What Is Project Management? Definition and Importance

What Is Project Management? Definition and Importance

To say ahead in today’s competitive global economy, companies are looking for options to consistently deliver better business results. And one way to achieve that is PROJECT MANAGEMENT.

In this blog, we will discuss the following points;

1. What is Project Management?
2. Principles of Project Management
3. Types of Project Management
4. Project Management System
5. Project Management Software

1. What is Project Management?

   • Project management is defined as the discipline of applying specific processes and principles with the help of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to imitate, plan, execute and manage the way that new initiatives or changes are implemented within an organization. Project management is used across industries and is a crucial part of the success of construction, engineering, and IT companies. Moving further, let’s understand the principle. 

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2. Principles of Project Management

   • The main challenge of Project management is to achieve the project goals and objectives while keeping in mind the pre-defined constraints. The primary constraints are scope, time, quality, and budget. The secondary – and more important- challenge is to optimize the allocation of necessary inputs and integrate them to meet pre-defined objectives.

   • For successful completion of a project, implementation of project management principles is necessary, can be applied to any stage of a project that falls under a different area of responsibility in the overall project organization. 

     1. Project Structure
     2. Definition Phase
     3. Clear Goals
     4. Transparency About Project Status
     5. Risk Recognition
     6. Managing Project Disturbances
     7. Responsibility of the Project Manager
     8. Project Success

   1. PROJECT STRUCTURE

      • Project structure deals with the main outline of the project and can be successfully created by considering three points:

        1. Project Goals 
        2. Project Timeline and Order
        3. Project Milestones

   2. DEFINITION PHASE

      • The definition phase is where many projects go wrong. So, a successful definition must involve the active participation of the entire team at every step to facilitate acceptance and dedication to the project.

   3. CLEAR GOALS

      • The project manager is responsible for the achievement of all goals and objectives. These goals should always be defined using the SMART paradigm (specific, measurable, ambitious, realistic, and time-bound). It is better to define clear goals before the project begins.

   4. TRANSPARENCY ABOUT THE PROJECT STATUS

      • Flowcharts, structure plans, milestone plans are useful tools to keep your project on track. A project manager should be able to present a complete picture of the status of the project to the respective stakeholders at each level of the project. Full transparency about the project status is a must.

   5. RISK RECOGNITION

      • The project manager has to evaluate risks regularly because; every project comes with a variety of common risks. It’s important to understand that, your project is a unique endeavor with strict goals concerning costs, appointments, and performance. The sooner you identify risks, the sooner you can rectify them.

   6. MANAGING PROJECT DISTURBANCES

      • As a project manager, it not important that you can identify every single risk that may occur, hence, it’s better to work to identify the risks and develop specific strategies to avoid them.

   7. RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT

      • Project managers must possess the following attributes
        1. Knowledge of the latest technology about project products
        2. Understanding management concepts
        3. Interpersonal skills
        4. Must be visionary

   8. PROJECT SUCCESS

      • It is a result where signifies the completion of a PROJECT.

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3. Types of Project Management

   • The following project management types are the primary ones that companies used frequently 

     1. WATERFALL PROJECT MANAGEMENT

        • It is one of the oldest methods, but still in demand among many development users. This style involves working in waves, with each step being heavily dependent on the previous one.

     2. AGILE PROJECT MANGEMENT

        • Agile is faster and more versatile and it involves working in smaller chunks, or sprints, that allow projects to pivot when needed.

     3. SCRUM PROJECT MANAGEMENT

        • Scrum is the epitome of agile. It’s fast, small in scope, and able to turn on a dome. It suits small teams, ready to iterate quickly.

     4. KANBAN PROJECT

        • Kanban is another version of agile. Unlike scrum, which focused on time-based pieces, kanban is all about organization.

     5. LEAN PROJECT MANAGEMENT

        • Lean management is similar to kanban in that it’s all about the process, but it has an even higher emphasis on trimming the fat. It focuses on the customer experience.

     6. SIX SIGMA PROJECT MANAGEMENT

        • It focuses on improving the quality of a project’s output while creating a better result for the customer.

     7. PRINCE2 PROJECT MANAGEMENT

        • The PRINCE2 method is quite famous, and there is a high demand for the course. It focuses on efficiency and minimizing risks and errors.

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4. Project Management System

   • A project management system is a tool for managing a project by planning, organizing, and managing its different aspects. Depending on the requirement of the project management system, it can include:
     1. Estimation Activities
     2. Scheduling
     3. Cost Control and Budget Management
     4. Resource Allocation
     5. Quality Management
     6. Risk Management
     7. Quality Control
     8. Decision - Making

   • The project management system broadly falls under two categories: General software applications and project management software applications.

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5. Project Management Software

   • While project management can be time-consuming and inefficient with repeatedly updating spreadsheets, drowning over incomplete goals and objectives, dissatisfaction with end-results, and participation in weekly updates meetings. Well, with the help of the right project management software tools, you can overview your project at a glance and can stay on top of each project. Project management software is software used across various industries for project planning, allocation of resources, and scheduling. It empowers managers with their teams to control their budget, quality management, and documentation process throughout a project.

   • With these points kept in mind, let’s take a look at the top 20 best project management software.

     1. BASECAMP

        • It is one of the popular project management software, offering several different collaboration features like; designation discussion space, a daily update on projects, and users can contribute to discussions via email as well. It also comes with a powerful research tool to locate any files and conversations (In case you lost them).

        • Amount

          1.  Free for teachers and students

          2. $99/month for businesses

     2. TEAMWORK PROJECTS

        • Teamwork is great for the project management power user and includes all the tools you will need to track the development of a project. It’s quite flexible and includes various intuitive features such as Task Management, milestones, file stogie, time tracking tools, and more.
        • Amount
          1. Ranges between $69/month (small office) to $ 269/month (businesses)
          2. They also offer an enterprise package (price available on requests

     3. ​​​​​​​PROOF HUB

        • ​​​​​​​The proof hub is an online management app, which emphasizes simplicity, mainly intended for small and growing businesses.
        • Amount
          1. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Ranges between $45/month to $99/month as per requirement

     4. ZOHO PROJECTS

        • ​​​​​​​Zoho project has a clean and straightforward interface, can be integrated with tools like; Google apps and DropBox
        • Amount
          1. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​The free plan includes one project and 10 MB of storage

          2. Express plan-25$/month

          3. Premium plan-$50/month

          4. Enterprise plan- $80/month

     5. NIFTY

        • ​​​​​​​Nifty is a new-wave project management tool that reduces project development cycles and improves team productivity by combining all essential features of project management in a single software.
        • Amount
          1. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​$39 for ten team members
          2. $79/month for 25 team members
          3. $124/month for 50 team members

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The list does not end here, in fact, there are plenty of options out there to choose from, but always keep in mind to pick the right project management software. It is crucial to consider crucial factors on which your project needs and requirements.

This brings us to the end of this blog, “what is project management?” I hope the points mentioned have made your understanding concise and clear about the term project management and various other aspects of it.