There are many definitions of what project management is, but if we review some technically worded definitions, you may not understand what it is any better than you do now. For this reason this article will take a different approach – to consider it in terms of the tasks it typically involves on a daily basis.

In its most basic form project management is about getting things done. This finished state (getting things done) results in some common characteristics between different projects, whether you are building a complicated computer system or simply installing a shower. The commonality that most projects share is that:

They are unique. Replacing a shower isn’t something you’d do every day and neither is building a complex computer system, and in this sense projects are considered to be unique as they are not part of normal day-to-day operations.

They are temporary. They have a start and an end. The project ends when specific objectives have been met, for example, when the shower is installed and working.

The have scope. This refers to the deliverables the project will deliver, and also the time it will take to complete the work, the cost needed to do the work, and the quality at which the work should be delivered. These three elements can be traded against one another, for example, we can install a shower more cheaply if we reduce the quality of the shower itself. So, now that we understand what a project is, what exactly is project management?

Well, project management is about running our project in a controlled manner so things get done in the most efficient way. Project management involves performing lots of different tasks but the main ones are outlined below.

1. Understanding Requirements. This itself refers to a number of things. What needs to be done? Who needs to do it? When does it need to be completed? To what standards does the work need to be completed?
2. Project Planning. This is about scheduling the tasks so things get done in the most efficient way.
3. Risk Management. This is about managing any potential problems which threaten to make the project a failure in some way.
4. Monitoring the work being done. This involves making sure the work is being done according the plan, and also that the work being done is actually meeting the requirements. Read the rest of this entry »