Project management gains a foothold at development banks

Project management has its roots in industries known for building big, complex things – industries like engineering, construction and defense. When software became integral to making the world work, the technology industry joined the ranks. But now, project management is showing up in industries and applications not normally associated with this profession, and is directly enabling the most effective means of reducing poverty, eliminating inequality, improving healthcare and education, and ultimately changing lives.

A great example of leveraging PM in new areas is to look at the work of multilateral development banks (MDB). These financial institutions provide much needed capital and technical assistance to developing countries. Last year, amongst the five core MDBs, Washington, DC-based World Bank Group, committed $65.6 billion in loans, grants, equity investments, and guarantees to its members and private businesses. Over the past five years, $17.8 billion dollars of that came from the U.S., which is a significant investment that remains at the epicenter of foreign aid and policy debates. Regardless of the position taken, it is encouraging to see emerging interest in applying proven project management practices to maximize the ROI and reduce overall risk with development bank-funded projects.

One specific MDB leading this charge is the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), an organization that supports 48 member countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Over the past five years, IDB has funded more than 3,700 projects, of which over 1,600 are already completed.

The types of projects IDB supports span a broad geography and vary widely in complexity and focus area of improvement. A recently completed Decentralization and Local Government Strengthening project in Suriname, for example, has further enabled districts to do their own financial administration, increasing efficiency and eliminating the need to travel to regional offices for approval on even the smallest of purchases. Another example is an Agricultural Services program in Belize, designed to help the country expand beyond its traditional reliance on exports of sugar, citrus and bananas by accessing new markets through investments in agricultural innovation and better management of plant, animal and food safety risk.

IDB is investing in project management to ensure that it is able to meet the demands of improving productivity and maintaining confidence, because there is a real need for investment. In 2014, Latin America and the Caribbean posted its lowest growth rate in four years. This is creating a pressing need to ramp up productivity. IDB is innovating and streamlining its operations in order to keep pace and meet demand.

This is the point where project management comes in. After teaming with PMI a few years ago to assess how the Central Bank of Jamaica’s processes align with proven standards in project and program management. As a result, IDB made a major commitment to formal project management to help its member countries adopt a plan-to-project mindset and benefit from the infusion of leading practices into public development projects. Ultimately, project management has become the means to effectively address administrative capacity gaps within developing economies and the enabler to connect the development efforts to the global marketplace.

A key strength of the IDB approach is a new Project Management Techniques for Development Professionals “MOOC” (massively available online course). Although it is aimed primarily at people working in a finance function versus traditional project managers, the course has been carefully aligned with PMBOK Guide® 5th Edition and is taught by certified Project Management Professionals® (PMPs). Over the next 18 months, IDB plans to train 30,000 people in Project Management Techniques for Development Professionals, plus another 20,000 once the course is translated into English.

The first wave of training has received reviews averaging four out of five stars. The comments show that this approach with a non-traditional project management audience from central banks, financial services, and government leaders is working; those on the front lines of turning economic and social development program proposals into realities see the benefits of applying project management to the challenges they face.

Anyone who supports the vision and goals of development banks should be heartened by their embrace of project management, but perhaps not surprised by the non-traditional application of the practice impacting the most challenged of communities worldwide. After all, what industry or government doesn’t need to reduce risk and improve efficiency and effectiveness?

Jordon Sims is director of organization relations and programs for the Project Management Institute.