Project Management – Introduction
“A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.”
Project Management Body of Knowledge
Third Edition
Project Management Institute
To many, project management represents their worst nightmare. The mere mention of the term conjures images of bloated bureaucracies, large consultant-laden teams, and endless meetings where decisions are seldom made and status is often reported as being behind. Executed properly, project management can be an effective tool for aligning the organization to the successful implementation of simple and complex initiatives.
An art and a science, project management is most effective when implemented with a rigor correlated to the scope and complexity of the work to be performed. Regardless of intensity, the management of projects consists of five phases:
- Initiate – initial, high-level project definition and authorization
- Plan – project scope refinement and approval; task identification and sequencing; resource to task allocation; schedule development; project cost estimation and budget development; project plan creation and baselining
- Execute – project plan execution
- Evaluate and Control – project plan execution performance monitoring and reporting; project scope and plan change control; project risk management
- Close – final project activity documentation; financial closeout; overall project performance assessment and lessons learned development; product evaluation; project administrative closure
Focus of the Project Management Topic
Articles in this topic area are dedicated to discussing the leading practices of companies effectively managing projects for the efficient achievement of mission goals. Additionally, all project management information presented will be aligned with, compliment, and expound on the project management processes described by the Project Management Institute’s A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge
Articles
- Adaptive Project Framework is not Your Father’s Project Management by Robert Wysocki
- Managing Your Virtual Team by Elmer Thomas
- Best Practice – The Project Management Intensity Continuum by StrategyDriven Contributors
- Best Practice – Define What is Not In Scope by StrategyDriven Contributors
- Best Practice – Line Management Project Ownership by StrategyDriven Contributors
- Best Practice – Team Calendar by StrategyDriven Contributors
- Best Practice – Define Success First by StrategyDriven Contributors
- Warning Flag – Unfunded Activities by StrategyDriven Contributors
- Warning Flag – Breaking-up a Project to Avoid Approval Thresholds by StrategyDriven Contributors
- Warning Flag – Frequent Re-baselining by StrategyDriven Contributors
- Warning Flag – Too Much Time, Too Few People by StrategyDriven Contributors
StrategyDriven Podcasts
StrategyDriven Podcast – Special Edition
- An Interview with Michael Bender, author of A Manager’s Guide to Project Management
- An Interview with Robert Wysocki, author of Adaptive Project Framework
Documents
Whitepapers
Resources
Books
- Project Integration Management
- Project Scope Management
- Project Time Management
- Project Cost Management
- Project Quality Management
- Project Human Resource Management
- Project Communications Management
- Project Risk Management
- Project Procurement management
Sign up for our Email NewsletterProject Management Best Practice 1 – The Project Management Intensity Continuum
Any amount of management represents an overhead expense to the endeavor to which the oversight is applied. Therefore, it is critically important the amount of management applied is limited to that which yields an increased overall product value and not so much that overall value is diminished. This balance between applied management intensity and overall valued added is represented by the Project Management Intensity Continuum.
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Project Management Best Practice 2 – Define What is Not In Scope
All project managers know one of the greatest risks to the on-time, on-budget completion of their project is scope creep; the gradual expansion of functionality, broadening in organizational application, and/or increase in quality requirements often without a commensurate increase in project resources or duration. Subsequently, project managers strive to clearly define their project’s scope in order to defend against scope creep. But when doing so, they often forgo an invaluable tool; defining what is outside their project’s scope.
Project Management Best Practice 3 – