Project
Management
Project
Management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and
techniques to a broad range of activities to meet the requirements
of the particular project. Project Management knowledge and
practices are best described in terms of their component processes.
These processes can be placed into five process groups (initiating,
planning, executing, controlling and closing) and nine knowledge
areas (project integration management, project scope management,
project time management, project cost management, project quality
management, project human resource management, project
communications management, project risk management and project
procurement management).
Project
Management is concerned with the overall planning and co-ordination
of a project from inception to completion aimed at meeting the
client's requirements and ensuring completion on time, within cost
and to required quality standards. Project Management is typically
carried out either by a private consultant or an employee of the
project client. Project Management, according to the Project
Management Institute's Project Management Book of Knowledge, is the
application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project
activities in order to meet or exceed stakeholder needs and
expectations.
Project
Management, is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and
techniques to describe, organize, oversee and control the various
project processes. Project Management is a relatively new branch of
management, being only a few decades old. It may be distinguished
from line management, which is essentially the management on ongoing
activities, where tomorrow's activities will be much like today's.
Examples of line management include the accounts dept. in any large
company, most of manufacturing industry (traditionally, at least),
or delivering the mail.
In contrast a
project is a singular task, and Project Management is simply the
management of that task. Examples of a singular task include:
constructing a bridge, putting a man on the moon, building a
submarine, organizing a wedding, developing a piece of CBL
courseware, etc.
The past decade
has seen substantial growth in interest in Project Management
techniques, primarily as a result of increased uncertainty within
the business environment. Major upheavals such as the recent changes
in Eastern Europe, the growth in information technology, economic
relationships with the rest of Europe, etc. have made the business of
business much more uncertain. Many industries can no long expect
tomorrow to be like today, and they are turning to Project
Management techniques as a way to cope with such
changes.
Incidentally,
the experiences of many companies trying to make this change bear
out the central plank of my argument here: that putting the bricks
of Project Management in place is relatively simple. It is the
cultural changes required that bring
difficulties.
The science of
Project Management has developed considerably in the past 20 years.
Today Project Management is a professional discipline, with a body
of knowledge and a specific set of skills and competencies and a
professional certification body, the Project Management Institute
(PMI®).
Project
Management Techniques Teach You to:
- Link project
goals and objectives to stakeholder needs
- Focus on
customer needs
- Build
high-performance project teams
- Work across
functional boundaries
- Develop work
breakdown structures
- Estimate
project costs and schedules using simple, proven techniques
- Meet time
constraints
- Calculate
risks
- Establish a
dependable project control and monitoring
system
Project
Management is a formalized and structured method of managing change.
It focuses on achieving specifically defined outputs so that planned
benefits/outcomes are achieved. And effective Project Management is
essential for the success of a business
project.
When
you, as a project manager, accept responsibility for a project, you
accept the schedule, timeline, deadlines, resources, and
expectations set out at the start. Now you can make sure you're
asking the right questions for each project by utilizing the tools,
checklists, and information from projectmanagementsurvival.
Now
you can manage your risk project according to best practice
standards. You'll have the details and plans in place to handle
whatever arises during a project's duration—setting appropriate
expectations for timelines, milestones, and deliverables. And,
ensure success for each and every project with resources on: