GLOSSARY

Project management is a coordinated application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques on a particular project to deliver the desired result and a specific value to end-users. Virtually any undertaking that will ultimately produce a product, service or solution can be treated as a project. Each project has its beginning and end, a planning and execution framework, and a clearly defined and measurable outcome. Project management essentially manifests as the management of numerous details and a series of coordinated and carefully planned tasks and deliveries.

Operations management essentially understands managing organisational resources and processes to promote effectiveness while maximising the productivity and efficiency of an organisation. It looks at the big picture and manages the day-to-day operations of an organisation to achieve systemic success.

Although they are often considered synonyms, effectiveness, productivity, and efficiency are actually different but interrelated terms. While effectiveness implies doing the right things, efficiency suggests that they are done in the right way; apply this correctly, and you will achieve a high level of productivity.

Organisational transformation implies a strategic approach of leading an organisation from the point at which it is today to the point at which it wants to be in the future. It often questions almost all aspects of the organisation, and in doing so, it also affects the organisation’s pillars and fundamental values. Although very demanding and often not at all pleasant, if properly managed, in the long run, it will bring exceptional results to the organisation, as well as a proper response to all the challenges and potentials of the future.

At its core, strategic planning considers what wants to be achieved and how it can be achieved. It looks at the situation and sets goals that affect the entire organisation in the medium or long term. Strategic planning answers three key questions: where is business now, where it wants to be and what to do to make it happen. It requires a thoughtful alignment of the business vision with realistic, available opportunities, and as such, it is a process, not a one-time activity. As a result, the organisation will have a clear business vision, precisely defined goals, set priorities, shared understanding of values throughout the organisation, effectively allocated resources to achieve the desired outcomes, and enough flexibility to successfully respond to change.

Starting your own business is one of the most challenging business moves someone can make. This is exactly what entrepreneurship is in its essence. It comes with considerable risk, but it also offers a unique potential for achieving financial and personal success, which work for someone else and a salary can hardly ever provide. The freedom that entrepreneurship enables in the realisation of one’s ideas, goal-setting and way of working does not come free of charge – in addition to initial capital in knowledge and money, entrepreneurship requires determination, dedication, resourcefulness, persistence and effort, as well as openness to change and continuous learning. It is the journey that rewards one’s courage and helps dreams come true.

Organisational culture represents common fundamental values, assumptions, and beliefs in an organisation, and in a way, it reflects the organisation’s mentality and soul. It manifests itself through various artefacts. For the most part, it is invisible, but at the same time, it is mighty in its impact. That is best visible when changes need to be made – organisational culture can be an excellent companion to the strategy but also its greatest enemy. For this reason, correctly diagnosing and managing it is of paramount importance.

On the other hand, the organisational climate manifests itself on the surface and reflects the perception of organisation’s members about its social environment.

In other words, the organisational climate answers what is happening in the organisation, and organisational culture explains why this happens.

Coaching is a temporary relationship (even a partnership) between a so-called coach and a person who needs support on the path of personal insights and changes to achieve desired results. It is applicable in almost every sphere of life, including business. Coaching helps the person fully become aware of the current unwanted situation and their role in it and find a way towards the desired one. Throughout this process, the coach does not provide solutions but instead helps the person to independently come up with the best answers to challenges they face. Essentially, it is a conversation based on mutual trust, which the coach directs to empower and motivate the person to change perspective and, therefore, behaviour. The result is growth and development.