The Certificate in HR Management is excellent for those individuals who want to enhance their HR skills and prepare for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) certification exam. The 100% online program offers a comprehensive and engaging learning experience, designed to help you become an HR expert. You will have the opportunity to connect with HR professionals, attend live class sessions, and watch online lectures from subject matter experts. You’ll gain valuable knowledge in HR-related topics such as talent acquisition, compensation, benefits, and HR compliance. By the end of the program, you’ll have the confidence and skills to be on your way to a successful career in HR. Join Villanova’s program today and take the first step to advancing your career potential in the dynamic field of human resource management.  

“As an Operational Excellence and Continuous Improvement practitioner within an organization that has very few certified professionals, I knew this was the perfect opportunity for me to utilize my Post-9/11 GI Bill® benefits to enhance my competitive edge by utilizing tools and methods that not many within my organization were currently using.” 

Vallerie recognized Villanova University as the place to go to for continuing her education thanks to the certification exam opportunities and the work-life balance that was established to ensure she achieved her academic goals and ambitions. 

“I chose Villanova because they’re a supporter of me, a person who works full-time, has a family, served our nation, and wants to advance their career. The course structure, homework, [online] classroom, instructors and overall content was exactly what I felt I needed to earn my certifications while working full-time and maintaining my overall work, life and school balance,” she said.  

Never Stopping, Always Improving 

Coming from a military background, the idea of a heightened work ethic was not a foreign concept for Vallerie, and it showed through her academic journey and achievements. She earned a Lean Six Sigma Sensei Certification in 2020, Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Certification in 2021, and Professional Certification in Agile and Scrum in 2022. She also completed the Certificate in Business Process Management program in July 2022 and most recently completed the Project Management Capstone course in February 2023. She used the Capstone course as a stepping-stone to prepare for the PMP certification exam through the Project Management Institute.     

“I am most intrigued by the fact that there are so many ways to utilize project critical tools that very rarely will you find that selecting one tool over another will cause project instability,” she says. “Lean tools can be incorporated within an Agile project and traditional waterfall tools can be incorporated within a Kaizen [event]. I really enjoy the flexibility!” 

Vallerie has already begun to incorporate the skills and knowledge she’s learned into her career as well.  

“Currently working in the Operational Excellence field, I began applying the Lean Six Sigma skills I’d learned immediately. Within the pharmaceutical Contract Development Manufacturing Organization, endless opportunities exist to reduce changeover downtime, improve right first time (RFT), study and improve cycle time, takt time, 5S, SMED, etc. Through my facilitated Kaizen events, I routinely incorporate decision making tools to enhance the project team’s ability to identify waste within the respective process, methods for error-proofing potential future occurrences and a robust sustainment plan to maintain our wins.” 

A Helping Hand 

Many individuals who choose to continue their education later in life can find themselves in need of guidance to navigate an online classroom environment that has changed since they were last in school. Vallerie had similar experiences at the start of her journey, but Villanova was able to offer a helping hand in guiding her towards her goals. 

“The only challenge I faced as an online student was maintaining the discipline needed to stay on top of my course work while juggling work and family. I earned my undergrad in 2008 and began taking courses at Villanova in 2020 – it had been 12 years since I had been a proper student.”  

“I really appreciated how easy it was to navigate through the online classroom especially since this is my first time taking online courses. I didn’t know it was possible, but Villanova makes learning easy and fun!” 

A Lasting Impact 

Many veterans credit the comradery they experience during military life as one of the most important aspects of their time in the service. Vallerie’s Villanova experience echoes that sentiment when it comes to the faculty that made a positive difference in her life. For the first time in her adult life, Vallerie found an institution she believes employs “only the very best” and continues to communicate regularly with some of her previous instructors. 

“Tina Agustiady and Ed Hayes are two instructors who really had a lasting positive impact on me during my time in their respective classrooms. Tina and Ed are incredible Lean Six Sigma practitioners who possess such a wealth of knowledge, know-how and practical application. They are an open book, their passion for the practice is undeniable – their collective influence really helped me understand more about my current field.” 

Vallerie also acknowledged her student success coach at Bisk – the online learning management partner with Villanova. “My representative for the past three years has been incredible. During my first phone call, I immediately felt accepted, important and valued. [My representative was] so well-versed in all the course offerings and was able to share insights about each course, which really helped me understand the course that best meet my needs.” 

Vallerie’s story is one of the reminders of the possibilities of career change through advancing education. Attaining the credentials needed to pursue further career opportunities was a goal throughout her academic journey, and she has seen its impact firsthand.  

“I have earned three professional certifications and am preparing for my fourth certification exam. My certifications and skills have transformed my resume and I soon became the employment candidate who was now receiving two to three job offers at a time rather than the familiar sitting on the sidelines hoping my chance for advancement will soon come,” she said.  

“I recently accepted a job offer in August 2022 as a Senior Specialist, Global Supply Chain Operational Excellence within Biopharma CDMO which was accompanied by a 24.63% salary increase – this wouldn’t have been possible without Villanova University.” 

When asked what practical advice she would give to prospective Villanova online students, it was a simple rebuttal: “What do you have to lose? The most valuable personal benefit of earning my education is experiencing so many doors of opportunity open right before my eyes and the fact that I know wouldn’t be available to me otherwise.”

 GI Bill® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). More information about education benefits offered by VA is available at the official U.S. government website at https://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill/. 

Purported salary increases and job position career advancements mentioned in this article are entirely the accomplishments of the independent student mentioned and are not at all guarantees from Villanova University. 

Like everything in this framework, Agile Scrum events happen under the leadership of Scrum Masters. They usually take the form of meetings, and they exist to keep team members organized and sprints on track. 

What Are the 5 Scrum Ceremonies? 

Each Scrum ceremony has a specific purpose and framework. The five Scrum ceremonies are: 

• Backlog refinement 
• Sprint planning 
• Daily Scrum 
• Sprint review 
• Sprint retrospective 

To facilitate productive meetings, the Scrum Master needs to understand each in detail. 

Backlog Refinement 

Backlog refinement is the only Scrum event that doesn’t happen on a schedule. It’s an ongoing process that ensures the product backlog is relevant, clear and current. 

Goals of backlog refinement: 

Scrum teams use the product backlog to plan sprints and envision the next steps. If the backlog isn’t current and valuable, it can steer the team off track. 

Backlog refinement keeps the sprint moving forward. It involves: 

• Adding new items.  
• Re-ordering current items based on priority. 
• Removing outdated or redundant items. 
• Ensuring each product backlog item (PBI) has user value. 

The Product Owner has the power to make executive decisions about the refinement process. They may work alone or collaborate with a team. 

Relevant terms: 

The product backlog is a prioritized list of items that would add value to the end product. Items may be product requirements, technical features, bug fixes and so on.  

The Product Owner represents the client’s interests and is responsible for maximizing product value. Maintaining and managing the backlog is one of their key tasks. They must articulate the product goal and how each item moves the team toward that goal.  

Tips for success: 

1. Conduct backlog refinement regularly: It may help to schedule refinement time after the team has other Scrum events. 

2. Schedule backlog refinement sessions: Team-based product owners may find that it helps to create meetings exclusively for backlog refinement. A set meeting time keeps this important task from falling through the cracks.  

3. Keep it tight: Unlike other Scrum events, backlog refinement doesn’t have a set time frame. However, you should assess each item’s value quickly and make efficient decisions about it. 

Sprint Planning 

This is the first time-sensitive activity in the Scrum sprint. It happens at the beginning of each new sprint and has a maximum length of two hours per sprint week. A two-week sprint would have a sprint planning ceremony of four hours maximum. 

The entire team, including the Scrum Master, Product Owner and Developers, attend the sprint planning ceremony. They use the event to create the sprint backlog, which encompasses the user stories that the development team (developers and testers in the case of a software product development situation) will commit to for the sprint.  

