What Is Project Management? - Definition, Tools, Process
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What is Project Management? Definition and Examples
Before venturing into any field or professional domain, it is understandably important to know the nature of the domain as well as what it is all about. Project management is a subdomain of management and has been defined by the Project Management Institute (PMI) as “ the use of scientific knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to deliver something of value to people.” From this definition, it can be seen that project management includes: Use of Scientific Knowledge, Skills and Tools: Project Management as a field makes use of tools and knowledge that are rooted in scientific and standardised principles and practices which enable successful execution and growth of the company. Deliver Valuable Results: The primary goal of project management is to deliver valuable results that will enable the company to grow and meet the desired goals of the company. Project management as a field, thus pertains to the regulation of flow, operations and resources in a project and involves a holistic management of multiple aspects to bring out the successful unfolding and implementation of these projects. For example, if a company organises a project of launching a new product in the market, then effective project management would involve handling the various aspects involved in it such as the marketing of the product, the resources involved in manufacturing the product, its sales and advertising, customer reviews, feedback and evaluation of the steps involved in the process, management of the various operations involved in the launch and so on. Project management as a professional domain can include 2 types of management: Management of a One-Time Project: This involves single projects that project managers handle, in which a single aim is sought by the company heads with specific goals and timelines. Examples of this type of projects include SEO projects aimed for a specific campaign, product launch in the market, thematic advertising campaign etc. Continuous Project Management: This includes the continuous management of certain aspects of company functioning and the various projects involved in them. For example, the continuous management of SEO projects of the company may be considered as a prolonged and continuous project management.
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Project Management Process- The Project Life Cycle
The process of project management, like any other process of managing an operation or organised activity, has certain stages that it passes through to move towards completion. Project management as a process has multiple aspects that must be carefully assessed and evaluated at each stage and accordingly adapted for successful outcomes. The entire process of project management and the lifecycle of a company project can be divided into 5 broad categories/stages based on the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) given by PMI:
1) Project Initiation
The very first stage of project management is the preliminary proposal of a project. Project initiation includes all the aspects involved in proposing a project and formulating a basic structure for it. There are certain key aspects involved in project initiation which have been mentioned here: Defining the Project Goals: Before starting out on a company project, it is essential to propose a rationale for the same. A proposed project should enable the company to attain certain tangible and intangible goals. Projects should be designed to serve larger company goals and seek growth. Creating a Business Case: Proposing a business case involves putting the project in the broader context of business goals and company benefits. Any project that you propose to conduct should meet larger business goals and proposing your business case includes explaining the same, i.e. how your project helps the company to grow and prosper. Preparing the Project Charter: The project charter is an overall summarisation of the entire project in terms of the goals it proposes to fulfill, the various aspects and operations involved in it, expected timeline in which the project can be expected to complete, the various constraints and challenges involved in it and so on. Laying Out the Stakeholders: The last step of project initiation is to list out all the stakeholders involved in the project, i.e. all the individuals who participate as well as are affected by the project such as the workers involved in various stages of the project, the trustees and individuals investing in the project, the customers or clients involved and so on. So, project initiation includes the preliminary proposal for a project idea as well as giving it a basic concrete structure from a conceptual idea.
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