Today’s nuclear industry environment entails many projects to extend the life of nuclear power plants. Additionally, there are many projects that are simply plant modifications to replace equipment or improve the operability and performance of systems. Consequently, there is an ever increasing demand for qualified project managers to successfully accomplish the desired end result of these projects. It is one of most frequently requested area of support from our customers.
I have been encouraging some of our employees to enroll in the Project Management Institute training programs. These programs provide complete training in all elements that comprise a project. Successful completion of this training will end in a PMI or PMP certification. This certification will improve your value to prospective employers and thus improve your salary range.
I did some research on the internet to see what I could learn about project management and this is what I found: A “project” is defined as an activity with a defined start and a defined end. Project Management reduces risk and improves chances of success. Effective management of a project requires knowledge of the elements or processes that comprise most all projects. There are five basic process groups and nine knowledge areas that are typical of almost all projects.
Process groups are: Initiating, Planning, Executing, Controlling / Monitoring, and Closing.
The nine knowledge areas are : Project Integration Management, Scope Management, Time Management, Cost Management, Quality Management, Human Resource Management, Communications Management, Risk Management, and Procurement Management. These nine knowledge areas contain the processes that need to be accomplished within its discipline in order to achieve effective project management. Each of these processes also falls into one of the five basic process groups mentioned above, thus creating a matrix structure such that every process can be related to one knowledge area and one process group.
Project managers make things happen. They define the scope of the project, align the resources and make it happen. Sounds like fun to me!
Again I encourage our employees to investigate project management training as path to increased demand for your services, increased earning power and a more interesting and challenging work environment.
A message from Brad Myers, Director of Technical Services
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