Senior Gov’t official describes project management as an ‘art’

Roadtown, Tortola - Manager of the Ministry of Finance’s Project Support Service Unit (PSSU) Ms. Shaina Smith told participants of the Basics of Project Planning and Management workshop that “Project Management is not a science but an art”.

Ms. Smith made the comment yesterday at the first in a series of project management training workshops which will be conducted throughout the year.  “Project management is a tool that will help you basically to accomplish your goal and that is one thing that will come out of this workshop,” Ms. Smith said.

She told the participants that during the training they will understand the difference between regular work and a project and how to define a project.  “We want to educate the public service on the principles and methodologies of project management which will enable us to do our job better and more effectively,” Ms. Smith added.

The PSSU Manager announced that the unit is looking at facilitating a workshop that will focus on contract management which is another challenging area in Government.

Nine public servants participated in the half-day training session designed to introduce public servants to the basic need-to-know concepts of managing projects. A similar session will be offered next week for another group of participants.

They will be exposed to standard forms and tools developed for use throughout the public service.  The topics to be covered during the training will include an Introduction to the PSSU; What is Project Management? and Project Planning and Management.

Participants will also be introduced to the revised British Virgin Islands Government Project Management Guidelines. 

According to the unit the principal purpose of the guidelines is to support the efforts of ministries or departments to more effectively plan, implement and monitor capital investment projects in a manner consistent with stated objectives, and within the limits of financial and other resource constraints.
For more information and to register for the upcoming training sessions persons can contact Mr. Kevi Potter at 468-3701 ext. 4252.

PSSU was established in 2005 to facilitate project management procedures and structure within the Government.  The Ministry of Finance’s mission is to provide economic and fiscal leadership that promotes sustainable economic development.