Relevant terms: 

A sprint is the basic unit of work within a Scrum project. It’s a recurring block of time, always the same length, when the team works on a particular deliverable. It lasts no more than a month, but two-week sprints are more common. 

A Scrum team is a small group that consists of the Scrum Master, Product Owner and Developers. According to the official Scrum Guide, the team usually consists of no more than 10 people. 

A sprint backlog includes the sprint goal, relevant subgoals and product backlog items selected for the sprint.  

Goals of sprint planning: 

The sprint planning event should outline the sprint’s goals, subgoals and component tasks. The Scrum Guide suggests using three questions to lead the discussion. 

1. Why is this sprint valuable?  

The Product Owner answers this question by explaining how this sprint could improve the product’s value and usability. The team applies this information to come up with a value-based sprint goal. 

2. What can be done during this sprint?  

Based on the answers to the first question, the Developers and Product Owner select items from the backlog to include. They often adjust the details of each item based on the sprint goal. 

3. How will the chosen work get done?  

The team then gets specific about action items. They identify and prioritize sprint tasks, developing a timeline for the items in the list. Often, this means turning backlog items into work items that take a day or less to develop and test. 

By the end of the event, everyone on the Scrum team should know:  

• The overall sprint goal and any subgoals. 

• Which backlog items will be a part of the sprint. 
• Who is responsible for which tasks. 

The amount of work assigned must make sense given the sprint’s length. If the sprint backlog is unrealistic for any team member, the group should rework it. 

Daily Scrum 

The Daily Scrum is the sprint’s morning standup meeting. It’s the shortest of the five Scrum events — no more than 15 minutes long, according to the Scrum Guide. Ideally, it happens at the same time every day of the sprint. 

The Daily Scrum is for Developers. It allows them to touch base on their progress and seek support for any challenges. The Scrum Master attends to listen to the Developers and offer guidance if necessary. The Product Owner may attend to answer questions, but their presence is optional. 

How it works: 

During the Daily Scrum, each team member shares what they accomplished the day before and what they plan to do that current day. It’s a chance to share existing or possible challenges and address them before they become problems. 

In most Daily Scrums, developers answer three questions: 

• What have you completed since the last Daily Scrum? 

• What will you complete by the next meeting? 
• What’s getting in the way? 

The answers show the Scrum Master who needs support and where the sprint strategy might need adjustment.  

Goals of the Daily Scrum: 

The Daily Scrum exists to identify hurdles before they become roadblocks. Teams learn to pivot quickly and be proactive, reducing the need for more meetings. 

The Daily Scrum also improves communication within the team. It creates a space to share challenges so that they don’t fall through the cracks. At the same time, it encourages team members to ask for support and keep each other in the loop. 

Tips for success: 

1. Use it as a standup meeting: The Daily Scrum traditionally involves everyone standing in the same room together. The standing feature helps to keep the meeting brief by discouraging lingering.  

2. Involve remote team members in the conversation: If any Developers can’t attend at the same time due to time zone issues, send out the three questions on an internal communication service or through email. Encourage one- or two-sentence replies and follow up as necessary. 

3. Save feedback for later: For the Daily Scrum to work, team members must be willing to put everything on the table, including what’s working and what isn’t. Scrum Masters should remind their teams this isn’t a critique or feedback session.  

4. Follow up as necessary: The team can’t solve every problem during the Daily Scrum. The Scrum Master and other Developers need to use what’s said in the ceremony as a prompt to check in throughout the day and help remove roadblocks. That may mean adjusting the backlog. 

Sprint Review 

The sprint review is the second to last Scrum ceremony. It happens after the team has completed all assigned work and has something to show the Product Owner. 

Relevant terms: 

An increment is a steppingstone toward a product goal. Each increment must have an independent value and be usable. It also needs to work in conjunction with other increments.  

A Definition of Done specifies what the increment looks like when finished. 

How it works: 

The full Scrum team must attend the review. The Product Owner and Scrum Master may also decide to invite other stakeholders. It’s common for managers, customers and developers from other teams to attend. 

There are three steps to a sprint review: 

1. The Developers demonstrate completed increments for the Product Owner and other stakeholders. An increment is a unit of valuable work within Scrum. 

2. Stakeholders offer feedback and ask questions about the completed work.  

3. The team processes feedback and determines whether any adjustments need to happen in the product backlog. 

Covering all three steps should take no more than one hour per week of the sprint. 

Goals of the sprint review: 

Inspect the product as it develops. Non-Scrum teams often wait until a product is finished before gathering feedback. The sprint review allows stakeholders to evaluate the product while it’s in process.  

Check whether the team met its objectives. Stakeholders look at each deliverable and decide whether they are within parameters. The results determine the success of the sprint and set up action items for the next one. 

Evaluate the progress relative to product goals. Ceremony attendees look at what has changed with the project as a whole. Everyone discusses progress toward the broader goal, determining whether objectives were met.  

Tips for success: 

1. Don’t skip feedback and discussion: It can be tempting for teams to focus too heavily on the demo aspect of the sprint review. Remember, feedback and evaluation make the next sprint better and more effective. Make space for this step. 

2. Avoid putting developers on the defensive: The sprint review is a constructive setting geared toward creating the best possible product. If the team falls short of a goal or a bug exists, focus on what needs to happen next to solve the problem.  

3. Focus on business value: Ask questions like, “Does this help the user in the way we expected?” Otherwise, the discussion can turn into a surface-level review of whether the product works. 

4. Create action items: Valuable feedback should become new items in the product backlog. The team can work those items into the next sprint. 

Sprint Retrospective 

The sprint retrospective is the final Scrum event. It’s an internal evaluation process that reflects on how the work happened and what the process could look like going forward. 

The retrospective should involve team members only. The Developers and Scrum Master are essential attendees. The Product Owner may attend if their presence would add value. 

The team answers three questions: 

• What went well in general? 
• What was challenging or didn’t work? 
• How could we improve the process? 

The discussion should take no more than an hour and a half for a two-week sprint or three hours for a month. 

Goals for the sprint retrospective: 

The sprint retrospective benefits the team by: 

• Analyzing problems: Examine challenges that came up and how the team did or did not solve them. 
• Finding false assumptions: If an assumption led your team down the wrong path, learn where it came from and how it affected the process. This also improves communication. 
• Making adjustments: The Scrum Master should lead the team in identifying which potential improvements would have the biggest impact. Those become action items for the next sprint. They may also lead to changes in the product backlog. 

Tips for success: 

1. Encourage collaboration: Acting on every idea is impossible. Pursue those suggestions that multiple team members feel would be valuable. Ask the team to work together toward solutions. 

2. Discuss facts, not feelings: Team members should feel comfortable providing honest feedback and recommending improvements. Discourage fault-assigning language and focus on ideas that impact the product. 

3. Find actionable insights: The most valuable insights create meaningful change. Ask follow-up questions and go deeper until you understand the root cause of each issue. 

Sprint Review vs Retrospective 

The review and retrospective consider the most recent sprint in different ways. Most importantly, the sprint review inspects the product while the spring retrospective inspects the team. 

The review starts from the outside. It involves external stakeholders and the development team, all of whom spend the time evaluating product success.  

The retrospective allows the team to look inward. Without the pressure to present their work, the developers can look critically at how they approach problems. The spotlight is less on the product as a deliverable of value, and more on how the team creates that value. 

Master All 5 Scrum Ceremonies in Agile 

Well-run Scrum ceremonies are essential to a successful sprint. Learn more about how to lead these events and other Agile processes with a Certificate in Agile from Villanova University. Taught 100% online, this three-course program teaches the core components of Agile and the Scrum framework and can help you prepare for Agile and Scrum certification. 

What Is Project Scope? 

The word “scope” refers to the overall goals and tasks involved. As taught in Villanova University’s Mastering Project Management course, “the project scope is the amount of work or deliverables that is planned for a project.” 

