Getting It Done: Project Management in Action

Smooth Operator

How to use your project management skills in operations.

Deepa Gandhavalli Ramaniah, PMP

Although an operation is completely different from a project, many project managers find themselves in roles involving operations. The good news is the jobs involve a considerable overlap in skills.

Consider a business operation such as production support, design maintenance or remediation. Here, operations managers focus on executing, monitoring and controlling the business operations so that business goals are achieved. This will sound familiar to project managers, who execute, monitor and control a project's process groups.

Here are three of the most important project management skills needed if you find yourself in operations management: ...