What is Project management? Definitions & terms: Explored by Digimagg

What is project management?

According to PMI, project management encompasses applying particular expertise, abilities, tools, and methodologies to provide value to individuals. In basic terms, project management involves guiding a team to achieve objectives or fulfill requirements within a specified period. It entails tasks such as documenting projects, planning, monitoring progress, and facilitating communication—all aimed at accomplishing work successfully within time, scope, and budget constraints.

What constitutes a project? Illustrative instances of project management

To delve deeper into the concept of project management, consider the various projects encountered daily, spanning both professional and personal spheres.In the workplace, tasks might involve contributing to or overseeing the creation of deliverables such as reports, websites, tools, products, or even constructions.

At home, activities could range from preparing a meal to planning a vacation or undertaking home improvements. Each of these represents a genuine project, characterized by a defined commencement and conclusion, along with clear objectives, scope, and resource requirements—all necessitating some form of management.In the business context, our focus in this discussion, a project typically denotes a distinct endeavor undertaken to achieve specific objectives. Examples of such projects may encompass:

• Creation of software aimed at enhancing employee efficiency
• Erection of a structure to accommodate community gatherings
• Creation of a website with the aim of reducing business call volume

Each of these endeavors necessitates a team comprising individuals accountable for various facets of the project's execution. For instance, a website design project would likely involve a designer, developer, and copywriter. Often, a project manager is assigned to these initiatives to guarantee timely and cost-effective delivery, while achieving essential goals.

Definition of a project manager: What are the responsibilities of a project manager?

Project managers operate at the forefront of projects, shielding their teams, clients, and projects from potential pitfalls such as miscommunication, missed deadlines, and scope creep. They are ubiquitous across various industries, spanning construction, agencies, marketing, manufacturing, HR teams, software development, engineering, and event planning.

Regardless of their industry or project type, project managers prioritize the well-being of project participants and facilitate strategic decisions aligned with project goals. This multifaceted role entails skillfully managing both administrative project details and interpersonal dynamics.While project managers may often work discreetly, their active involvement in broader strategic project discussions is essential for optimal effectiveness. They are not merely present to take notes or monitor timekeeping; their role is integral for several reasons.

Let's delve deeper into the tasks and responsibilities that define a project manager's role.

Duties and obligations of project managers

As previously noted, the role and even the title of a project manager may vary slightly depending on the context, but the core responsibilities remain fairly consistent across different settings (though some may be less formal than others).

Key duties and responsibilities of a project manager include:

-Applying project management methodologies
- Defining project scope and planning accordingly
- Establishing and managing expectations
- Developing and refining processes
- Creating comprehensive project plans
- Overseeing task management
- Allocating and planning resources effectively
- Estimating time and costs associated with the project
- Identifying and managing risks and issues
- Monitoring and reporting on project progress
- Providing leadership to the project team
- Contributing to strategic decision-making
- Facilitating communication and collaboration among team members
- Planning and facilitating meetings as needed.

It's a demanding role to encompass all these responsibilities without direct operational or managerial control over the project team. 

Project managers frequently find themselves in a challenging position, striving to drive progress without the authority to enforce decisions. Achieving effectiveness in this role requires earning the trust and respect of team members and securing endorsement from senior management.

Project management process

There isn't a universal method for managing all projects. Numerous organizations invest significant effort in trial and error, refining their approach to achieve optimal results, only to realize the need for further adjustments later on.

Factors such as evolving business needs and objectives, changes in personnel or expertise, and advancements in technology contribute to the necessity for process adaptation. Consequently, establishing a fundamental framework for project operations within your organization or team becomes crucial.

During your exploration of project management, you'll notice that most models categorize activities into three core phases (albeit with differing terminology, tasks, and outcomes):

1.Executing

Once the planning phase is completed, the execution phase commences. Project execution can unfold in various manners, depending on whether your team adopts Waterfall project management, Agile methodology, or a combination of both.

Primarily, this phase entails opportunities for collaboration, development, evaluation, and refinement. Teams collaborate with stakeholder groups to showcase progress, gather feedback, and finalize agreed-upon deliverables, culminating in the ultimate project outcome.

This stage is often marked by changes, delays, and occasional disagreements. Consequently, it's also when the project manager is most actively engaged.

2.Testing, measuring, and iterating

Once a project has been initiated, the next step is to ensure that it remains aligned with its objectives.

