As its name depicts, Project Management refers to the activities performed during the development of a project. It is needed for every project because it defines the track to be followed during the project. It is done from the beginning to the completion of the project. It includes applying the processes, methods, skills, and experiences to complete a project on agreed-upon terms.
Project Management is the project manager’s responsibility. A project manager manages all the teams and activities during different phases of a project’s life cycle.
Project management is organizing and executing the company’s resources to complete a particular task or project. It is crucial to keep the project on track and ensure that it is moving towards its completion. The person responsible for project management is called the project manager. This role is the one who controls overall activities, starting from introducing the project to different stakeholders to delivering the project to the clients.
There are different phases, such as planning, initiation, execution, monitoring, etc. Similarly, some methodologies could be used for project management, such as waterfall, incremental, V-model, Agile, etc.
Project Management Types
Although there are many types of project management, the most common ones include:
- Agile
- Waterfall
- Lean
Agile
Agile Project Management is an iterative process of continuously monitoring and improving a project’s deliverables. It does not follow a phase-by-phase approach, and different teams complete different phases simultaneously within an organization. Any errors could be resolved using this approach without repeating the entire procedure.
Waterfall
Waterfall project management follows a step-by-step approach, as it requires one step to be completed before moving to the next step. The progress in this approach flows in one direction, just like a waterfall. If any mistake is made during any phase, the entire procedure will have to be restarted, and each step will be repeated. This approach makes project management difficult and slows down the development process.
Lean Project Management
This methodology implies that more value should be provided to the customer with fewer resources. It is derived from Japanese manufacturing practices. It is all about avoiding the waste of time and resources.
Areas That Come Under Project Management
These are the areas that come under the umbrella of project management:
- Time, scope, and cost management
- Risk management
- Integration management
- Quality management
- HR management
- Communication management
- Procurement management
Project Management Triangle
The project management triangle refers to the factors that set a project’s boundaries. This triangle includes the scope, time, and costs. These factors are also known as The Tripple Constraints. There is a trade-off between these three factors, which means that an increment or decrement in one of these factors will ultimately affect the other two. The project managers have to pay special attention to the budget, schedule, and WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) during the project’s planning phase to make sure that a project is completed within the given budget and time.
To understand this better, let’s discuss each factor in some detail:
Scope
The term scope refers to all the activities that must be done to complete a project. This constraint is crucial to define in the early stages of a project’s life cycle, i.e., the planning phase. If the project manager does not work on it earlier and does not prepare a Work Breakdown Structure, the scope expands later. This causes scope creep, and the project team fails to deliver the project within the given time and budget.
Time
This constraint determines the time given to a project team for the completion of the project. The project manager must estimate the time constraint accurately at the beginning of the project to work on the project more comfortably without being worried about delays.
Cost
The cost refers to the budget of the project. The project manager should calculate the cost while considering all the factors that affect this constraint. It is essential to be determined earlier to ensure that the project can be done in the given time.