What is project management?

It doesn’t matter what industry you work in; projects, and the need to manage them effectively, are necessary to your success. This is what makes project management a vital life skill, but it isn’t something that comes naturally to us all.

If you’ve ever wanted to explore what it takes to be successful at project management, what a project manager does, or the skills required to excel in this area, then you’re in luck. We’ve put together this practical guide to teach you all there is to know about project management, including the most popular project management methodologies, the necessary elements to include in a project management plan, and so much more.

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Project Management Definition and Basics

1. What is project management?

In short, project management refers to the initiation, planning, and application of skills, techniques, resources, and expertise to accomplish project goals within a fixed time frame, and budget.

2. What are the stages of project management?

The 5 project management phases are:

1. The initiation phase: This first phase aims to define the project, including its purpose, goals, requirements, and risks. The goal is to prove that the project is feasible, while also outlining the key stakeholders and the project management tools which will be used.

2. The planning phase: Perhaps the most crucial stage, the planning phase requires the project manager to outline the details and goals of the project so that it meets the requirements set out for it. KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are established, potential risks are identified, and team members are briefed on their roles and responsibilities. 

3. The execution phase: This is usually the longest project phase, as it is where the project’s tasks kick-off. Time, money, and people are all pulled into the project and the action begins.

4. The controlling and monitoring phase: During this stage, which occurs in tandem with the execution phase, the project manager must ensure requirements are being met, the agenda is being followed, and overall that everything is progressing toward the end result as desired.

5. Project closure: While this stage represents the project’s end, a project manager’s tasks aren’t over just yet. Loose ends are tied up, materials are organized, and the project’s end result is reflected upon to determine what went well and which areas may need improvement for future projects.

3. Why is project management important?

Project management is a powerful business tool that covers many facets of a business and therefore has the ability to deliver several advantages to organizations of all sizes. Let’s delve into each of these benefits below.Project management:

• Gives you repeatable procedures, guidelines, and methods to help you manage the work and individuals involved in your projects

• Can increase your chances of success by helping you deliver projects reliably, effectively, on time, and within budget

• Facilitates you to solve problems more quickly and efficiently

• Allows you to determine how your project fits in with your business strategy

• Ensures the efficient use of your company’s own resources

• Keeps you on schedule by breaking a large task down into smaller, more manageable deliverables

• Encourages effective and consistent communication among those involved with the business

• Satisfies the various needs and desires of company stakeholders

• Aims to manage and mitigate risks and triggers

• Helps you to gain an advantage over your competitors and increase your bottom line

• Assists in boosting customer satisfaction, loyalty, and retention

4. What does a project manager do?

Project managers work within a team and use their skills and knowledge for initiating, planning, executing, monitoring, controlling, and completing projects ensuring they are on time and under budget. The project manager also liaises with the project sponsor, vendors, contractors, and any other stakeholders to ensure the process runs smoothly.The main role of a project manager and their responsibilities include:

• Determining a project plan, schedule, and budget, and communicating these elements to the team

• Assigning tasks and their deadlines

• Scheduling frequent communication among team members and stakeholders to check-in on the project’s status

• Solving any obstacles that arise

• Providing status reports to executives or project sponsors

• Managing the project scope

• Defining and assessing all project deliverables

• Contributing to client proposals and quotes

• Evaluating and tracking the project’s success

Additionally, project managers should possess the following skills:

• Collaborative

• Excellent communicator

• Problem solver

• Strong attention to detail

• Thorough organizational skills

• Ability to multi-task and prioritize

• Driven by goals and outcomes

• Go-getter

• Great management of teams across multiple departments

• Ability to organize and assist with meetings and reviews

• Simplification of complicated workflows

• Tech-savvy

• Data-driven

5. Project management knowledge areas

Here are the 10 knowledge areas project managers should focus on while managing projects:

1. Project integration management: bringing together every aspect of the project and overseeing these components as a whole

2. Project scope management: the combined objectives and requirements needed to complete a project

3. Project time management: how long the project must take to be completed

4. Project cost management: how much the project will cost to complete

5. Project quality management: the degree to which the project meets the standards set out for it

6. Project human resources management: employees that work for an organization and who will be assisting with the project

7. Project communications management: the ways in which information is exchanged between individuals, i.e. through written, spoken, or other forms

8. Project risk management: the recognition, evaluation, and prioritization of risks, as well as the procedures to minimize or avoid them

9. Project procurement management: sourcing and acquiring what is needed for the project to be fulfilled

10. Project stakeholder management: the process of maintaining good relationships with the people who have the most impact on your project and both managing and meeting their expectations

6. Project management methodologies

Project managers use what are known as project management methodologies to help the project run more smoothly. There are numerous methodologies employed when working on a project, so we’ve rounded up the 16 most common ones below.

