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Summary

This lesson in the beginner project manager course explores the factors that generate project demand. It explains how projects connect to business strategy through various triggers such as market needs, business needs, technological advancements, customer requests, legal requirements, social needs, and ecological impacts. The importance of project selection and portfolio management is highlighted, emphasizing the need for alignment with business strategy to ensure a worthwhile return on investment and avoid resource waste.

Takeaways

• 📚 The course is aimed at beginners in project management and focuses on understanding the factors that generate project demand.
• 🙏 The instructor asks for a favor by requesting a course review and rating, emphasizing its importance for validation and helping other students.
• 🔗 Projects must relate to a business strategy, and the lesson explores how they are connected and what triggers the demand for a project.
• 💡 Key triggers for starting a project include market needs, business needs, technological advancements, customer requests, legal requirements, social needs, and ecological impacts.
• 🏦 An example given is DTM Bank needing to develop mobile banking to keep up with the competition, highlighting the necessity of managing a complex project under constraints.
• 🚀 Projects can arise from the need to automate business processes or adapt products to new technologies, as illustrated by the evolution of smartphone capabilities.
• 📈 The demand for projects may also stem from the need to comply with new regulations, such as data privacy laws in the EU.
• 🛠️ Projects are often chosen based on urgency and alignment with strategic goals, with management deciding which projects to execute, discard, or postpone.
• 📊 Project selection is a critical task for top management, who must evaluate which projects will bring the most value to the company, both financially and otherwise.
• 📋 Projects are considered investments that consume resources with the expectation of a worthwhile return, necessitating careful preliminary analysis.
• 📈 Project portfolio management involves prioritizing and administering multiple projects to achieve optimal results and resource allocation.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of asking the audience to review the course?

The main purpose is to validate the efforts of the course creators and help other students understand that the course is worth taking by leaving a rating.

Why is it important for a project to relate to a business strategy?

It is important because a project must align with the strategic goals of the company to ensure that it contributes effectively to the overall business objectives.

What are some key triggers that can initiate a business to execute a project?

Key triggers include market needs, business needs, technological advancements, customer requests, legal requirements, social needs, and ecological impact considerations.

Why is it crucial for a company like DTM Bank to develop mobile banking?

It is crucial to keep up with the competition and to address the clients' needs, as other banks have already done so, and to manage the complex project under time and budget constraints.

How can a financial crisis impact the demand for projects within a company?

A financial crisis can lead to the need for projects that focus on cost reduction, process optimization, or revenue increase to help the company stay in business.

What is the significance of technological advancement in creating project demand?

Technological advancement can create project demand by enabling business automation or requiring changes in products to adapt to new technologies, such as the various uses of smartphones.

How can a customer request influence the initiation of a project?

A customer request can influence project initiation if a key customer requires a tailored service or product, prompting the company to approve and execute a project to meet that specific need.

What role do legal requirements and regulations play in generating project demand?

Legal requirements and regulations can generate project demand as businesses need to comply with new standards or updates to avoid penalties or loss of operational licenses.

Why are social needs considered a factor in creating project demand?

Social needs are considered a factor because they can drive projects that aim to improve public services or infrastructure, such as building hospitals or public monuments.

How does a company prioritize projects when multiple demands arise?

A company prioritizes projects through a process called project selection, where management reviews project proposals and decides which ones to execute based on factors like urgency, alignment with business strategy, and potential return on investment.

What is project portfolio management and why is it essential for top management?

Project portfolio management is the process of prioritizing, administering, and controlling large sets of projects and programs to achieve optimal resource allocation and results. It is essential for top management to select projects that bring the most value to the company.

Outlines

00:00

📈 Generating Project Demand Factors

This paragraph discusses the various factors that can create a demand for a project within a business. It starts with a request for the audience to review the course, emphasizing the importance of ratings for visibility and validation. The main content delves into key triggers for project initiation, such as market needs, business needs, technological advancements, customer requests, legal requirements, social needs, and ecological considerations. It explains how these factors relate to a company's wider strategy and how they can lead to the approval of a project. The paragraph also touches on the process of project selection, where management evaluates and prioritizes projects based on urgency and alignment with business goals.

05:01

📚 Project Selection and Portfolio Management

The second paragraph focuses on the critical role of project selection and portfolio management by top management. It explains that projects are considered investments that require careful analysis to ensure they align with the business strategy and provide a return. The paragraph highlights that multiple projects often run concurrently, and the board of directors is responsible for selecting projects that bring the most value, both financially and otherwise. It introduces the concept of project portfolio management, which involves prioritizing projects and efficiently combining resources across them. The importance of preliminary analysis is stressed, as projects consume significant resources and misalignment can lead to severe consequences for the business.

