Wikipedia defines Project Management as the discipline of planning, organizing, motivating, and controlling resources to achieve specific goals. The age old question in the project management industry is if Project Management is an art that you could be innate or a science you can learn? There are strong arguments for each side of the question. My opinion is project management is both an art and a science. Project management is an art as creativity is needed for leading, enabling, motivating and communicating team members especially to those that do not have accountability to you. It takes creativity for a project manager to be able direct the team when work priorities shift, resolve issues when they arise, and determine which information to communicate when and to whom. Project management requires subjectivity, and the ability to make good business decisions. However, we should recognize the science of project management which includes planning, estimating, measuring and controlling the work and deliverables. The science come with determining which team does what and when, managing schedules with budget using project management tools and well defined techniques. So in project management, factual and objective data is manipulated to manage initiatives, risks and recommend corrective action. What do you think?.
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