1. Adaptive project framework (APF) - Put simply, APF follows the principle “learn by doing.” The project is improved on a stage-by-stage basis by learning from the previous stage’s results, then improving upon them. This constant review-and-tweak method assists project managers in delivering the highest possible end result.

2. Agile. The Agile methodology also thrives on this flexible, change-driven mindset, yet differs in that it focuses on collaboration. Stakeholders review the project on a stage-by-stage basis and the team responds by making the necessary adjustments.

3. Benefits realization. With the Benefits Realization methodology, the project isn’t considered complete until the desired results have been achieved — regardless of the assigned time frame and budget. It involves identifying, executing, and measuring benefits, above all else.

4. Critical chain project management (CCPM) - CCPM places an emphasis on the resources required to execute the project, including the people, equipment, data, physical space, and more. The “critical chain” of tasks is identified and the project’s schedule is developed around the availability and sourcing of the required resources. This might make the estimated timeframe for the project longer, yet it does minimize the possibility of missing important deadlines.

5. Critical path method (CPM) - This methodology concentrates on delivering the project in the shortest possible time frame by focusing on the project’s most essential tasks and adjusting to shifting deadlines. It looks at what is happening and compares this to what should be happening on a daily basis.

6. Event chain methodology (ECM) - ECM focuses on the relationship between external events and project tasks and plans for potential risks and their impact. This creates a more realistic project plan, as the team understands what could go wrong, and if so, how they must remedy it.

7. Extreme programming (XP) - This methodology focuses on simplicity and the principle “less is more.” High-quality software is rapidly developed to provide stakeholders with the highest value. Development cycles are short, releases are frequent, and there is ongoing and collaborative communication with stakeholders.

8. Kanban. This methodology sees project tasks represented visually on what’s known as a kanban board. This allows team members to see the state of every piece of work at any time, therefore balancing demands with available capacity, and uncovering any process problems along the way.

9. Lean. Lean is a great methodology to use when wanting to cut budgets, meet short deadlines, and achieve the biggest results possible with a small team. It’s especially helpful for startups and focuses on increasing customer perceived value and eliminating anything deemed to be waste.

10. Lean six sigma. Combining the Lean and Six Sigma methodologies, this process leverages two of the best problem-solving methods to help organizations achieve their goals and satisfy their customers, as fast and as efficiently as possible.

11. Prince2 (projects in controlled environments) - This methodology is used to ensure every aspect of the project is justifiable in terms of business development and adding value. Project managers must identify a clear need, determine the target customer, signal the realistic benefits, and determine an accurate budget assessment.

12. Prism (Projects integrating sustainable methods) - While the Prince2 methodology focused on business justification, the Prism methodology is all about combining project planning with environmental sustainability. Project managers, therefore, aim to reduce energy, waste management, distribution costs, and the organization’s environmental footprint.

13. Process-based project management. This methodology places importance on the company’s mission statement and ensures every project furthers this mission. To determine this, the project is first analyzed before it begins. If it doesn’t meet the company’s mission statement and expectations, then it is adjusted to do so.

14. Scrum. Scrum relies on incremental development, consisting of 2-4 week ‘sprints,’ where the aim is to achieve the most important features of the project first. It emphasizes productivity, collaboration, and shorter bursts of intense focus for maximum efficiency. Additionally, it allows the project to be adjusted based on stakeholder and customer feedback between sprints.

15. Six sigma. The Six Sigma methodology reduces defects or ‘bugs’ in order to improve product quality or improve an organization’s processes. The goal is to streamline quality control and achieve a rating of “six sigma,” which means that the product or processes are 99.99966% defect-free.

16. Waterfall. Waterfall methodology is a linear project management approach where project tasks are broken down into a sequence of smaller phases. Each phase is dependent on the deliverables of the previous one and relates to a specific field of tasks.

