What are relationships in project management?

If you are looking to get your MBA, you may be considering a career in project or relationship management. But what’s the difference between these two areas of management? Let’s look at each of these terms a little deeper.

Relationship Management

In relationship management, an organization keeps a certain level of engagement with their audience. This helps the organization develop its relationship and increase loyalty with the audience. This means the organization is actively working to build a relationship with the audience. instead of viewing the relationship as merely transactional.

Relationship management is vital for organizations because it helps build brand loyalty. Sometimes, organizations will hire a dedicated relationship manager for this. In other cases, an organization may combine this role with another role that includes human resources or marketing. The two main types of relationship management are between businesses and consumers (B2C), and between businesses and other businesses (B2B).

B2C Relationship Management

It costs more for a business to get a new customer than to keep an old one. That is why there is a strong focus on relationship management in the business world. If a consumer feels that a company cares about them and their needs, they will likely keep using that company.

Managing relationships with customers involve a deep understanding of their likes and dislikes. A B2C relationship manager will often spend time doing market research and learning about trends. This will ultimately help a business create campaigns to help retain customers.

B2B Relationship Management

Businesses looking to develop their relationships with other businesses, such as suppliers, vendors, and distributors, can also use a relationship manager. Managing these relationships can benefit both parties by helping them build trust and communicate expectations. If a dispute or conflict comes up, relationship management can help smooth things over between the parties.

Project Management

In project management, a company is working to complete a goal or task. This may be a one-time goal or task or involve a set of tasks to achieve a larger goal.

A project manager will usually help define these goals and tasks. Then, the manager will decide what steps to take to complete the project. He or she will assign these steps to different members of the organization. As the members of the organization complete these steps, the project manager will check the quality of the work being done.

There are three most common types of project management. Waterfall project management, where an organization member has to complete one task before they can start the next one. Agile project management, where members may be working on different tasks at the same time. Lean project management, where members are working on projects try to avoid waste. The type of project management will depend on the organization, the project itself, and the preferences of the project manager.

No matter which type of manager you are interested in becoming, studying at the ISDC Global Business School (IGBS), either in class or online. IGBS will give you the skills you need to be a top project or relationship manager.

Being a project manager in an organization is not an easy task. Day after day, you try to steer others to achieve the project goals. Often, you do this with limited resources at your disposal, those in your project team have to do the work of more than one person to achieve the goals, unless you have your resource management in order, but that's another blog topic. So what does it turn out to be? If you haven't built strong relationships throughout the organization, you're going to come up short. You'll have a significantly harder time achieving goals and keeping stakeholders happy.

By building strong relationships, we find it easier to work together and get things done through the help of others. Something every project manager should do. It's harder to approach someone who is already very busy if you haven't made the effort to build a relationship with them. This is because as humans, we tend to help those who have taken the time to get to know us and with whom we have already built a relationship.

Building relationships as a business imperative

Often the benefits of good relationships in the workplace are seen as a vague concept. It would just be much wiser to see relationship building as a business necessity. After all, it has a tangible impact on the organization.

In addition to the business relationship you enter into with your team, it is also important to cross the boundary of formality. Showing genuine interest in colleagues and making time to build up a relationship really contributes to greater understanding and tolerance, and therefore confidence in mutual interests within the project.  

"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place."

George Bernard Shaw 

By building strong relationships, you are generally more likely to have easy, open and honest communication. Everyone can freely discuss and debate new ideas and innovations with the confidence that you will receive honest feedback in return. It also facilitates faster decision-making because there are fewer hidden agendas within the team.

Mutual relationships create trust

The trust this creates in a project management team usually serves two purposes. It allows you to fully concentrate on what you need to do and you don't have to constantly create support for communication, you know what you have in common. Trust creates a distraction-free environment, which also has a positive impact on people's overall emotional and mental well-being. This ultimately makes the team more productive. The second function is to enable people to trust others. For a project manager and team member, this means working effectively in a collaborative environment where ideas and knowledge are shared openly.

Best practices for building relationships within the project team

It doesn't take much effort to build strong relationships with others - try these best practice steps to build relationships with people within your own organization:

• Spend time in the morning at the (virtual) coffee machine or in the cafeteria catching up with people;
• Don't stay glued to your desk all day, leave your workplace and take a walk with a colleague at a safe distance;
• In addition to the regular project communication channels, create a channel for off-topic/informal messages;
• Talk to others about projects you are currently working on, or projects you would like to see launched - ask for their support;
• Contribute to the company newsletter or blog, this will create brand awareness and trigger internal communication;
• Have you read an interesting article? Share it with someone in the office who may find it valuable.

In short, think of the people around you, if everyone feels comfortable this will have a positive impact on the projects that are run at that time and in the future.

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What are the four main types of project activities relationships?

There are four possible activity relationships, which are defined in the Project Management Institute's "bible of project management" — The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®). The relationships are Finish-to-Start, Start-to-Start, Finish-to-Finish and Start-to-Finish.

Why is relationship management important in project management?

Relationship management is a core skill for any project business to develop capabilities and manage the interface with projects, providing guidance to project managers as they negotiate with business partners and coordinate between business functions.

Why is it important to build a relationship in a project before you need it?

By building strong relationships you'll find it much easier to: Work with others to accomplish the goals/objectives of the project – even when timelines are short. Get help when you need it such as data/reports to make decisions or asking someone to pitch in to resolve a problem on a project.

What are some commonly used relationships in scheduling?

Finish-to-start (FS) Finish-to-finish (FF) Start-to-start (SS) Start-to-finish (SF)