In Agile projects, this involves launching a minimum viable product (MVP) to gather early feedback for iteration. Meanwhile, in Waterfall projects, the feature-complete product is launched and rigorously tested. Regardless of the approach, test results shed light on what is—and isn't—working for users and stakeholders.

Teams then leverage these test results to refine or expand upon the product, moving it closer to the predefined goals. While this iterative process is inherent to Agile projects, it may require a new project or a "Phase 2" in Waterfall projects.

There is no universally correct method for implementing a process; it must align with the organization's values and capabilities. If a process is ill-suited for a team, issues will surface, and individuals will express dissatisfaction.

The optimal approach is to convene with the team to determine the most suitable course of action and rationale behind it. Documenting decisions, implementing the chosen process, and remaining receptive to discussions and adjustments are crucial.

While keeping the three aforementioned phases in mind provides an overarching framework, ultimately, the project and team dynamics should guide decision-making.

3.Research, discovery, and planning

Usually, organizations engage in preliminary research to assess the viability of a project. This research may encompass activities such as market analysis, user studies, competitive evaluations, or similar endeavors.

These pivotal steps in the project lifecycle aid in establishing objectives and specifications for the intended design or construction. Additionally, during this phase, project teams assemble to delineate their collaborative approach and formulate an execution strategy, factoring in external influences.

What advantages does project management offer?

Project managers undertake numerous intangible responsibilities, often leading to a lack of recognition for their true value. How can you showcase the advantages of project management?

Firstly, it begins with personal proficiency. Every project manager should possess a deep understanding of their role, demonstrating their worth by effectively guiding their team through projects.

Secondly, organizational recognition is crucial. Without an appreciation for the role of project management and its contributions to the business, project managers struggle to thrive. It's imperative for organizations to comprehend the benefits of project management for their success.

Lastly, the true impact of a project manager is evident through the team's acknowledgment and support. Without buy-in from the team, it becomes challenging to fulfill the role effectively.

While a dedicated project manager may not always be necessary, someone proficient in project management tasks is essential. Even within smaller teams, assigning responsibilities such as logistics and communication management to individuals like producers, account managers, designers, or developers can suffice.

Efficient task and communication management create space for enhanced collaboration and productivity among team members. If this alone doesn't emphasize the value of project management, consider the additional benefits it offers.

More efficient teams

Having a project manager within your team guarantees you have a dedicated individual overseeing timely and appropriate task completion. This individual also ensures the team's operational procedures run efficiently, allowing team members to concentrate on diligent work and the successful delivery of products.

Happier teams and clients

Everyone leaves projects completed within schedule and budget with satisfaction. Additionally, effective communication brings happiness. Can you guess who plays a pivotal role in making all of this possible?

Better organization

Teams with project managers reap the advantages of having someone focused on the how, when, and why of task execution. Exceptional project managers utilize tools such as project plans and RACI charts to delve into specifics and enhance communication efficiency.

Team growth and development

Balancing task execution alongside various responsibilities can be challenging, leaving little time to concentrate on refining work quality or developing improved methodologies. 

With the involvement of a project manager, this burden is alleviated, enabling the team to collaborate and innovate by exploring new approaches to deliverables. Entrusting experts, including project managers, to focus solely on their respective expertise proves beneficial.

More flexibility

Exceptional project managers understand that projects are subject to change, and they remain vigilant for such occurrences. When change becomes a significant factor, they promptly seek ways to adjust the project's trajectory. The presence of a project manager within your team ensures that you are informed in advance about any potential risks, issues, or changes, allowing for proactive planning.

Better quality

When your team is dedicated to their expertise, the standard of work improves as they are afforded ample time (within reasonable limits) to complete their tasks. Additionally, an effective project manager consistently prioritizes work quality while facilitating project delivery to stakeholders. It's typical for project managers to participate in internal evaluations, review content, and ensure work is impeccable prior to its dissemination.

Higher output

This is crucial for business owners. By transferring the responsibility of project management from your team to one individual, you enable your team to allocate their time to additional projects and increase productivity. It appears to be a mutually beneficial arrangement.

More transparency and accountability

Organizations also gain from the concrete information and specifics obtained through standard project management reporting. Regular reports enhance transparency regarding budget and timeline, fostering improved task ownership. 

The cumulative benefits of project management extend beyond financial outcomes, influencing both individuals and processes within the organization.