Scope is also known in the world of project management as one of the “triple constraints,” a framework that is used for evaluating competing demands and requirements. Scope, along with schedule and budget, are the three core limitations imposed on a project that directly impact each other and must be managed in a balanced, efficient manner to achieve objectives.  

That’s why scoping a project is so important. Project scoping is the process of determining what goals you’re trying to meet and what needs to be done to accomplish them. If the scope changes too much, the project’s duration and budget can suffer. 

At its core, project scoping asks two questions: 

• What is the project’s success criteria? 
• How do you plan to manage the triple constraints, of which one is project scope? 

Those two questions generate many more. That’s why project managers need to dedicate time to answer them at the start of any project. Without a firm grasp of what the project entails, accomplishing your team’s goals are difficult. 

Difference Between Product Scope and Project Scope 

Project scope is often confused with a related concept: product scope. Although project scope and product scope are both essential considerations, they cover different concepts.  

While project scope refers to the end goal of the project, a product’s scope includes the features or characteristics of the product itself. For example, it can cover what the product is made from, what it’s supposed to do and how it works. For example, an iPhone’s product scope may include the screen dimensions, processing speed, storage capacity, camera quality and battery life. 

Product scope can also refer to services. In a service industry, product scope focuses on the actual tasks and responsibilities of the personnel delivering the service. It often suggests the ways that the service can be measured and improved for future customers or clients. 

Project scope is the process of manufacturing a product from start to finish. The project’s scope doesn’t necessarily require the team to understand how the individual components work together. Instead, it requires you, as the project manager, to determine where to get the necessary components and how to deliver them to the people who will put them together.  

In some cases, scoping a project may require a basic understanding of a product’s scope. For example, in product development, a project’s scope would have to consider the goals for the end product. Even then, the two types of scope serve different purposes.  

Benefits of Defining a Project’s Scope 

Managing project scope takes time, but can provide multiple benefits, including the following. 

Preventing Project Scope Creep 

The most crucial benefit of scoping a project is preventing “scope creep,” which is sometimes called “feature creep.” While changes in scope are to be expected, projects without a defined scope often expand over time to include deliverables not found in the original plan.  

For example, suppose you’re working on a marketing project. The original plan may have covered producing and displaying a set number of digital ads. However, without a project scope statement, halfway through the timeline, someone may request that you convert some of the ads for physical displays. This extra work was not in your original plan. The scope has “crept” up. Unless change requests are properly formalized and managed, the result is often extra stress and the potential for missed deadlines.  

Scoping your project prevents scope creep. With a project scope statement, everyone involved knows exactly what the project includes. The scope statement and its deadlines should be revised to include the new tasks if additional work is added, and new scope should only be added if managed by a formalized change request process.  

This is more important than you might think. According to the 2021 Pulse of the Profession® report by the Project Management Institute (PMI), preventing scope creep was identified as a top-three driver of project success among respondents in every industry surveyed. 

Managing Expectations 

Scoping your project also helps manage everyone’s expectations. Creating a project scope statement clarifies the goals. You can present the report to stakeholders to explain precisely what you’ll be doing with your time. 

If stakeholders expect the project to accomplish something different, your scope statement lets them know what they will receive. This prevents you from reaching the halfway point of a project only to find out you’re not accomplishing what the stakeholders wanted. 

Minimizing Waste 

Even if feature creep doesn’t occur, an unscoped project is more likely to suffer from waste. Team members with an ambiguous grasp of their role may do unnecessary work. Similarly, you may order too many supplies or misuse them on redundant tasks. According to the PMI Pulse of the Profession report, these kinds of inefficiencies lead to an average wasted investment of 9.4% across all projects. 

Defining your project scope helps reduce such waste. Your project scope statement will explain exactly what needs to be done, who will do it, and what you need to meet your goals. You’re less likely to lose time or resources to preventable mistakes or miscommunications. 

What Is a Project Scope Statement? 

The simplest way to document a project’s scope is with a project scope statement. This document covers what the team wants to accomplish during the project and how it will be done. Project scope statements include details such as: 

• Objectives: the goals the team intends to reach. 
• Deliverables: the results the team plans to deliver. 
• Deadlines: when the team will accomplish each deliverable or objective. 
• Constraints: the limitations the team needs to work around. 
• Assumptions: an overarching description of the conditions the team believes the project will be performed within, such as staff numbers and access to resources. 
• Exclusions: things that are specifically out of scope. 

When all this information is included, you can structure the statement in any way that makes sense for a project. Most scope statements also include a summary explaining the broad details of the plan.  

How to Create a Project Scope Statement 

Scope statements take time to compile, largely due to the data collection process. The best time to complete a project scope statement is during the planning stage.  

Creating a scope statement at the same time allows you to immediately document your expectations, objectives, and goals. Here’s how to develop a comprehensive scope statement while planning your project. 

• Name your goals and objectives: Goals are high-level ideas, whereas objectives are specific, quantifiable accomplishments. If you’ve put together a project charter, you can use the goals and objectives you’ve listed there. 
• Gather and list project requirements: You will have to complete your project with a certain budget and by a specific date. Stakeholders may have other requirements as well, such as quality standards. Collect all these requirements and list them in one place. 
• Define deliverables: This is the product you’ll deliver to accomplish the specific goals you’ve just named while meeting all project requirements. 
• Specify exclusions and constraints: Name what you won’t provide and what limitations you expect to face during the project. This is important for managing expectations. 
• Break down objectives into tasks: If your goal is to produce a deliverable in one month, list the tasks necessary to make this happen. Be specific; it’s better to break tasks down into tiny steps than to be overly general and risk confusion. 
• List required resources: Once you know the tasks you need to perform, walk through each step, and list the resources required to accomplish it. Ensure you include staff, materials, and equipment because each of these details will affect your required budget. 

By following these steps, you can collect all the information to develop an effective project scope statement. 

Project Scope Examples 

A project scope statement example might look like this: 

• Summary: This project is a social media advertising campaign performed internally to drive site traffic for [Company Name]. The project has a $[Budget] budget and will be completed by June 30, 2022. 
• Project scope: This project will include audience and platform research, advertisement creation, and publication on chosen ad platforms. It will also include ad performance monitoring for the duration of the marketing campaign. All activities will be performed by the general marketing coordinator at [Company Name]. 
• Deliverables: Deliverables will include five related advertisements to be run on selected platforms across June 2022 and a statistical report on the performance of these ads. 
• Exclusions: The project will not include physical or print ads, nor will it include video media. 
• Constraints: This project may experience technical difficulties or changes in budgetary requirements related to the chosen advertising platforms. 
• Materials: To accomplish project objectives, the general marketing lead will require access to photo editing software, research resources and 10 hours of weekly paid time in May and June 2022. 
• Acceptance criteria: Before running ads, the chief marketing officer at [Company Name] will review and approve them for publication. 

Scoping Projects Keeps Teams on Track 

Determining a project’s scope is fundamental to successfully planning a project. By researching the requirements and constraints of your project and merging them into a single project scope statement, you can manage expectations and prevent scope creep.  

Learn more about mastering project scope management with Villanova’s Certificate in Applied Project Management program. 

If you’re interested in pursuing or advancing career opportunities in this exciting field, a certification in project management can provide you with additional credentials and expertise. PMI offers the Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification, a globally recognized credential for project management professionals. 

The PMP® certification can be a smart investment for current or hopeful project managers, especially if you would like to gain new skills or potentially increase your salary. Earning the certification requires preparation and meeting certain eligibility requirements to sit for the exam.

This PMP® certification guide will help you learn more about the advantages of earning this credential and the necessary steps to sit for it. 

What Is PMP® Certification?

The PMP® certification is a prestigious professional credential for project managers offered by PMI. The certification demonstrates to employers that you possess expertise in agile, hybrid and predictive approaches to project management. Due to the exam’s excellent reputation and rigor, employers in every industry worldwide seek PMP®-certified project managers.  

