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Environmentalism in Project Management
As more and more advances are made in technology and the population increases, it will be important for everyone, project managers included, to account for the environmental aspects of any initiatives that they undertake. Environmentalism is not a new subject, but it has suddenly taken on much greater importance. As a result, there is increased awareness of the environment and the impact that our actions have on it.
This awareness has meant that project managers need to look at the standard project management methodologies they might use and modify some areas to consider this important trend. Fortunately, there are some real benefits that can be ensured by incorporating environmentalism, and project managers that must focus on environmental management planning to become more involved.
What is Environmentalism?
Environmentalism is essentially concerning with the environment; as a movement, it works towards protecting the natural world in the face of human activities that can be harmful. The term “green project” is often used in place of environmentalism, but both are understood as meaning the same thing.
How can you incorporate Environmentalism into your project?
Whilst this may not be a topic that you will have covered in great depth in project management courses, it is certainly something that you will need to pay particular attention to. This is because any project manager needs to remember that their project is only a small part of the company’s broader framework.
When a company considers the environmental impact of their project, they need to address any concerns that the general public might have around the work that they are doing. Their motivations in doing this may be brand-related, economic, or even a combination of both. It is not just some companies trying to incorporate environmental issues into their projects but also organizations from all industries. However, they all have one thing in common: they are trying to find a way to use their “green projects” to make improvements to their bottom line, either through cost reduction or revenue enhancement.
Economic analysis is fundamental. Historically business decisions have only really been interested in and followed the economic bottom line. Now there is considerable pressure from the general public, the consumer, for companies to be more accountable for their actions and improve their environmental bottom line.
When a project has a simple, straightforward business goal, it is important to incorporate an environmental view into the project plans. Using project management skills and project management methodology learning in certain courses (see https://www.parallelprojecttraining.com ), it should be relatively easy for a project manager to incorporate these environmental views into their plan. They may, however, need to expand certain aspects of their plan to include this additional viewpoint.