Definitions and terminology of project management

Project management terminology may seem complex, but ultimately, it revolves around the elements that ensure projects stay on course. Here's a compilation of essential definitions every project manager should be familiar with:

Assumption

When you or your team formulate assumptions, it's imperative to communicate them because project assumptions can impact scope, objectives, deliverables, and results. In reality, assumptions can shape the framework for defining and executing a project.

Project managers frequently address assumptions, incorporating them into broader discussions, scope considerations, milestones, deliverables, and other aspects to ensure the team operates based on solid information.

Agile

Agile methodologies are based on the mindset that self-organizing software development teams can deliver value through iteration and collaboration. The Manifesto for Agile Software Development was formally developed in 2001 by 17 practitioners and is based on a core set of values of delivering value and collaborating with customers. These principles include:

1. Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
2. Working software over comprehensive documentation
3. Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
4. Responding to change over following a plan

Client/customers

This can imply a few scenarios. Project managers in consulting firms, such as advertising agencies or construction companies, collaborate with clients to develop or deliver a product. They must consider these clients when designing processes, presenting work, and obtaining approvals.

Simultaneously, these clients may have their own customers or clients to satisfy during production. Frequently, in the digital realm, these individuals are referred to as "users," and extensive efforts are made to ensure that a product is tailored to meet their needs.

Change management

Projects frequently undergo changes, and it falls on the project manager to ensure that everyone involved—clients, team members, and other relevant parties—is informed about the change and its ramifications.

When the project's scope or business requirements shift, it often renders the initial estimates of effort, costs, and deadlines obsolete. In such instances, the project manager will prepare a change order or change request document to formalize the alteration and its corresponding impacts.

Constraints

Constraints refer to restrictions beyond the influence of the project team that require management. These constraints, such as scope, budget, or timeline, define the limits within which the project must operate. Project managers are acutely conscious of these constraints as their responsibility lies in delivering projects within the specified time and budget.

Critical path

The critical path represents the series of steps that establish the shortest duration required for an operation, particularly when examined using computer analysis for large-scale organizations. It serves as a structured project management method for process planning, distinguishing between critical and non-critical tasks. The objective is to mitigate scheduling issues, timeline constraints, and process bottlenecks.

Dependency

In project management, a dependency denotes a task that relies on its predecessor being finished before it can begin. This is a crucial aspect for project managers to take into account during project planning. Planning software such as TeamGantt simplifies the identification and monitoring of dependencies.

Deliverable

A deliverable refers to any concrete result generated by the project, whether it's created incrementally to secure agreement or presented at the project's conclusion as the ultimate outcome. Examples of deliverables encompass visual designs, documents, plans, code, prototypes, blueprints, proofs, buildings, applications, websites, products, and more.

Gantt chart

A Gantt chart is a graphical representation consisting of horizontal lines depicting the progress of tasks completed within specific timeframes in comparison to the scheduled duration for those periods. TeamGantt creates visually appealing Gantt charts to assist in monitoring project tasks, dependencies, resources, and communication. Explore further about Gantt charts!

Goal/objective

A project goal or objective is a formalized statement outlining the purpose and anticipated result of the project. Goals serve as guiding principles for making decisions when the project encounters dilemmas, uncertainties, or scope changes, as they ultimately define the success of the project.

Issues

Project managers consistently search for project issues to address them before they escalate into significant problems. Issues usually hinder the project's advancement and may sometimes necessitate external consultation as they cannot always be resolved solely by the project manager or team.

In marketing project management, a prevalent issue occurs when content is either missing or delayed. This situation obstructs progress and frequently leads to the need to adjust deadlines.

Methodology

Numerous project management approaches exist, with methodologies like Waterfall and Agile being formalized and taught for many years.

Understanding the origins of these methods and determining how they can be tailored to your current work is beneficial. If you're seeking to gain knowledge, explore our chapter on project management methodologies, which encompasses the following categories:

-Traditional methodologies
- Agile methodologies
- Change management methodologies
- Process-based methodologies.

Milestone

A milestone signifies a crucial change or phase in the production or development of a project.

Defined in project management terms, a milestone has no duration or effort attributed to it since it doesn't involve any specific work. It represents a key point in the project plan indicating the completion of significant tasks and the transition to a new project phase.