To earn the certification, you will need to pass the PMP® exam. As of January 2021, PMI allows 230 minutes to complete the exam with two 10-minute breaks. The assessment consists of 180 questions divided into three domains, or knowledge areas: 

1. People (42% of exam questions): This domain assesses interpersonal skills, such as collaboration, leadership, and mentoring. 
2. Process (50% of exam questions): This section evaluates technical competencies needed to manage projects, such as budget planning, risk assessment and scheduling. 
3. Business Environment (8% of exam questions): This domain measures your ability to manage projects within your organization and other business environments. 

The PMP® credential will last for three years upon achievement. You will need to earn an additional 60 Professional Development Units (PDUs) every three years to renew your certification. If you fail to fulfill this requirement within the three-year time frame, you will need to retake the exam to regain your certification. 

What Is the Value of PMP® Certification?

You may wonder what a PMP® certification is good for, especially if you are already successful as a project manager without certification. 

According to PMI’s Project Management Salary Survey, Twelfth Edition, respondents with PMP® certification earn 16% more income on average than their non-certified peers globally. The survey also discovered that the pay gap is even larger in the United States. U.S.-based project managers with PMP® certification earn an average salary of $123,000, while non-certified project managers earn an average salary of $93,000. 

In other words, PMP®-certified project managers earn an average of 32% more in America than their non-certified peers. 

While it costs money and effort to earn and maintain PMP® certification, this investment can pay off by potentially helping you increase your salary and qualify for more advanced positions. 

Benefits of PMP® Certification

PMP® certification can also offer personal and professional benefits beyond possibly increasing earning potential as a project manager. Advantages of obtaining the credential include: 

• Attract Prospective Clients: Many clients recognize the value of working with PMP®-certified project managers and seek out businesses employing these professionals. As a result, your decision to pursue PMP® certification can help your organization attract and retain clients.
• Boost Your Performance: As you prepare for the exam, you will gain new knowledge and skills that could help you perform your project management tasks more effectively. 
• Develop Self-Confidence: To obtain PMP® certification, you will need to pass a rigorous exam. Completing the certification can boost your self-confidence⁠—and your reputation in your field⁠—by proving that you have the abilities and the knowledge needed to handle complex projects. 
• Gain Transferable Skills: Many project management approaches and techniques, such as conflict management skills, can be used in multiple industries. As a result, PMP® certification allows you to gain transferable skills that could make it easier for you to seek employment in a new field. 
• Open New Opportunities for Career Advancement: With PMP® certification, you may be able to advance more quickly to senior project management positions. 
• Stay Up to Date With Your Field: To maintain your PMP® certification, you must complete 60 PDUs every three years. This continued education requirement helps ensure that you are always aware of new developments in project management.  

Cost of the PMP® Certification

What is the fee for the PMP® certification exam? The cost will vary depending on whether you are a member of PMI. Members pay $405.00 to take the exam, while non-members pay $555.00.

If you don’t pass the PMP® certification test on your first try, you can retake the exam up to two more times in one year, for three total attempts. However, you will need to repay the exam fee each time you take the test. 

You can also choose to pay additional money for an exam preparation course. These courses come in several different formats, such as self-guided online classes and more intensive, instructor-led sessions offered by institutions like Villanova University. 

In some cases, employers will cover the costs of the exam fee and training courses. It’s worth asking your manager if your organization can provide financial support for your PMP® certification. 

PMP® Certification Requirements

Beyond the exam fee, what is required for PMP® certification? Before PMI approves you to sit for the exam, you must submit an application demonstrating that you meet a few criteria: 

• If you hold a bachelor’s degree, you must have at least 36 months of professional experience leading projects. 
• If you have an associate degree or a high school diploma, you will need at least 60 months of professional project management experience. 
• All applicants must complete a minimum of 35 contact hours of formal project management training, regardless of the degree held.

If you don’t yet have the minimum amount of work experience required for PMP® certification, you will need to wait until you have accrued the necessary months of project management experience before applying. 

How To Get a PMP® Certification

While the PMP® exam itself may be challenging, the process of obtaining this credential is relatively easy. You will need to follow a few steps. 

First, you will need to send PMI your PMP® audit package so that the organization can confirm your eligibility for the exam. Your package should include three components: 

1. A photocopy of the highest degree that you have obtained
2. Evidence that you have completed at least 35 hours of formal project management education
3. Descriptions of your past project management experience. Your supervisors will need to verify and sign documentation for each project. 

PMI will review and process your audit package. Once the organization approves your application, you can register to take the exam at a testing center or online at home. You will have a one-year eligibility window after your audit package is approved, during which you can take the exam up to three times if needed.  

How To Prepare for the PMP® Certification Exam

You will naturally acquire advanced project management knowledge and skills as you complete the education and work prerequisites for the PMP® exam. However, you will also need to study for the exam itself, which may include material you have not regularly encountered before. According to PMI, most people who successfully pass the PMP® exam spend at least 35 hours studying for the exam. 

To prepare for the PMP® certification exam, you need the most recent edition of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide). PMI publishes this book, and it covers important project management methods and terminologies that will appear on the test. 

Many people also benefit from taking a structured PMP® exam course. PMP® has teamed up with Authorized Training Partners (ATP) and these individuals or institutions provide PMP® candidates with specialized instruction to help them prepare for the exam. 

For example, Villanova University is an ATP of PMI. The university offers a four-week online course for PMP® candidates called Project Management Professional (PMP)® Exam Preparation. Experienced faculty lead the course through live class sessions and teach students using exam prep material developed by PMI. 

Investing in a PMP® exam preparation course could help improve your chances of successfully passing the test and obtaining the certification. 

 The PMP® Certification Process

In summary, the PMP® certification process consists of five steps: 

1. Obtain the necessary education and work experience prerequisites, which will vary depending on your degree. 
2. Assemble your audit package and send your materials to PMI for approval. 
3. Register for the PMP® certification exam. 
4. Study for the test by taking a PMP® exam preparation course. 
5. Take the 180-question PMP® exam during your scheduled testing time. 

After you complete the exam, PMI will send you an exam result report that shows whether you have passed the test and earned your PMP® certification. If you don’t pass on the first try, remember that you can always retake the exam after brushing up on the materials again. 

What Is a Good Certification to Have with Your PMP®? 

Alongside the PMP® certification, several other credentials can improve your resume and help you gain additional project management knowledge. Because these certifications have fewer eligibility requirements than the PMP®, they can be a good starting point for early-career project managers who are not yet ready to pursue PMP® certification. 

PMP® vs. Six Sigma

Six Sigma is a methodology that uses statistical analysis to detect and solve errors in business processes. Six Sigma training complements but doesn’t replace PMP® certification. Six Sigma certification teaches individuals to implement processes that eliminate waste and improve quality. By contrast, PMP® certification focuses on directing a team and orchestrating projects. PMP® certification allows project managers to develop expertise in many areas, while Six Sigma provides a framework for solving problems in business processes. 

PMP® vs. CAPM®

The Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM®) certification is a step below the PMP® exam. The CAPM® exam requires either an associate degree and 1,500 hours of project experience or 23 hours of project management education. These 23 hours can also fulfill part of the 35 required hours for the PMP® exam, making the CAPM® a good starting place for people preparing to take the PMP® exam. 

Some programs can help students prepare for both exams, such as Villanova’s Certificate in Applied Project Management. 

PMP® vs. PRINCE2

PRINCE2 Project Management certifications measure proficiency in the PRINCE2 method, which helps create common terminologies and structures for projects. PRINCE2 certifications supplement the PMP® by allowing project managers to learn a new project management framework. 

PMP® vs. Scrum Master

Scrum is a methodology that helps manage Agile projects, which seek to enhance product development processes. Scrum.org offers a variety of Professional Scrum Master certifications. These credentials could complement the PMP® exam by allowing project managers to develop proficiency in Scrum methodologies, though these techniques may not translate well to non-Agile projects. 

Prepare for PMP® Certification with Villanova

Have you decided that a PMP® certification is right for you? If so, your next step should be ensuring you have the knowledge and skills to pass the test. 

