It does seem like a chicken and egg scenario but it is not so.
Theory is subjective and practice - if done properly is objective. But again unless the manager is not well versed in the subjectivity of the situation, it cannot be sifted to choose the best possible solution to implement. It is in my opinion looking at trying to write big sentences without learning what the alphabets are about.
Yes, just the learning is not good if it is not practiced, but the intent of practice is two fold - one to execute the project and the other to give input back into the theory - to improve it by adding clarity and may be more subjectivity. But unless the various options are visible (in theory) it would become difficult to choose it to practice.
Another example is the game of chess. Unless the player studies the various possible moves in a particular scenario - theory, in the real game, it would be difficult for the player to assess the possible outcome and plan accordingly without the prior theoretical study.
That way, I do admire the Indian education system - in spite of a lot of room of improvement, it still instills the aspect of theory to a great extent in the formative years of the student.
By
Vijay Bhaskar, Consultant, CGI
| 06 04 2009 06:25:33 +0000
Theory paves the way to knowledge. Knowledge tells you about the areas of attention and these are the areas that need practice! Without theory you may never really know what you need to practice at all. Knowledge about the process leading to fruition of a project arms you with the areas that need focus, concentration and toning. These are the practical areas that need PRACTICE.
By
Makrand Bhave, Marketing & MICE, WIZCRAFT International
| 05 28 2009 12:08:15 +0000
Though theory and practice both are essential for a successful project, theory provides variety of information to resolve the complexity. One can not do practice without acquiring/hiring theoretical knowledge. So it is more difficult to handle the project without theoretical knowledge.
By
Arvind Solanki, Project Head, Fairwood Consultants Pvt. Ltd.
| 05 27 2009 04:26:48 +0000
Yes it is very true that Practice makes the man perfect.But how you will do practice without any informations ,which comes from theoritcal knowledge.No doubt both are required for managing the project,but theory plays a vital role.
By
Samir Das, Tech Architect, Infosys
| 05 26 2009 12:39:20 +0000
"Management is an art of converting Theory in to Practice" In India, Basically the education system is framed in such a way knowledge is imparted at first and then the skills are developed and tested. Knowledge comes through learning & understanding the theories. Any profession for that matter is not out of this basics. Theories are developed, time tested, provened by spending lot of time cost energy etc by our predecessors. One need need not waste all the resources by testing the theories and reinvent it once again. Its all about learing from others exprience, whether it is good or bad, favourable or adverse. There can't be great difference between Theory & Practice, It is only the effeciency or convertion ratio from theory to practice. If you apply effectively theroy on your practice you will achiece 100% success if not it depends up on your degree of application. When we talk about Project Management it is basically driven by 5 processes, Iniitiation, Planning, Execution, Monitoring & controlling & Closing. To effectively manage all the above processes one Project Manager needs to have the knowledge of Management phylosophies and should possess all management soft skills. Hence Project Mangement is not only Theory "It is an art of converting Theory in to Practice."
By
Raj Mahender, Project Management Consultant at freelance
| 05 25 2009 06:57:01 +0000
I support Ajay's comments, one should certainly know the theories to implement in the project,to get more effective outputs. A person who doesn't have theory knowledge can also manage the project, but knowing something more and implementing it practically would always make a difference.
By
Radha V, Project Lead, Confidential
| 05 23 2009 08:16:32 +0000
According to me practice certainly help to be good project manager but the project management is more than just the mechanics of the process. It is about interpersonal skills, stakeholder awareness, presentation to management and understanding your rules for winning. In other words, it is a blend of theory and skills.
By
Ajay Kashyap, Project Manager, Polaris Software
| 05 22 2009 10:14:12 +0000
|
Practice is the best way to start with implementation. Practice can be used, studied, and refined. It is faulty to create theory that has not been proven to work and accepted because the possibility exists that theory is not effective as stated. Practice, on the other hand, is tested, used, and evaluated to create the optimal effectiveness which then can be established as theory.