Program

Managing multiple projects that are interconnected in various aspects such as goals, products, or clients is commonly termed as a program. Unlike a project, a program doesn't involve specific deliverables. Instead, it offers comprehensive oversight to ensure a centralized communication hub for consistency and alignment across all interrelated projects. This facilitates proper timing, pacing, and approval processes within the interconnected projects.

Program manager

Program managers often oversee not just individual projects, but also broader strategic endeavors and occasionally teams of project managers. In the realm of programs, which entail interconnected sets of projects, they play a crucial role in defining the goals and objectives of these projects and understanding how their results will affect the overall business. This understanding enables them to concentrate on the strategic execution of each project and determine the most effective means of achieving them with the right resources and team members.

Project

As highlighted earlier in this chapter, projects are distinctive endeavors undertaken to achieve particular objectives. Examples of projects could include creating software to enhance employee efficiency, erecting a building for community events, or designing a website to reduce call volume for a business.

Project manager

As noted previously in this chapter, project managers are the individuals operating at the forefront of projects, safeguarding their teams, clients, and projects against issues such as miscommunication, missed deadlines, scope expansion, and other setbacks. They advocate for the welfare of everyone engaged in their projects and facilitate strategic choices that align with the projects' objectives.

Project phase

Project managers often divide a series of tasks or deliverables into phases to maintain organization throughout the project. For instance, in a website redesign project, typical phases could include definition, design, development, and deployment.

Project plan/timeline/schedule

Project managers create project plans to outline the trajectory of a project's completion. Effective project plans delineate the overall process in phases, delineate deliverables and tasks, and include pertinent details such as responsible parties, start and end dates for work, and any relevant notes for each task.

The project plan serves as a means of communication and arguably stands as one of the most crucial deliverables in a project, offering comprehensive guidance on activities at any given point during its duration. Numerous sample plans and templates are available on the TeamGantt website.

Project team

The project team comprises individuals tasked with executing specific tasks and achieving deliverables within a project. Composition of project teams varies depending on the industry and project type, with companies selecting team members possessing the necessary expertise to carry out the work.

Requirements

Requirements play a crucial role in ensuring the successful completion of a project. Typically outlined in a comprehensive scope of work, project requirements specify the expected behavior, appearance, and functionality of the product in alignment with the project's objectives.

Resources

Among project management terms, "resources" is perhaps the most impersonal. It refers to the individuals who carry out tasks within projects. A more human-centric term such as "staff" or "team" would be more appropriate, yet "resources" persists for some reason.

Resourcing plan

Resourcing plans are devised to guarantee that staff members are appropriately allocated to projects, avoiding both over- and underutilization. A straightforward approach to managing this is by utilizing the resource management capabilities offered by TeamGantt. This tool enables you to assign individuals to tasks and estimate the required time for their completion.

Risk

Issues pose risks! When project managers discuss risk, they consider potential issues or occurrences that could lead to complications, along with the likelihood of these events happening and their potential impact on the project.

To keep the team aware of potential risks, it's beneficial to include a risk register (or a list of risks, issues, and a mitigation plan) in regular status reports.

Scope

A scope outlines precisely what the project will encompass and what it will not include. In consulting agencies, this is typically documented in a formal project scope document. Within internal teams, it might be presented as a project brief or in a less formal manner, such as an email.

Sponsor (executive sponsor and project sponsor)

In the context of sizable projects, you may encounter the term "project sponsor" referring to the individual with the highest decision-making authority or the primary funding source. This individual holds ultimate control over the project and plays a pivotal role in making funding decisions, addressing issues and scope alterations, endorsing deliverables, and offering strategic guidance.

Additionally, the sponsor is typically tasked with advocating for the project within the organization, ensuring widespread support for the initiative among all stakeholders.

Stakeholder

Stakeholders are individuals or groups with a vested interest in the project's outcome. They can include both internal parties such as marketing and IT departments, as well as external entities like suppliers, investors, and partners.

Project managers collaborate with stakeholder groups to ensure they are informed about project progress and involved in decision-making processes as required.

Waterfall

The Waterfall model stands as one of the most recognized and utilized project management methodologies. Its core principle involves completing a task and then passing it on to be utilized or built upon in subsequent tasks or phases.

Executing a Waterfall project necessitates thorough planning and gathering of requirements prior to commencing work. Without this initial planning phase, there's a risk of skipping steps, leaving tasks incomplete, or deviating from the intended sequence. Additionally, any modifications to project requirements can lead to changes in scope.