If you still need to fulfill some of the education requirements, consider enrolling in a project management course with Villanova. As an ATP of PMI, the university offers a three-course certificate program track in Applied Project Management for people eager to develop new skills. There’s also an individual monthlong exam preparation course for experienced project managers who only need to study for the exam. By completing formal courses, you can fill in any gaps in your knowledge and potentially improve your chances of passing the PMP® exam. 

PMP, CAPM, Project Management Professional, and Certified Associate in Project Management are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

That makes the role of data analyst a promising and in-demand career path. Professionals interested in starting a new career or advancing in their current role can benefit from understanding what data analysis entails and how data analysts differ from other similar job descriptions.

What Is Data Analysis?

Data analysis is the act of gathering and studying information to extract actionable insights. Businesses use the information collected and processed through data analysis to make better decisions. 

The modern glut of data presents both opportunities and complications for companies that want to make data-driven choices. While it’s easier than ever before to gather vast amounts of information, the sheer quantity of information makes it harder to collect relevant information and identify accurate trends. Data analysis allows these companies to refine the data they gather with methods like:

• Exploratory analysis: Looking for general trends in data without a specific goal in mind to find unexpected opportunities or risks.
• Descriptive analysis: Looking at a past event to understand what occurred.
• Diagnostic analysis: Looking at a past event to understand why it happened.
• Predictive analysis: Using past data to extrapolate probable future events.
• Prescriptive analysis: Using past data to explain why certain future events are probable and how they’ll happen.

Once the analysis is complete, companies have a clear overview of the topic. This is a firm foundation for making better decisions. However, it requires the work of dedicated data analysts to get to that point. It is important to remember that a data analyst turns the data into actionable information, thus creating value for the organization.

What Is a Data Analyst?

A data analyst specializes in gathering, modeling, and analyzing large amounts of data to answer questions. The goal of a data analyst is to break down a request or question into something that can be answered by data and then collect and study datasets to find that answer. Once they have found a solution, they may produce data visualizations and/or reports representing what they’ve learned. 

These analysts typically work for large organizations and focus on the information that the organization has or needs to collect. Depending on the data analyst job description, they may work with many types of information, from customer behavior data to logistics metrics to market research. 

Data Analyst vs Data Scientist

It’s important to understand that a data analyst is not the same as data scientist. The two roles are complementary, but their fundamental responsibilities are quite different. 

Data scientists and data analysts each focus on data but what they do with the data differs. For example, data analysts may analyze data to answer questions, solve business problems or create meaningful reports that help influence strategic decision making.  

Conversely, data scientists may design data modeling or machine learning processes or use other advanced techniques that extract and analyze large sets of structured and unstructured data to answer complex questions or predict future outcomes. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) defines the role of a data scientist as someone who develops and implements “a set of techniques or analytics applications to transform raw data into meaningful information using data-oriented programming languages and visualization software.”

Data Analyst vs Business Analyst

In the business world, data analysts and business analysts are also very similar. In many cases, the terms can be used interchangeably. Like a data analyst, a business analyst is a specialist who uses the principles and practices of data analysis to help their employer achieve their business goals. 

The primary difference between the two roles is that the term data analyst is slightly broader. A data analyst may also be found in academic settings, while business analysts are often found in company positions. However, someone working in business analysis typically has all the same knowledge and skills as a data analyst and applies them in a corporate context. 

What Does a Data Analyst Do?

Data analysts are responsible for understanding the questions they want to answer and determining the best way to find the truth. They must have a firm grounding in the mathematical and technical considerations involved in collecting and analyzing data effectively. These skills allow data analysts to work with a broad range of information and generate actionable insights. 

Regardless of the data with which they work, data analysts are typically responsible for the following: 

• Coordinating with business leadership to identify the organization’s needs
• Understanding and breaking down business needs into data-answerable questions
• Finding new sources of data 
• Gathering data from primary and secondary sources into datasets
• Filtering and cleaning datasets
• Applying statistical methods to datasets to identify trends or patterns
• Interpreting trends and patterns in datasets
• Generating reports on the results of data analysis to guide business decisions

What Tools Do Data Analysts Use?

Data analysts use a variety of data analysis tools to accomplish their responsibilities. These tools can include:

• Microsoft Excel: The most fundamental analysis tool is a spreadsheet capable of performing pivot tables. Microsoft Excel is capable of that and many other forms of analysis, making it essential for data analysts to perform their jobs. 
• Microsoft Power BI: This tool suite is a full-service business intelligence offering that provides analytics and data visualization. Analysts can use Microsoft Power BI to inspect their data and create reports. 
• SAS: The Statistical Analysis System (SAS) is a commercial business intelligence and data analytics suite designed to provide robust customer profiling, reporting and predictive modeling. Many analysts rely on SAS heavily. 
• Programming languages: To collect information, data analysts often write their own computer programs in languages like SQL, Python and R. Understanding these languages also allows analysts to write their own analytical programs.
• Apache Spark: For especially large datasets, it’s necessary to use dedicated data processing frameworks like Apache Spark. This program is an open-source solution that allows analysts to quickly process data that could take hours or days otherwise.

Data Analyst Salary and Job Outlook

Data analysts have an excellent job outlook, according to the (BLS). Its Occupational Outlook Handbook categorizes data analysts under the role of operation research analysts, though the fundamental responsibilities are the same. The BLS projects that the field will see a 25% growth rate over the next decade, which is significantly faster than the average rate of 8%. Furthermore, the demand for these positions has pushed median salaries to more than $86,000 annually. 

How To Become a Data Analyst

Becoming a data analyst is primarily a matter of education. The role heavily relies on understanding technical and mathematical concepts and the theory behind them. However, it’s equally necessary to demonstrate that understanding by applying it to real-world considerations. 

To become a successful data analyst, hopeful applicants will need to demonstrate they possess the practical knowledge and skills. This is typically accomplished by passing one of two certification exams: the Certification of Competency in Business Analysis (CCBA) or the Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP) tests. 

These two exams are offered through the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA), a global organization that sets standards for business analysts worldwide.

Educational Requirements

Having an appropriate educational background is critical to passing the CCBA and CBAP exams, but more than one type of education can accomplish this. Those interested may consider both traditional bachelor’s degrees and certificate programs to earn the education they need. 

According to the BLS, at least a bachelor’s degree is typically required to enter the occupation.  A certificate can also be an option for professionals who already have earned a bachelor’s degree or have a background in relevant fields like software development. Villanova University’s Certificate in Business Analysis helps students prepare for IIBA certification while teaching the fundamentals of analytics.

Data Analyst Skills

A data analyst will likely have a broad range of skills to apply to their career. Beyond a simple understanding of analytical techniques, they will also generally need to have an understanding of the following:

• Statistical programming
• SQL
• Microsoft Excel
• Presentation skills 
• Data visualization
• Critical thinking
• Attention to detail
• Data preparation
• Data warehousing and database management
• Machine learning

Data Analyst Career Path

Career paths are more flexible than many assume. However, the standard data analyst career path offers insight into what applicants expect from their roles. While the specific titles of each position may differ, the general responsibilities and seniority levels are structured as follows:

• Data Analyst Intern: Some analysts begin their career with a data analyst internship, though this is not required. An internship is most valuable for applicants without other business experience, such as new college graduates. Interns are typically responsible for the most basic tasks, including cleaning datasets and data entry. 
• Analyst I: The typical entry-level data analyst jobs areoften listed as “Analyst I.” Employees in this role are typically responsible for important but common tasks, such as collating data, generating visualizations, and performing basic SQL queries as part of exploratory analyses. This role is often filled by people who have recently earned their certification and don’t have other experience in business. Analyst I positions are excellent for gaining experience and learning to implement data analytics in the real world. 
• Analyst II: The next step up the ladder is an Analyst II role. These employees are granted additional responsibilities, including basic process automation and more in-depth analyses. Furthermore, Analyst II employees may not receive as much direct oversight during their work. Applicants with experience in related roles, such as software development or other industry-specific positions, may be able to start their new career in an Analyst II role. 
• Senior Analyst: The highest standard level of an analyst is a Senior Analyst. These employees often head teams of Analyst I and II employees and guide the research done by their department. Senior analysts have additional responsibilities, including developing reports to explain their findings and performing the most in-depth analyses. Furthermore, they are often responsible for top-level data management, including database creation and maintenance. 
• Management Analyst: Management analysts are not just responsible for analyzing external or customer data. They examine the management of an organization and typically specialize in a specific aspect of a business, such as inventory management or human resources, though some focus on niche industries instead. Many management analysts act as consultants after spending time as a senior analyst or an industry expert in their chosen field for some time. 
• Chief Technology Officer: Analysts who have dedicated themselves to their career path can rise to Chief Technology Officer (CTO). The detailed technical knowledge required to be a successful analyst acts as a firm foundation for understanding the other technology needs of the company. Furthermore, the ability to study and learn from data is a valuable skill for any C-suite employee.

