Project Coordination. Project Management. What’s the Difference?

A big difference, actually. Project management and project coordination are often talked about as if they are the same thing. We beg to differ and would like to take a few minutes of your time to walk you through the key differences between these two, very discrete, things.

To start, let’s look at the dictionary definitions:

Manage (verb): to handle or direct with a degree of skill: such as a: to make and keep compliant, b: to treat with care, c: to exercise executive, administrative, and supervisory direction of

Coordinate (verb): Bring the different elements of (a complex activity or organization) into a harmonious or efficient relationship.

When applied to project management and project coordination, we see a clear distinction:

Project management is the process by which teams accomplish complex tasks and involves initiating, planning, risk assessment and mitigation, stakeholder engagement, review, etc. This also involves decision-making, stakeholder buy-in and cross-functional coordination.

Project coordination is the administrative function of project management. It is a subset. It does not involve the specific details of each task and deliverable, but, rather, project coordination ensures that things stay organized and on-schedule: that processes are followed, stakeholders are held accountable, and deliverables are delivered.

Taking it to the next step, there are tools in the market that facilitate project management. They tend to be complex, systemic and force user workflows to adapt to their philosophy of managing projects. They contain loads of features and creative ways to visualize progress.

A lot of the time, however, you’re probably looking for something much simpler; a solution that supports keeping things on track and ensures follow through. All the bells and whistles of today’s tools are meaningless when spreadsheets, emails and documents are still required to keep track of and stay updated on an initiative’s overall progress. Queue project coordination.

The difference between project management and project coordination is just as important as that between a manager and a leader. They’re two very discrete (albeit related) functions that often get thought of interchangeably. They are not, and it’s due time we make that distinction clear.

So, the next time you are considering a project management solution, think about what you just read. Is that really what are you looking for? Or, do you actually need help project coordinating?