Project Management, in case your manager didn't tell you...

Project Management is very complex! Let's simplify.

What is a project?
A project is an effort with some kind of measurable result, an effort that is definitely going to end.

What are the stages of a project?
These 4 stage are also known as the project "life cycle":

1. Initiation - defining objectives, critical factors, and success
2. Planning - breaking it down into tasks
3. Execution - carrying out the plan
4. Closure - completion and review

What is a program?
A program is a group of related projects. A program will only end if all of its projects are over.

What is an organization?
An organization is a group of people and resources employed together with the same objectives. An organization is not definitely going to end. However, an organization may employ people specifically for projects or programs. These people should know that their jobs may end when their main projects or programs end, even if the results of the project live on.

What is Project Management?
Most simply, Project Management (PM) is the use of models to manage the scope, time, and budget of a project.

What are the parts of Project Management?

There are 9 Knowledge Areas of PM and 5 types of processes in PM, often laid out this way:

	Initiating	Planning	Executing	Monitoring and Controlling	Closing
Integration
Scope
Time
Cost
Quality
Human Resources
Communications
Risk
Procurement

Why use PM?
Here are some of the risks if we don't use PM:

• "Scope creep" is adding new objectives as you go along, and it can seriously blur the original objectives.
• A lack of common understanding among team members always keeps them from performing well.
• Projects that take a while (and most of them do!) run out of steam if all involved don't know what stage it is in.
• Running out of money is such a drag!
• When there's trouble there's panic UNLESS the possibility of that trouble and a solution to it were addressed in the plan.

Do I really need to know all this?
This entire list is not something all staff members of every organization involved in projects need to know. However, the project manager should be sure that all staff members have a general idea of their roles in both the project and the organization.

Where can I find more information?
Look at http://pmi.org for more information, or if you're involved in a project, ask your project manager for a breakdown.