By
Pamela , Consultant, Independant ED Consulting
| 04 11 2010 16:37:42 +0000
Practice is surely required and theory is an essential component that converts and forever assists in bettering the practice. Practitioners confirm and turn them into theory to complete the cycle. Either or can not derive any meaningful results.
By
Ravindra Sharma, Managing Consultant, CHEF-India
| 03 15 2010 08:55:27 +0000
Ajay, primarily PM was meant to give a platform on which the customer sitting remotely can WITH CONFIDENCE expect to have his work done in an OPTIMAL manner. The ideaa is to mobilize all the resources - from time, money, people, material, process assets, org assets - everything - to ensure that the client's requirements are met in a well managed manner resulting in optimal - efficient - utilization of resources.
By
RAMESH KANDADAI, Principal Consultant, ARM Consultants
| 02 20 2010 08:01:15 +0000
yes its very true that both theory and practice is equally important but .. practice is most important.. an effective project plan requires practice ...as many new thing can be known and learned when we are practisisng during our project implementation stage...
By
varsha , Head/VP/GM-Quality, frac
| 06 07 2009 05:57:41 +0000
Slightly confusing... you want to ask a coin having either Head or Tale. I beleive Coin can be coin if it having one side Head and second side Tale. Only Project Management can't be use concept to implement in the project. Concept is just give you direction/methodlogies for your project and practice makes any project sucessfull. Sometime you have to think out of the box for your project. And that is way negotiantion skill, team management skilss or PRINCE2 or PMP blaw.... concept comes in th market. You will see most of cases in the project life cycle Desgin review or QA audit will be placed after project went to acceptance test. Now you will see agile methodlogy where Project managment concept is changed. Here I trying to focus practice is very important factor of any successful project and Concept is a core of any orgainsation.
By
Alok Saxena, Designer cum Team Leader -(Technical), ATOS ORIGIN (PRINCE2 2009)
| 06 02 2009 15:38:14 +0000
Just to add a few further words regarding Practice, Totally agree with the supporters of Theory that without theory no job is complete, but here the questions is regarding project management. Yes you need to know the theoretical knonwledge of what kind of project you are managing ( eg. a finance project manager would have tough timemanaging an equipment project ), but to be an effective project manager you need practice and skills which can hardly be taught in theory.
By
Rahul Mukerjee, Head of Production and Supply Chain
| 05 28 2009 10:21:14 +0000
managing a project can only be learnt and done by practice only. If that is not the case, we can bring all the high class professors or fresh graduates from universisties and make them project heads. Project management theory is nothing but practice documented systematically. And Project management practice is nothing but assimilated theory with improvisations to previous experiences put into practice. The cycle goes on like this. Thatswhy, a fresh graduate from university gradually becomes a project manager and then again goes for upgrading the skills from theory and goes in to take higher challenges etc
By
Raghu Kastury, Principal Consultant & Head of Strategic Business Unit - Retail & Distribution, Sundaram Infotech Solutions Limited
| 05 28 2009 10:16:03 +0000
Execution always plays a major role over planning, therefore we need a consultant (regular practitioner) who can guide us in a project. Project management is a practice with tools developed by theory, therefore project always lead by an experienced guy even consultant is there. Theory gives you a basic idea about the management and tools; and how and where you can use these tools efeectively. Practice tells you that when this tools should be used effectively.
By
Nitin M Aras, XYZ
| 05 23 2009 06:03:19 +0000
Ajay and Rahul you both are right as per your own views.Project management is a process that is fully dependent on theory as well as practice.Without theoretical knowledge one cant start up his project by any means as there are many paper works to do for start up of any project which is not at all possible without theoreticalk knowledge.Practical knowledge is by all means appreciable as it totally depends on the performance and achievements of the CEO or the manager.So,both have got equal importance in any type of project management. Now a days This question is arising as there is a havoc fear of recession in everyones mind so managers are becoming shaken somehow with their projects.Its just what I feel!!!!!!
By
BEENA AGARWAL, Head/VP/GM-Corporate Planning/Strategy, ANADI HI TECH AGRO PVT LTD
| 05 22 2009 14:03:30 +0000
|
