Project Management: A Work of Art and Science Making Things Possible

Project management is the process of team leading with the motive to achieve project goals collectively. Through this process, the entire team works in sync to cater to the client’s requirements in a project. Actionable items might vary according to the industry, project size, nature of the project and its requisites. 

Every project has three common goals including time, quality and budget. These are together known as the triple constraint or iron triangle. Overall, a project is considered to be successful if it meets the triple constraint. The end goal is always the same for every project; to deliver what the client requires. Project management is the responsibility of the project manager. 

Role Of A Project Manager 

Project managers are in charge of a project. They manage the team, designate team members with their responsibilities, coordinate with the client and ensure required output. They are also responsible for the planning, execution, controlling and completion of the project. Project managers must be deeply involved in each activity of the process since they are responsible for the successful completion of the project. They should also be well aware of the requirements and unexpected changes during the project.

SUCCESS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

The definition of success for a project and its management is different. Project management should be smooth to ensure the success of any project. It is considered to be successful only if it meets the triple constraint.

TRIPLE CONSTRAINTS

• A project is completed within the agreed-upon timeframe.
• The project has met the pre-agreed scope. Scope includes defined features and functions of the product. 
• The cost of the entire project has been maintained within the budget.

4 P’s OF SUCCESS

For measuring the success of any project, it is important to measure the success of the following. 

People: From managers to team members to clients, people are the most important asset for any company. It is important to designate people with their responsibilities in a project. Delegation of responsibility will ensure that for each task, we have an accountable team member. This reduces the chances of loopholes and lags. These roles may include project team members, stakeholders, business analysts, project managers and information technology developers. 

Product: Product is the final output of a project. The project manager needs to define product scope and control ‘scope creep’ for the project’s successful outcome. He is also responsible for dealing with technical and management constraints during product development.  

Process: Team members and the project manager should together outline their approach towards handling the project. Phased, lean, iterative and incremental are some of the approaches that are adopted for completing tasks. There are many processes such as waterfall model, iterative waterfall model, prototyping model, evolutionary model, Rapid Application Development model, and spiral model are some of the process models.

Project: The project manager should guide and motivate team members to achieve the project’s goals and objectives. His responsibilities include delegating tasks and helping team members when needed. 

Improvement Techniques

Broadly, there are six ways to enhance project management techniques. These include:

• Phased approach

The phased approach allows you to disintegrate work into five steps: initiation, planning and design, construction, monitoring and completion. It is an approach that is functional with small and well-defined projects. A phased approach is not practically applicable in large scale projects due to undefined and fluctuating requirements.

• Benefits realization management

In this approach, the focus is on the outcome (in terms of benefit) of the project instead of products. This practice ensures a strategic alignment between business strategies and project outcomes.

• Critical chain project management

This is an application of the Theory of Constraints which is incorporated for planning and managing projects. It deals with uncertainties in managing projects while considering limitations on the availability of resources. 

• Earned value management

Earned value management helps in improving monitoring capabilities. It also reflects the progress in terms of work completed and its value.

• Iterative and incremental project management

The iterative and incremental approach helps in efficiently handling the complexities in large scale projects such as high degree of risk, fast-changing technology and dependency. Agile, extreme project management, innovation engineering are some models based on this approach. 

• Lean project management

This approach is based on the principle of lean manufacturing that focuses on reducing production time and less response time. This approach focuses on increasing output value in less time.

Check out Lean Manufacturing Courses

A team can work together to deliver results but a system is crucial for the desired outcome. Without a proper system and accountable head, there can be miscommunication between team and client, disruption in the workflow and a direct impact on the business. This brings in the concept of project management without which businesses can become dysfunctional.

FAQs

Q1. How do you become a project manager?

Ans. There is no specific degree required for becoming a project manager. There are several project management courses that you can pursue to upgrade your skills.

Q2. Name some free project management tools.

Ans. Asana, Kissflow Project, Zoho Projects, Trello, Wrike, Proofhub, Monday.com and Clarizen are some free tools available in the market.

Q3. What are some good books on project management?

Ans. You can refer to ‘Project Management: Absolute Beginner’s Guide’, ‘Project Management Institution’ and ‘Project Management Body of Knowledge’ for upgrading your knowledge.

Q4. What are the core components of Project management?

• SCOPE-process requirements, size of the project and deliverables
• RESOURCES-equipment and manpower required during the execution of the process
• CAPITAL-budget of the entire process
• TIME-time for the completion of the project

Q5. What do you mean by agile project management?

Ans. It is a way by which you can manage a project. This is done by dividing the project into sprints. Teams can release segments of the project that have been completed. It eliminates the need for having a project manager for exercising central control.

Q6. Why do companies adopt Agile Project Management?

Ans. Agile management allows the production of high-quality products because it ensures that quality testing is performed at each stage. There are regular check ups for upgrading the product quality. With the transparency in the project, clients are aware of its progress and can easily address their concerns. Since the project is split into sprints, the risk in one sprint does not affect other sprints. When it comes to the competitors, agile allows faster release of the project.

Q7. What is the difference between project management life cycle and project management process?

Ans. The project management life cycle defines five major stages of the project. These are initiation, designing, building, testing and implementation. Project management processes are within these major stages such as approvals, quality checks, approval, risks and status checks.

Q8. What are the basic principles of Project management?

Ans. Division of work, authority and responsibility, discipline, unity of command and direction, general interest over personal interest, remuneration, centralization are some of the major principles.