Unlock New Possibilities with a Certificate in Business Analysis

Data analysts are in demand, and the current trend of data growth shows no sign of slowing. As an IIBA-Endorsed Education Provider, Villanova’s Certificate in Business Analysis supports the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK® Guide) and the curriculum is designed to enable learners to understand analytical methods, applications and data strategies to make better business decisions. 

In a big business, it’s easy for communication problems to lead to project breakdowns. The people coming up with project goals in the office aren’t necessarily the people enacting business tactics in the real world – and that may or may not match the strategy coming from the executive team! The different branches of the company may not be in direct communication and may not even be aware of what their coworkers are doing. 

To create a successful project, business executives need to build unified strategies, tactics, and project goals. Creating an EPMO is one way to do that. 

An EPMO, which stands for Enterprise Project Management Office, provides structure to a company and brings together managers with different skill sets. It can boost the success rates for projects and improve coordination between departments. Additionally, it ensures that resources are efficiently distributed. Traditional PMOs operate in a silo, at the direction of middle managers, while EPMOs are deeply embedded with senior executives and connecting strategy to tactical success.

Before creating an EPMO, it’s important to understand how they function, how they differ from a PMO and how to set up an EPMO in your company.

What Is an EPMO?

An enterprise PMO is a centralized organization responsible for planning business projects. It is an organization-level office specializing in strategy and administration. The role of the EPMO is to evaluate a business’s projects and continuously optimize them. 

EPMOs work to ensure that projects are completed on budget and on time. By working with all aspects of a project, they can monitor everything and act quickly to correct errors, as well as help cut down on wasted resources. Perhaps most importantly, EPMOs ensure that all projects are aligned with the business’s overarching ideology.

The primary functions of an EPMO include:

• Assessing and navigating project risks
• Standardizing processes
• Monitoring progress
• Mentoring employees
• Driving benefits realization
• Improving project accountability

The leadership of an EPMO is composed of project managers, portfolio managers and other executives who are knowledgeable about the project. An EMPO director typically coordinates the activity of this team and may serve as project/portfolio manager and/or executive leader as needed. This leadership structure is what makes EPMOs unique. When managers with different specialties collaborate, they improve communication between their respective management branches. Working outside their usual niche exposes them to new ideas and helps them overcome potential blind spots.

Benefits of an EPMO

Projects can struggle or fail for many reasons. A proposed project might exceed its allotted budget. Or the project managers might realize too late that they lack the staff to implement their goals properly. Having an EPMO to oversee a project can help alleviate these problems.

Signs that you might need an EPMO include:

• Low project performance rates
• Over budget projects
• Project goals that are poorly aligned with business strategies
• Lack of a clear mission from project managers
• Underutilized project resources

By creating a structure that includes regular executive input, EPMOs help improve accountability for project performance.

EPMO vs. PMO

Businesses can also create a PMO (project management office) to coordinate their big projects. PMOs provide information transparency, support intelligent decision-making and conduct peer reviews. However, if you feel like your business is growing faster than your current management can handle, it may be time to switch from a PMO to an EPMO.

The role of the EPMO is to take an expansive look at enterprise-wide projects. In businesses that already have PMOs, the EPMO acts as a kind of super PMO. It tracks the work of the PMOs, mentors the executives involved in running the projects and coordinates among the existing PMOs. An EPMO is ideal for large organizations that manage multiple big projects at once.

What is an Example of an EPMO?

One example of a successful EPMO is from the Federal National Mortgage Association, also known as Fannie Mae, in 2012. Fannie Mae already had a project management office, but after the financial crash of 2008, they knew they needed a better way to coordinate and manage projects. They transformed their PMO into an EPMO and quickly saw positive results.

Fannie Mae’s EPMO reported directly to the board and senior leadership, which allowed for a rapid relay of information. As a result, they pivoted more quickly in response to demanding regulations. According to the vice president of portfolio integration Amilda Gjecovi in an article by the Project Management Institute, the delivery cycle for projects dropped from nine months to 60 days.

EPMO Best Practices

The best practices for an EPMO can vary depending on the needs and resources of the company doing the implementation. However, there are a few tried-and-true tools that typically result in successful EPMOs.

Value Maps

Value maps depict a company’s customer-facing attributes in comparison to the attributes of rival companies. A well-designed value map clearly establishes a company’s emphasis, including where it falls short of its competitors. Creating a value map helps executives determine where to invest heavily in a project and where to dial back their efforts.

Investment Principles

Investment principles provide the bedrock rules for balancing investments, and they determine the ideal investment targets for different projects. Important investment principles include infrastructure investment, regulatory compliance and strategic initiatives. When working on a project, project leaders should assess the investment principles and assign them priority rankings.

Strategy to Execution

Strategy to execution is a more refined version of the portfolio management function of a traditional PMO. It starts by breaking down business capabilities into capability models. Then, it evaluates the performances of the individual capabilities. Finally, it develops an investment roadmap.

Organizational Project Management

The organizational project management framework ensures that projects do not diverge too far from a business’s goals. In this framework, an EPMO oversees projects to align project management and overarching organizational goals. It keeps projects tightly focused on their strategic aims and prevents unnecessary spending.

How to Implement an EPMO

Before selecting an EPMO team, setting up an EPMO charter document to lay out specific goals can help show stakeholders how the EPMO will benefit the company.

Next, assess the organization’s skills and capabilities. You can evaluate things like management practices and the readiness of the team to implement big changes. Then, identify any company weaknesses and areas of opportunity and define how the EPMO could solve them. Once that’s done, you’re ready to create the team for your EPMO.

The Internal Staff Augmentation Model

One of the ways to staff an EPMO is to reform an existing PMO. In this strategy, the whole project management office is rebuilt using the talent pool that the business already has. A few new team members may be added, but most EPMO members are pre-existing employees. This is called the internal staff augmented model.

The Outsourced Professional Service Model

Alternatively, you can use the outsourced professional service model, which brings in brand new employees. The new hires might mentor the team of a previously established PMO or form a new EPMO from scratch. The outsourced professional service model works well for companies that need specialized skills lacking in their current employees.

Know Your EPMO’s Strengths

EPMOs offer many benefits compared to PMOs and other management offices, but they’re not infallible. Once you understand the role of the EPMO in your company, it’s important to monitor it to ensure it provides what your company needs. Conduct regular evaluations and assess how well the enterprise project management office works with the other offices. 

As the Project Management Institute explains, every EPMO needs to know its strengths. Only by continuously optimizing your EPMO can it reach its full potential.

Some people may believe in the Great Man Theory of Leadership. Others know that management is like anything else: Practice and education improve performance. Understanding different management theories help managers prioritize the processes, relationships and information that impact an organization’s success.  

How should a leader set goals and guide their teams to realize them? Many heads are better than one, and this article covers three types of management approaches and many of the individual theories categorized within them. 

