SMEs need more efficient and effective project management skills 1. Context of the project The majority of the strategic activities that SMEs carry out in order to develop their business, expand their market presence or increase their efficiency and productivity could be considered as projects. However, in many cases, no project methodologies are used and people involved in leading these projects use intuitive and ad hoc methods that are often inefficient. The main reason for this is that for many SMEs the existing methodologies are complex, time-consuming and costly. SMEs prefer small-scale, short-term, one-off initiatives to long-running, costly and time-consuming projects. Research has found indications that the lack of decent project management skills is hurting productivity and profitability. Taking into account that Europe has 25 million SMEs generating 56.4% of the nonfinancial business sector (NFBS) value-added and 66.6% of NFBS employment, this is a serious problem. At the moment there is no small and simple project management method for these companies and projects, fundamental standards such as PRINCE2 and PMBOK Guide are too complex, time-consuming and costly. 2. Project partners The project partners PTCoE (Belgium), Van Hare Learning Solutions (Netherlands), Slingo Chamber of Commerce & Industry (Ireland), emcra GmbH (Germany), PMI Slovenia (Slovenia), and the Institute for postgraduate studies of the Bulgarian University of National and World Economy (Bulgaria) share the ambition to provide a solution for this issue. 3. Project objective The objective of the P3.express project is threefold. The first goal is to build a simple and effective project management framework that SMEs can use to manage their projects without overburdening the organization. The second goal is to educate professionals that are involved in leading project management in SMEs about this new framework in a cost-effective way by providing accessible learning materials. The third goal is to facilitate and empower professionals that are involved in leading project management in SMEs to implement the project management framework in their professional setting while learning on the job. 4. Project activities To reach these objectives the project will generate three intellectual outputs. (IO1) the P3X elementary guide. This will be a reference manual and an education material for the P3X framework, a basic project management methodology for professionals involved in managing small to medium-sized projects in SMEs. (IO2) Interactive work-based manual. This is an online platform for on the job learning that will facilitate the implementation of the framework on the learner's workplace. The tool will be a step by step interactive guide with a link to useful applications, templates, and examples that can be used to implement the framework in real-life projects while learning the framework on the job. (IO3) The P3X MOOC will be a well-formed, easy to follow eLearning course that prepares anyone for using the framework in real-life settings that is easily accessible. The methodology elaborated to achieve thises objectives follows a classical path Pooling of knowledge, Conception of the outputs, Development, Testing & validation, and Dissemination. The project will start in September 2020 and will take 25 months. 5. Participants P3.express focuses on professionals who are involved in leading and managing projects in small or medium-sized projects in European SMEs. After the initial release of the intellectual outputs, the project estimates to reach 2000 active users in the first year, and yearly growth of 20% to 40% for the first 5 years. 6 multiplier events will be organized with each 40 to 60 participants and each intellectual output will be tested in small focus groups. 6. Impact The impact on individuals who participate in this project and learn P3X will be better project management skills which, in turn, will help them advance in their careers. Learners will be able to manage small and medium-sized projects in a more efficient and effective way. They will be able to implement the P3.express framework in their work and improve key competences such as organization, communication and entrepreneurship skills. By delivering a simple and SME friendly project management framework and making training accessible to employees in SMEs, this project will lead to more efficient and effective projects with better results. More efficient projects with better results lead to more profitable and thus more competitive companies that create more jobs.
The objective of the P3.express project was threefold: 1. To develop a simple and effective project management framework that SMEs can use to manage their projects without overburdening the organization. 2. To educate professionals who are involved in leading project management in SMEs about this new framework in a cost-effective manner by providing accessible learning materials. 3. To facilitate and empower professionals who are involved in leading project management in SMEs to implement the project management framework in their professional setting while learning on the job.
Many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) engage in strategic activities to grow their business, expand their market presence, or increase efficiency and productivity. These activities can be considered projects, but often, SMEs do not use formal project methodologies. Instead, those leading these projects rely on intuitive and ad-hoc methods that are often inefficient. This is largely due to the perception that existing traditional methodologies are complex, time-consuming, and costly. Research suggests that the lack of proper project management skills is negatively impacting the productivity and profitability of SMEs. This is a significant concern, as SMEs in Europe make up 25 million businesses, generating 56.4% of the value-added in the nonfinancial business sector and 66.6% of employment in the sector. (EASME, 2019, Annual report on European SMEs 2018/2019 Research & Development and Innovation by SMEs) The P3X project aims to address this problem by developing a simple project management method specifically tailored to the needs of SMEs.