It's the Economy, Stupid: Weigh in on the Impact to Project Management

In 1992, "It's the economy, stupid" became the battle cry of the Bill Clinton campaign, highlighting the issue that was on most Americans' minds at the time. Well, the economy is once again impacting us all, even in the project management field.

On his excellent blog site PMStudent, Josh Nankivel is conducting an important brief 2-question (and anonymous) survey on the impact of the economy on project management.

From talking with colleagues, I've seen some direct impacts to the field already:

- In some organizations, new PMO startups are being postponed or canceled

- Major projects are being postponed or canceled

- Project budgets are being cut

- New projects are being scrutinized more tightly against potential financial benefits

- Many project managers are currently looking for work, some due to recent layoffs

- Project management consulting rates are declining due to an increase in supply vs. demand

- Training budgets are being cut

- Teams are beginning to work virtually more often, due to travel restrictions and office space sharing

- People are looking for alternate, less expensive ways to prepare for the PMP exam

- Some companies are asking people to play dual roles, for instance managing a PMO and running projects, or managing projects while serving as a business analyst, etc.

These are just a few of the impacts I've been seeing. Some of these have always been issues, but it seems more prevalent lately. Yet there are still companies going full speed ahead that are fully vested in project management and the benefits it can bring.

What have you been seeing? Weigh in below at the PM Student survey!


Impact of the economy on project management pmStudent