Three Types of Management Theories 

While ideas overlap between the categories, these three classifications differentiate management according to their focus and the era they came from: 

• Classical management theory: emerged from the Industrial Revolution and revolves around maximizing efficiency and production. 
• Behavioral management theory: started in the early 20^th century and addresses the organization’s human and social elements.  
• Modern management theory: followed on the heels of World War II and combines mathematical principles with sociology to develop holistic approaches to management. 

The origin of one movement doesn’t indicate the conclusion of the previous one. All three of these approaches still exist in contemporary practice.  

Newer is not always better either. Each philosophy was born out of changing ideals and emerging possibilities, but today’s business world is complex. Different theories better suit different needs. 

Classical Management Theory 

Classical management theory prioritizes profit and assumes that personal gain motivates employees. It aims to streamline operations and increase productivity. 

Major concepts include specialization, incentivization, and hierarchical structure. The first two contribute to employee efficiency and drive. Centralized leadership simplifies decision-making, and a meritocratic chain of commands provides order and oversight. At every level, standardization reduces waste and error. 

There are many strengths to classical management theory. It provides clarity for both the organization and its personnel, and specialization and sound hiring practices place employees in positions they can handle and even master. 

Shortcomings of classical management theory can include: 

• The treatment of workers as machines without accounting for the role job satisfaction and workplace culture play in an organization’s success 
• The difficulty of applying some of its principles outside a limited manufacturing context 
• A top-down approach to communication that neglects employee input and prevents collaboration 
• Failure to provide for creativity and innovation, which rigid structures and hyper specialization can stifle 

The following management approaches belong to the overarching category of classical management theory: 

Scientific Management Theory 

Scientific management theory is sometimes called Taylorism after its founder Frederick Winslow Taylor, a mechanical engineer. Taylor employed scientific methods to develop organizational principles that suited mass production needs. After creating and proving his theory as a manager and consultant, he wrote ” The Principles of Scientific Management” in 1911. 

Taylor wanted to replace outdated, “rule-of-thumb” methods with more efficient processes. To this end, he identified four core principles of good management. The manager: 

• Develops a science consisting of best practices for all elements of their employees’ work 
• Selects and trains employees accordingly 
• Works with employees to ensure that the science is followed 
• Assumes half the responsibility for all work through process development, guidance, and maintenance 

Today, many companies have adopted a version of the scientific management theory. By standardizing tools and procedures, they hope to increase productivity and reduce the reliance on individual talent and workers. 

Bureaucratic Management Theory 

Max Weber was one of the foremost scholars of the late 19^th and early 20^th century. He strongly influenced — and continues to influence — economic, religious, and political sociology. He explains bureaucratic management theory in “Economy and Society,” published posthumously in 1922. 

Weber believed that standard rules and well-defined roles maximize the efficiency of an organization. Everyone should understand the responsibilities and expectations of their position, their place within a clear hierarchy and general corporate policies. Hiring decisions and the application of rules should be impersonal, guided only by reason and established codes. 

Weber’s theory provides for orderly and scalable institutions. At least some element of bureaucracy informs most large organizations, whether they’re public, private, or profit driven. 

Administrative Management Theory 

Just as scientific management theory is sometimes called Taylorism, administrative management theory is sometimes called Fayolism.  

Henri Fayol was a mining engineer who sought to codify the responsibilities of management and the principles of effective administration. He outlined these in “General and Industrial Management” in 1916. 

His guide identifies 14 principles of management: 

1. Division of work: Divide work into tasks and between employees. 
2. Authority: Balance responsibility with commensurate authority.  
3. Unity of command: Give each employee one direct manager. 
4. Unity of direction: Align goals between employees. 
5. Equity: Treat all employees equally. 
6. Order: Maintain order through an organized workforce. 
7. Discipline: Establish and follow rules and regulations. 
8. Initiative: Encourage employees to show initiative. 
9. Remuneration: Pay employees fairly for the work they do. 
10. Stability: Ensure that employees feel secure in their positions. 
11. Scalar chain: Establish a clear hierarchy of command. 
12. Subordination of individual interest: Prioritize group needs. 
13. Esprit de corps: Inspire group unity and pride. 
14. A balance between centralization and delegation: Concentrate ultimate authority but delegate individual decisions. 

According to Fayol, managers need to develop practices that foster each of the 14 principles. 

Behavioral Management Theory 

Behavioral management theory places the person rather than the process at the heart of business operations. It examines the business as a social system as well as a formal organization. Therefore, productivity depends on proper motivation, group dynamics, personal psychology, and efficient processes. 

Behavioral management theory humanizes business. Feelings have a practical impact on operations. Team spirit, public recognition, and personal pride encourage employees to perform better. Individual relationships also play a role. Employees are more likely to go the extra mile for a boss they respect and who respects them. 

Shortcomings of behavioral management theory include: 

• The difficulty of balancing personal relationships with professional conduct 
• An inclination toward socially motivated hiring practices that can be unjust  
• The danger of assuming that all individuals respond the same way to the same situations and for the same reasons 

Common behavioral management theories include the following: 

Human Relations Theory 

The fundamental texts on human relations theory evolved from an experiment following classical theory. Elton Mayo worked as part of a team evaluating the impact on the productivity of various workplace conditions at the Hawthorne Works, a large factory complex. Early results were self-contradicting; changes in opposite directions both improved productivity. 

Mayo realized that the researchers’ attention to the workers was the common factor. It instilled pride and fulfilled particular social needs of the workers. This led to the development of the “Hawthorne effect,” a principle of research that suggests researcher attention affects the subjects in a study and impacts the results. 

In business management, the Hawthorne studies led to articulating the role that human relations play in business operations. Mayo and later theorists developed several related conclusions, including: 

• Group dynamics affect job performance. 
• Communication between employees and employers must go in both directions. 
• Production standards depend more on workplace culture than on official objectives. 
• In addition to compensation, perceived value affects performance. 
• Workers prefer to participate in the decision-making process. 
• Integration between departments or groups positively impacts an organization. 

In the modern workplace, sanctioned social activities and open, defined communication channels owe a debt to human relations theory. 

Theory X and Theory Y 

Douglas McGregor primarily investigated the way managers motivate their employees. The same tactics don’t work across the board, and individuals require different types of oversight or encouragement. In 1960, McGregor developed Theory X and Theory Y in response, laid out in  
“The Human Side of Enterprise.” 

This management theory divides workers into two camps that require two leadership styles. Theory X workers lack drive. Managers need to provide large amounts of structure and direction to get them to accomplish the necessary work. These workers demand an authoritarian style of management.  

Theory Y workers are self-motivated individuals who enjoy their work and find it fulfilling. They benefit from a more participative environment that fosters growth and development. 

McGregor’s theory of differentiated management practices remains relevant, but neither workers nor managers tend to exist at the extreme ends of what should be a more nuanced spectrum. The approach also neglects the reciprocal effect managers and workers can have on one another. A natural self-starter can have their ambition micromanaged out of them. 

Modern Management Theory 

Modern management theory adopts an approach to management that balances scientific methodology with humanistic psychology. It uses emerging technologies and statistical analysis to make decisions, streamline operations and quantify performance. At the same time, it values individual job satisfaction and a healthy corporate culture. 

This category of theories is more holistic and flexible than its predecessors. Data-driven decisions can remove human bias while still accommodating employee health and happiness indicators. Modern management theory also allows organizations to adapt to complex, fluid situations with local solutions instead of positing a single, overriding principle to drive management. 

Shortcomings of the modern management approach include: 

• The prioritization of information that can be difficult, expensive, and time-consuming to collect 
• The gap between theoretical flexibility and practical agility 
• The tendency of some strains to be descriptive rather than prescriptive 

Two popular strains of modern management theory are systems theory and contingency theory: 

Systems Management Theory 

It’s no surprise that Ludwig Von Bertalanffy, who developed systems management theory, was a biologist. This theory borrows heavily from that discourse. Systems theory proposes that each business is like a single living organism. Distinct elements play different roles but ultimately work together to support the business’s health. The role of management is to facilitate cooperation and holistic process flows. 

