Last week I blogged about the going getting tough for project management. In that post, I suggested that we, as project managers, needed to start doing some new things.

Perhaps not surprisingly, there’s a few other views out there. Pawel Brodzinski posted Why the Hell Project Management Should Be Different During Recession? where he points out that the principles of project management don’t change just because there is a recession.

The thing is, that’s not wrong. The principles of project management haven’t changed – we’re still aiming to deliver projects successfully. But thinking a recession doesn’t mean we need to change, that’s not right.

I’ve blogged in the past about how I believe project managers can do well in a recession, and I still think that. Good project managers have the chance to show how project management contributes to successful projects. And successful projects can contribute to business success.

But here’s the thing: good isn’t good enough.

With companies in financial straits, with organisations looking to cut costs, with jobs being lost, being a good project manager is now the bare minimum. If you really want to shine, you need to be better than that. You need to show how your skills benefit not only your project, but the business as a whole.

That doesn’t mean you need to short change your project. It certainly doesn’t mean you should change the principles of project management. But it does mean you need to be even more sensitive to what is going on in the company.

Example: All companies are likely to find it much harder to access credit. But they have got used to getting it easily over the past decade. Suddenly, it’s not possible to fund day to day activities from credit in the expectation of a bigger pay-off later on. Instead of being able to wait for a project to produce a product in 6 months which they can sell for $500, now they need to cut costs and gain cash flow. Instead of waiting for an executive to tell you your project is canned, build the options – maybe you can deliver 80% of the features in half the time, and start selling it for $200. Overall, the company would make less money – but it would gain cash-flow.

A good project manager would keep his project on track. A very good project manager would see that the economic situation changes the business case. A remarkable project manager does both of these, and provides options to his executive – such as delivering less, but earlier.

The aim of a successful project isn’t to deliver a product. It is to deliver a product which itself delivers a benefit to the business. For most businesses this benefit is going to boil down, in some shape or form, to money. Saving it, or making more of it.

The aim of a good project manager is to have the project deliver a product. The aim of a very good project manager is to deliver a product which delivers a benefit. The aim of the remarkable project manager to is deliver the benefit.

Sure, we need to use the same project management techniques and principles as always. But we also need to recognise that the environment all of us work in has changed. That has implications for our projects: assumptions need to be checked, business cases need to be verified, timescales need to be examined, and so forth.

But it also has implications for us, as project managers. With fewer jobs, fewer companies, fewer projects, there is increased competition for all jobs. There’s competition just to keep our jobs.

Put yourself in the shoes of a businessman. You have the choice of lots and lots of good project managers. But what you really want isn’t someone who will deliver the project. You want someone who will deliver the benefit. You want someone remarkable.

This is a time for remarkable project managers to show that project management skills enable them to be remarkable business leaders too.

Because in a recession, our new project is to deliver, at the end of this recession, a company that is stronger, better, and fitter. A company that is ready to expand into the growing economy. A company that has survived, and is now ready to prosper. A company that is remarkable.

What type of project manager do you want to be? Good, or remarkable?