can use our Single Project Template to track deadlines, manage budgets, and set milestones. The color-coded labels allow managers and stakeholders to easily track the project as it moves through various stages of the process. Our Single Project Template is completely customizable, enabling managers to develop a unique template for each project they handle for the company.
While all our templates are easy to use for project management purposes, we also want to offer the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions.
FAQs
What are the five major processes of a project?
- Initiation: The project manager identifies problems, sets clear goals and objectives, and secures stakeholders’ approval
- Planning: The team works together to develop a project plan that meets company goals
- Execution: The team implements the plan and communicates changes to related parties
- Monitoring: Team members monitor the implementation of the plan and make adjustments as needed
- Closure: The project is completed
What are some examples of processes?
Depending on the type of business you operate, processes could include:
- New Employee Onboarding
- Customer checkout
- Raw materials procurement
- Quality control procedures
- Production line workflow
- Information security dataflow
- Asset management
The good news is that you can effectively manage most of these processes with the right parameters and templates.
Improve business management efficiencies with monday.com’s project and process templates
Both process management and project management are powerful tools to help your company reduce waste, improve productivity, and increase profits. If your company is ready to reap these rewards, try using the templates in the monday.com Work OS. Our templates can help reduce the amount of time necessary to complete your projects. Since you have the ability to customize our monday.com templates to meet your specific needs, they are ideal for any project or process your company wants to invest in.
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