Systems management theory sometimes leans more toward metaphorical description than prescriptive application. However, you can see evidence of the approach in technological architectures and tools that standardize services and open access to information. For example, innovations such as data fabric help break down departmental silos. 

Contingency Management Theory 

Contingency management theory addresses the complexity and variability of the modern work environment. Fred Fiedler realized that no one set of characteristics – no single approach – provided the best leadership in all situations. Success instead depended on the leader’s suitability to the situation in which they found themselves. 

Fiedler focused on three factors that determine that situation: 

1. Task structure: How well defined is the job? 

2. Leader-member relations: How well does the leader work with team members? 

3. Leader position power: How much authority does the leader have? To what extent can they distribute punishments and rewards? 

Managers can be classified as having a task-oriented or a people-oriented style. Task-oriented managers organize teams to accomplish projects quickly and effectively. People-oriented managers are good at handling team conflict, building relationships, and facilitating synergy. Task-oriented leaders thrive in both highly favorable and unfavorable conditions, but people-oriented leaders do better in more moderate configurations. 

The least-preferred coworker (LPC) scale is a common management tool developed by Fiedler to help leaders pinpoint their style. The scale asks you to identify the coworker you have the hardest time working with and rate them. Relationship-oriented managers tend to score higher on the LPC scale than task-oriented managers. 

What’s Next for Management Theory? 

It’s time for a new category of management theory. The business world requires more than a single new idea, and it’s ripe for a constellation of new theories.  

Ecology and technology continue to reshape our concerns, resources, and possibilities. Remote work physically distances coworkers, and worldwide health and climate concerns create fragile relationships with globalization. Equity is no longer “a nice idea” but an urgent imperative. Volatile conditions lead people to search for meaning at work and everywhere else. 

No one truly knows what’s next. But it will likely build on and cherry-pick from the above management approaches, reorienting them around a new philosophical core. Familiarize yourself with predominant principles today and prepare yourself for a new movement tomorrow. 

Scientific management theory is a method of improving efficiency in the workforce. As its name implies, this management theory uses scientific methods to assess work processes.

The scientific method consists of three steps: observation, experimentation, and analysis. In science, this could mean observing the effects of a treatment, experimenting with a different treatment, and analyzing the results. Similarly, managers use scientific management theory to observe their workplaces, test different methods of completing tasks, and analyze the effect of the changes.

When properly implemented, scientific management theory improves productivity. It is an evidence-based method that prioritizes efficiency and reliability. Having scientifically rigorous work methods in place creates clear expectations for employees because it establishes a single right way to do things. It also gives managers a unified standard against which to evaluate their employees.

Scientific management theory has grown exponentially since its inception. There are now a variety of management strategies that fall under the umbrella label of scientific management theory. Each of these strategies has its own set of strengths and weaknesses. It’s important to do your own research into scientific management theory to find the best applications for it in your workplace.

The History of Scientific Management Theory

The history of scientific management theory begins with 20th century mechanical engineer Frederick Winslow Taylor. In Taylor’s time, America was on the cusp of industrialization, but management methods had not yet changed to keep up with changes in technology. While working at a steel manufacturing plant, Taylor observed several production problems. 

For one thing, there was little specialization of labor or tools. Work shifts were randomly assigned, so inexperienced workers often ended up trying and failing to complete important projects. Tools were crude, and since only a small number of tools were used for every task, they wore out quickly. For another, there was no one single “best” standard for workers to aspire to. Everyone did their job in whatever way they thought worked best, regardless of whether it was effective. Finally, managers were completely disconnected from the workers they supervised. The average manager had no idea how the workers’ tasks were performed, so they were unable to provide suggestions for improvement.

Taylor set out to solve these problems. He designed specialized shovels and other tools. He advocated for workers to be matched to the projects for which they were most naturally gifted. He trained managers in his methods so that they could implement scientific management theory in their own workplaces.

Taylor is credited with revolutionizing productivity in the American workforce. At his own steel plant, the amount of pig iron the workers could transport in a day reportedly tripled once they adopted his methods. His ideas spread rapidly and helped give rise to the Industrial Age. Scientific management is sometimes even referred to as “Taylorism” in his honor.

Taylorism and Classical Management Theory

When people talk about “Taylorism,” they often mean scientific management theory as it existed in the early 20th century. This specific management style is also called classical management theory.

Classical management theory is distinguished by three characteristics: hierarchical structure, specialization, and financial incentives. In a company operating on classical management theory, there is a rigid hierarchy. Business owners are on top, supervisors are in the middle, and regular employees are on the bottom. Everyone has a specialized, small-scale task. Anyone who is especially successful is rewarded with financial benefits.

Classic Taylorism does a good job of addressing the physical needs of workers, but it ignores social needs and creativity. Inflexible hierarchies make it difficult for talented people to rise the ranks of leadership. Specialization is efficient, but it discourages people from experimenting, and therefore prevents the development of new methods. And although good pay incentivizes good behavior, money isn’t the only thing workers care about. Employees also want to feel valued and take pride in their work.

Classical management theory is no longer widely followed, but it still has uses. Since Taylor developed his theory while working in a manufacturing plant, classic Taylorism is well-designed for manufacturers. It also tends to function better in small enterprises where everyone knows each other, and social needs are easy to address.

The Principles of Scientific Management

There are four principles of Taylorism.

1. Choose methods based on science: Use the scientific method to determine the most efficient way to complete a task. Focus on increasing productivity and profits.
2. Assign workers to tasks based on their natural skillset: Get to know your workers, discover what they’re good at, and place them where their skills will be the most useful.
3. Monitor your workers’ performance: Observe what your workers are doing while they are on the clock so that you can quickly address any problems. If some workers are confused or unproductive, it is up to their managers to step in and fix the issue.
4. Divide workloads appropriately between workers and managers: Make sure that managers understand how to plan and train workers and that workers understand how to implement those plans.

Goals and Objectives of Scientific Management

The primary goal of scientific management is to increase efficiency. When Taylor began his scientific management experiments, he focused on increasing efficiency by reducing the amount of time needed to perform tasks. This was a good first step, but there’s a lot more to improving efficiency than just decreasing work time. Since Taylor’s time, other innovators have found more ways to increase efficiency, such as implementing automation software.

Another objective of scientific management theory is increasing profits. If everyone is working as efficiently as possible, then they should be able to produce huge amounts of high-quality products. That translates into more sales and bigger profit margins.

Real-World Applications of Scientific Management Theory

Scientific management theory is flexible enough to be applied in just about any industry. Whether you’re designing software or selling real estate, there are certain tasks that need to be done regularly. Identifying those tasks and optimizing them for efficiency is a great way to bring Taylorism into your workplace. Here’s an example.

Imagine your company has a newsletter mailing list. Every time a new person wants to be added to the mailing list, they send an email requesting to be added. An employee then manually adds them to the list.

This is an inefficient, multi-step method of adding newsletter subscribers. Your employee probably doesn’t get any job satisfaction from typing a name into a mailing list. Moreover, the time spent manually adding names is time that could be spent on more pressing projects.

If you were the manager tasked with implementing the principles of scientific management in this company, you might suggest designing a system that automatically adds people to the mailing list as soon as they submit a request. The subscribers get newsletter access sooner and the employee now has more time to concentrate on important assignments.

Applying Scientific Management Techniques

The theory of scientific management is not perfect. Optimizing efficiency while trying to maximize profits may not solve all your workplace problems. Moreover, Taylorism has been criticized as being ineffective for modern businesses. After all, Taylor was working in a pre-industrial era. He could not have foreseen how businesses and management styles would change in the future.

Taylor’s brand of scientific management may not be a perfect fit for contemporary life. However, the scientific management theory could be a starting point for designing your own management style. You also can consider other alternative management styles such as the Great Man Theory of Leadership and the Contingency Theory of Leadership.