Understanding Project Management

Project Management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements. For the purposes of this blog, the words project and study will be synonymous to mean an individual or collaborative enterprise that is carefully planned and designed to achieve a particular aim. Your project is what you want to accomplish or create, and encompasses all processes from start to finish of your research.

• A Project is a temporary endeavor with a start and a finish when all project objectives have been met. It creates a unique product, service or result transition and follows organizational procedures. A project can create a Product, Service, Improvement in an existing product or service, or a Result, such as an outcome or document.

• There are five stages in Project Management and the stages often overlap and integrate:
  1. Initiate the project by creating a shared and measurable set of expectations,
  2. Plan the project,
  3. Execute the work of the project,
  4. Monitor and Control the project work and progress, and
  5. Close the project when all expectations have been met.

• Project Management uses these five stages to identify requirements, manage stakeholders, and balance competing project limitations, such as scope, schedule, cost, quality, risks, and resources. Project Managers go through each stage and create documents to help in the management of their project.

• There are many different layers of Project Management on an organizational level:
  • A Project has a specific scope and may have a program with portfolio objectives.
  • A Program is a group of related projects, subprograms and program activities managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits not available from managing them individually. A program manages project interdependencies and harmonizes collective project capabilities.
  • A Portfolio refers to projects, programs, sub-portfolios, and operations managed as a group to achieve strategic objectives. This is how all of the programs and project supporting the organizational strategies are prioritized and organized.

• Stop and Consider: What do projects do?―Projects accomplish strategic objectives by executing the project management plan. Why do projects fail?—Projects often fail when expectations are not met, when there are inadequate tools or no clear definition of expected outcomes, or if there is low confidence or team member engagement. What is project success?—Project success is when the endeavor meets or exceeds expectations, optimizes resources, and  builds team confidence and morale for future projects.

• You should consider your division and departmental goals in your planning. Levels often include:
  • Strategic Goals, 12+ months to accomplish goals,
  • Tactical Goals, 1 – 12 months to accomplish goals, and
  • Operation Goals, daily or weekly goals.

• The Project Manager’s Job is to lead the project management team. He or she is the strategic partner for project objectives, may report to a functional manager or program/portfolio manager, and links the project to the organizational strategy.

Article publié pour la première fois le 18/08/2015