The Project Management Institute (PMI) has reiterated that it is committed to effective practice in project management, while setting the benchmark for best practices in Nigeria and Africa at large.
This was the crux of the discussion at a recent press briefing organised by the institute at Radisson Blu Hotels, Victoria Island, Lagos.
At the event, the institute stated the need to position project management professionalism as crucial for all who undertake projects in both private and public sectors.
Speaking on the training and advocacy programmes of the institute, the Region Mentor for Africa, Project Management Institute Education Foundation (PMIEF), Titiola Park said: “We often go to schools and non-profit organisations to train people for free. We are very mindful of the upcoming generation.
“Project Management Education Foundation is the philanthropic arm of PMI. PMIEF focuses on Philanthropy by providing at no-cost resources to the PMIEF chapter communities and global communities who work in the various fields of Social Good.
“For nearly 30 years, PMIEF has helped put youth on the path to success by incorporating project management skills into their daily lives. We focus on youths and help them to engage competitively.
Stating the institute’s value proposition, Park added that “the institute advocates for project management best practices.”
In his address, the PMI’s Region Mentor for Africa, Ike Nwankwo, spoke on the institute’s plans on collaboration and advocacy.
“The PMI is one of the world’s largest volunteer based not- for-profit membership associations with over 500,000 members and over 1,500,000 certification holders, worldwide.
“Through global advocacy, collaboration, education and research, PMI works to prepare more than three million professionals around the world for the project economy: the coming economy in which work and individuals are organised around projects.
“A project is that which has a start and has an end. If you really want to get result, you look for a certified project management professional. It’s like saying everyone is a doctor because you take care of your immediate loved ones, but when it gets to a stage, you cannot but hire the service of a professional doctor. Some people play around with the word PMP. We have been looking at creating a strategy and plan to focus on Africa and Nigeria,” he said.
On how the activities of the institute benefits the SMEs, Nwankwo added, “Do SMEs do projects? If it is applicable for SMEs to do project then it means that project management is applicable to them”.
On her own part, the Chapter Manager, PMI Nigeria, Isioma Isiekwenagbu, explained project management in the layman’s diction. Her words: “Let me say it in a layman’s language. Project management is all about taking up a task from the start and ensure its end. That is basically what we do every day, as human beings. If you have to drive to work every day and come back, that is project management. It you have to make breakfast today, that is a project on its own because the next breakfast takes a totally different process. That’s in the layman’s language. Although project management is far more than that.
“Our goal is to explore how project management can be used to improve organisational success and further mature the profession through globally-recognised standards, certifications, communities, resources, tools, academic research, publications, professional development courses and networking opportunities across Africa.”
According to the Chapter President, Nigeria, Dr. Lambert Ofoegbu, the institute is not a regulatory body although it advocates a blueprint for best practices in project management across the globe.
“We advocate for project management best practices. We are not a regulatory body and we are not competitive, with three outreaches in the east, west and north. Anybody can be called a project management professional but when we are talking about best practices, they know us. We are not a regulatory agency. we only provide a blueprint for best practices. We don’t regulate the practice actually,” Ofoegbu said.