Keywords

💡Project Demand

Project demand refers to the various factors that necessitate the initiation of a project within a business or organization. In the video, it is the driving force behind project creation, such as market needs, technological advancements, or legal requirements. For instance, the script mentions DTM Bank needing to develop mobile banking to keep up with competition, which is a clear example of market need generating project demand.

💡Business Strategy

Business strategy is the long-term plan of action designed to achieve a company's goals and objectives. The script explains that a project must relate to a business strategy, indicating that project demand is often a direct result of strategic business decisions. The connection between a project and business strategy is crucial as it ensures that projects align with and contribute to the overall direction and success of the company.

💡Market Need

Market need is a concept that describes the requirements or desires of customers in the market that a company aims to fulfill. In the context of the video, DTM Bank's development of mobile banking is an example of addressing a market need, as it responds to the customers' demand for convenient banking services, which is a key factor in generating project demand.

💡Financial Crisis

Financial crisis refers to a situation where economic and financial markets are in distress, often leading to a decrease in business activity. The script mentions that during a financial crisis, companies may execute projects to reduce costs, optimize processes, or increase revenues to survive, illustrating how external economic conditions can create project demand.

💡Technological Advancement

Technological advancement is the progress or development of technology over time. The video script uses the evolution of smartphone capabilities as an example, where projects are initiated to incorporate new technologies into products or services, showing how advancements can drive the need for projects within a business.

💡Customer Request

Customer request is a specific demand or requirement made by a client or customer that a business may choose to fulfill. In the script, a car dealer may initiate a project to make their systems more compatible with a key client's needs, such as a taxi company, demonstrating how customer requests can generate project demand.

💡Legal Requirements

Legal requirements are the mandatory rules and regulations that businesses must adhere to. The video mentions the need for businesses to comply with changing regulations and laws, such as data privacy regulations in the EU, as a reason for initiating projects, highlighting the role of legal compliance in driving project demand.

💡Social Needs

Social needs encompass the various requirements of a society that are addressed by public or private organizations. The script gives examples like extending hospitals or building infrastructure, which are projects initiated to meet societal demands and improve public welfare, showing how social needs can create project demand.

💡Ecological Impact

Ecological impact refers to the effects that human activities have on the environment. The video discusses how companies may be required to improve their industrial processes to reduce emissions, such as the shift to electric cars, as an example of ecological considerations driving project demand.

💡Project Selection

Project selection is the process by which an organization decides which proposed projects to undertake. The script explains that management reviews project proposals and prioritizes them based on urgency and alignment with business strategy, emphasizing the importance of this process in determining which projects receive resources and attention.

💡Project Portfolio Management

Project portfolio management is the centralized management of current and proposed projects within an organization. The video script describes it as the process of prioritizing projects and combining resources across them to achieve optimal results, illustrating how organizations manage multiple projects to align with their strategic goals.

Highlights

The course asks for a favor by requesting a review and rating to help validate their efforts and inform other students.

Projects must relate to a business strategy, but the connection and reasons for project demand need exploration.

Market needs can trigger a project, as companies aim to develop products to meet client needs or stay competitive.

An example of a market need is DTM Bank developing mobile banking to keep up with competitors.

Business needs, such as during a financial crisis, may require projects for cost reduction, process optimization, or revenue increase.

Technological advancements can create project demand as businesses seek to automate or update their products.

Smartphone usage evolution illustrates how technology drives project creation for services like payments and bookings.

Customer requests for tailored services or products can initiate projects, as demonstrated by a car dealer accommodating a taxi company.

Legal requirements and regulations can necessitate projects to ensure business compliance, such as with data privacy laws.

Social needs, like infrastructure projects, can drive demand for projects to meet community or government objectives.

Ecological impact considerations may require companies to undertake projects to improve industrial processes and reduce emissions.

Project demand is connected to a company's or organization's wider strategy and is used as an instrument to achieve strategic goals.

Project proposals need to be presented to higher management to compete for an organization's limited resources.

Urgency is a key factor in project selection, with management prioritizing projects that address immediate needs or crises.

Project selection is essential for top management to choose projects that bring the most value, both financially and non-financially.

