Project management dates back in early civilization period about 4,500 year ago as evidenced by the Giza Pyramid project in Egypt. It is clear that ancient projects manager were able to manage the scope, budgets, materials and workforce to come up with deliverables in specific time frame. Faced with limited time, managers were able to reduce project scope by converting the foundation into a quarry. Further to that, the skilled workforce was kept busy through careful sequencing and scheduling of project activities. Even though project scope, cost and time management is widely considered modern project management concepts, evidence show that ancient Egyptians did understand these three concepts and managed them to great effect.
Quality management was fundamental in ancient project starting from site preparation to ensure a firm flat based in place to sustain the Pyramid. Accuracy and precision was highly regarded by Egyptian project managers to ensure quality. In managing workforce, no slaves were used in the Pyramid project and workers were well treated in terms of compensation and favorable work condition. Thousands of craftsmen and laborers were employed to construct and were compensated through tax breaks, clothes and food. They were treated to excellent medical care and rich meat diet. Communication was equally effective through top down oral communication approach. However, workers were at high risk as large quantities of materials were moved using simple equipment such as sleds, levers, boats and ropes. The risks were however monitored closely.
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The project supply chain was effective and managed to deliver millions of tons of project materials from thousands of kilometers away. The project was successful completed. However, even though such historical projects are still viewed from the context of traditional architectural and engineering lens, it is important to start viewing them through the lens of today’s project management and put their evolution into the context of today’s project management. There are many of these ancient projects that were successfully managed through scope, cost, budget, risk, quality and others aspects in similar way to contemporary projects.
References
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1uxCBx2-UQ
