Project management

Project management is the practice of initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing the work of a team to achieve specific goals and meet specific success criteria at the specified time. The primary challenge of project management is to achieve all of the project goals within the given constraints.

Overview

Project management is a critical practice that applies knowledge of process, skills, tools, deliverables, and techniques to project activities to ensure a solid path to project success by meeting goals and requirements, regardless of the project's nature, type, or industry.

History

The discipline of project management developed from several fields of application including civil construction, engineering, and heavy defense. The United States Department of Defense and NASA were early adopters and today it is an important part of their business strategies.

Approaches

There are a number of approaches to organizing and completing project activities, including: phased, lean, iterative, and incremental. There are also several extensions to project planning, for example based on outcomes (product-based) or activities (process-based).

Process

A traditional phased approach identifies a sequence of steps to be completed. In the initiation phase, the project scope is defined and the business case is prepared. In the planning phase, detailed planning is essential for the successful execution of the project. The execution phase involves the processes used to complete the work defined in the project plan. The closing phase involves formal acceptance of the project and the ending thereof.

Project control

Project control is that element of a project that keeps it on track, on-time, and within budget. Project control begins early in the project with planning and ends late in the project with post-implementation review.

See also

• Program management
• Project portfolio management
• Risk management
• Project management triangle
• Work breakdown structure
• Critical path method
• Project management software