What is Project Management?

Every type of business has short-term and long-term goals.  Project management helps all businesses achieve their goals through systematic planning, organizing, and management.  Project management consists of the application of various processes, skills, methods, expertise, and knowledge to complete the project within the stipulated time.

Unlike pure management, project management has tangible deliverables and a defined timespan.  Before we go deep into what is project management, let’s understand what a project is.

What is a project?

A company selects or undertakes a project depending on its strategic goals.  A project is a set of temporary, time-bound tasks completed in sequence or simultaneously to achieve predetermined results.  A project can be small or large, simple or complex, linear or layered.  Their time span can range from days to years.

According to the nature of the project, cross-functional teams can be involved in it.  To handle these teams, maintain consistent quality, eliminate problems and take the project to its logical conclusion, it is crucial to invest in credible project management right from the beginning of any project.

The core components of project management

•  Defining the scope of the project, including the reasons for its significance.
• Estimating required timelines, deliverables, budget, and essential resources.
• Chalking out a business strategy to justify the estimated budget and securing it.
• Develop a project management plan
• Form and motivate the project delivery team, and assign tasks.
• Identify issues, manage the risks and remove the bottlenecks.
• Monitor the progress of the project against the plan.
• Manage, review and report the project budget.
• Communicate regularly with the stakeholders and the organization to maintain goodwill.
• Close the project appropriately once it is completed and the objectives have been achieved.

Approaches of project management

The different approaches of project management look at the project from different angles.  Every approach provides alternative methods and solutions.  The approach influences how the project manager will lead the project and how the team will execute it.  Major project management approaches are:

• Traditional: The traditional approach is used for projects that do not require many changes. In this approach, the deliverables are achieved in a set time period within the defined budget.  The stages of a traditional approach are initiation, planning, execution, control, and closure.
• Agile: Agile project management approach signifies flexibility and ongoing changes. It is not restricted to traditional timelines.  The project managers are given feedback, and the features and services keep changing or modifying.
• Waterfall: The waterfall approach is linear and goes step by step. The project is broken down into sequences.  The method consists of the following stages- idea engineering, system design, implementation, testing and validation, and maintenance.
• Systems: In the systems approach, the project flows in the following steps- planning, monitoring, and adapting. After completion, it is reviewed and assessed by the project manager.
• Program Management: The program management approach is useful during multiple project handling. It is used when functional improvement is the main goal of the project.

Project management gives leadership and direction to the project and takes it to completion.  The project manager is the driving force of the project.  He segregates the project into a process of tasks, steps, and deadlines.  An efficient project manager is like the captain of the ship, who gives directions and steers the project to its desired destination.

If you are keen to pursue a career as a project manager, then your first step should be to hone your skills.  A project management certification from a reputed institute will help you master the methods and lead a project management team efficiently and successfully.  Today with many tech platforms offering short-term online certifications, completing a course without disturbing your current work commitments has become convenient and easy.

Thanks for reading!!

Sumegha Gupta

A tech-freak self-motivated professional that thrives on innovation and overcoming challenges. She is a trained writer and scholarship holder. Went through with writing for a lot of big media houses. Writing is her all-time favorite job. Know more about her on facebook