Since the pioneering work of Henry Gantt a century ago, project management has become a well-established way of ensuring work is delivered on time and within budget. Public sector organisations and government ministries have just as much need for timely and economical project completion. But it is relatively uncommon, especially in central and eastern Europe, for the government sector to employ project management practices.
This is partly due to the associated costs Ð but the investment is worth it when the success of large, costly projects is at stake. There are also challenges unique to the public sector. The political cycle is shorter than the typical strategic planning cycle, and traditions of reactive politics are also an obstacle to project management practices.
But itÕs often overlooked that there are also unique ways the public sector can benefit from project management. Project management significantly contributes to increasing accountability and transparency, of high importance in modern democracies.
For a great number of years, Lithuanian governments have faced difficulties in coordinating and ensuring full implementation of national policy reforms. The existing strategic planning system in Lithuania is providing a base for the control of government action plan execution, but the number of jobs delivered later than planned, or with poor quality, has been increasingly high.