Projects are investments that consume resources with the objective of providing a worthwhile return for the business.

Project portfolio management involves prioritizing, administering, and controlling large sets of projects and programs for optimal resource utilization.

Preliminary analysis of projects is crucial to ensure they are aligned with business strategy to avoid wasting resources and disappointing stakeholders.

The next lesson will explore the role of the project manager and the responsibilities involved in project management.

Transcripts

welcome back to the beginner to project

manager course

in this lesson we will talk about the

factors generating project demand

but first we'd like to ask you a favor

we would be really grateful if you could

review our course

it's easy to do all you have to do is

click here and leave a rating

this will mean a lot to us and will help

other students know that this course is

worth taking

the reason we're asking you to do this

now is that this is a large course and

most people do not complete all the

lessons in one sitting

and eventually they miss the moment to

leave a rating so please do it now

it should only take a couple of seconds

and it will really validate our efforts

thank you so much for this okay

now having said that let's continue with

the lesson in which we will study

exactly what

creates the demand for projects

as i said in the previous lesson a

project must relate to a business

strategy

but how are the two connected and what

creates the demand for a project in the

first place

good questions so let's look into them

there are a few key triggers that will

jump start a business into executing a

project

there might be a market need this is

when your company wants to develop a

product to address their clients needs

or

to keep up with the competition for

example

dtm bank needs to develop mobile banking

as other banks have done but to get

there the bank needs to manage a complex

project with various activities

like software development security

financial and privacy regulations

etc and of course all under time and

budget constraints

if you are too late to introduce it you

risk losing customers

or there could be a business need

during the financial crisis for example

many companies had to execute projects

to reduce

costs optimize processes or increase

revenues

by expanding the customer base just to

stay in business also

the demand for a project may arise from

technological advancement

technology may advance to the point

where your business can be

automated or your products need to

change

for example anything you use your

smartphone for nowadays

paying for things booking a taxi even

ordering lunch

surely involved a project

a project may come as the result of a

customer request

say if a key customer requires a

tailored service or product

for example you are a car dealer and

your biggest client is a taxi company

and they request making your internal

systems more compatible with theirs

you are likely to approve such a project

or due to legal requirements

regulations and laws change and the

business will need to comply

social media is a prime example where

laws and regulations are constantly

updating as their technology and

features advance

you've probably noticed the general data

privacy regulations introduced in the eu

right if not just check your email inbox

there could also be social needs these

can be anything from digging tunnels

to extending hospitals to building an

eiffel tower

anything that a government or

organization can do to satisfy a social

need

and lastly there are ecological impact

considerations

companies are often required and obliged

to improve their industrial processes to

reduce emissions

many countries have vowed to only allow

electric cars on the road by a certain

year

a massive project for car manufactures

see there are many things that can

create a demand for a project

and all have to do with the companies or

organizations wider strategy

once a strategic goal is defined or a

need arises the project will be the

instrument to achieve that goal

but needs such as the ones mentioned are

not likely to arrive

one by one in a timely manner so how

does a corporation

choose which ones take priority and

deserve a project

the demand will require a project

proposal

and the owner of this proposal will need

to put it to the attention of higher

management to compete for the limited

resources of the organization

management will then review the projects

and decide which ones to execute

which to discard and which to postpone

for a later date

urgency is a key factor when selecting

projects

say a new regulation is imposed which

requires your company to comply with the

latest standards

or lose their license to work in the

country

you can bet that the board of directors

will prioritize a project that resolves

this first

this process is referred to as project

selection

it's an essential task for top

management they must select the projects

which bring the most value to the

company

financial and non-financial in the eyes

of the board of directors

projects are investments they use

resources

again financial and otherwise with the

objective of seeing a worthwhile return

for the business

as you can probably guess several

projects are usually on the go at the

same time

that said when the board of directors is

presented with possible projects they

often select several of them and add

them into a project portfolio

the board of directors then dabbles in

what is called project portfolio

management

this is the process of prioritizing

projects and the administration and

control of large sets of projects and

programs

basically the objective is to achieve

the results and combine resources across

projects in an optimal way

like we said projects are investments

and with any investment the preliminary

analysis

needs to be performed with care projects

consume enormous amounts of resources

finances time effort and attention

so if they're not aligned with the

business strategy then they're a massive

waste

leading to many disappointed

stakeholders at best and a bankrupt

business

at worst no pressure then

great next lesson we'll have a look at

the project manager themselves

and what their role involves see you

there

you