7. What to include in a project management plan

The project management plan outlines what the project needs to accomplish, and how the team members will carry out the work. To take the guesswork out of creating a highly successful plan, we’ve outlined the key elements that should be included in an effective project plan

1. Project scope

Determine who the stakeholders are and organize to meet with them to discuss what they want to achieve with the project. Stakeholders are anyone involved with the project, including project sponsors, an organization’s management team, etc. Use their needs and desires as the objectives your project will aim to deliver.Meeting with key stakeholders also allows you to establish criteria for the project’s scope, budget, and timeline. Armed with this information, you can then put together a Scope Statement as a way of finalizing and recording these important details so everyone remains on the same page.Creating a scope statement is simple. In an easy-to-read table format, simply outline the following:

• Stakeholders

• Objectives

• Requirements and deliverables

• Limitations and expectations

2. Project goals

Remember those stakeholder needs we talked about in the previous step? This is now the part where you list these objectives and rank them by urgency or importance. It is a vital step within the project management plan phase, as these goals will impact every decision in the project lifecycle. For example, they indicate to the project team:

• What they should be concentrating on

• What they should dedicate resources to

• How their activities serve the goals of the wider organization

When listing your project objectives, it’s important that they are both measurable and linked to KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that can be used to analyze the project’s overall success. A good tip is to ensure your project’s objectives are SMART:

• Specific

• Measurable

• Attainable

• Relevant

• Time-bound

3. Project deliverables

The deliverables are simply elements of output required within the scope of a project. In other words, the different steps required to meet the project's goals.Start by making a list of these, then you will organize them further into a work breakdown structure (WBS). The WBS takes the larger deliverables and breaks them down into smaller deliverables, listing them in a step-by-step hierarchy.Identify the resources needed for each task, if known, and estimate how long it will take to complete each task. Don’t worry too much about setting concrete deadlines just yet, as this will be done in the next step.

4. Project milestones

With your list of deliverables that have been broken down into smaller, bite-sized tasks, you can now determine the all-important project schedule. This schedule should define which tasks are dependent on other tasks and develop a critical path that must be followed through to the project’s close.Think of it as a timetable that outlines the start and end dates of each task, evenly distributes the work among team members, and helps everyone stay accountable for their responsibilities and deadlines. It’s an extremely vital part of any project and will be referred to often throughout the project’s entirety.

5. Risk management plan

Risks are any unforeseen incidents that can affect your project — for better or for worse. Some examples of common risks include busy seasons, public holidays, project team members being on sick leave, or technology malfunctions.It’s important to note that all projects come with risks, but once you’ve identified what these risks are, it makes it a lot easier to mitigate them by developing the appropriate strategies. Ask yourself:

• What might happen to disturb your project?

• When is it likely to happen?

• What’s the likelihood of it happening?

• What’s the expected impact?

• What events might forewarn or cause the risk event?

The next step is to create a risk management strategy, which involves the following:

• Determine your "risk tolerance": How much risk can the project endure before stakeholders will require it to be abandoned? Do you have the authority to deal with risks accordingly, or must certain stakeholders be consulted first?

• Decide which risks to manage: Some potential risks will be an inefficient use of your time and budget, so determine which ones will require action, and which others may simply be allowed to fly under the radar.

• Identify project risk triggers: Look back to the list of potential risks you brainstormed, then determine how they will be monitored among you and your project team. Include what steps should be taken if a trigger occurs.

• Create an action plan: How can you and your team reduce the odds of a risk happening or reduce its negative impact on the project? Who will be responsible for what? Ensure you and your team are all on-board with the action plan.

6. Stakeholders and human resources plan

While your project management plan kicked-off with a meeting with the project’s stakeholders, it should end with one too. This is because you’ll need to explain how your project plan addresses the stakeholder’s requirements and present your solutions to any potential risks or conflicts which may arise.You’ll also need to use this meeting to ascertain roles among the stakeholders. What reports do they want to see, who will approve certain decisions, how would they like you to communicate with them, and how frequently? You might want to consider using a collaboration tool, which everyone can access to view the status of the project.Another important role this final step in your project management plan plays is that it acts as an open discussion with those with a vested interest in the project, allowing you to tweak your plan should it require it, before the project officially kicks off.

Conclusion

Project management isn’t something that comes naturally to all of us, but it’s certainly a vital life skill to have under your belt no matter what industry you work in. From an organization’s point of view, project managers serve a crucial role within their company and are responsible for overseeing exciting projects that are necessary for their success. Large companies often have dedicated project managers, however, smaller businesses can meet project management needs with an experienced independent contractor.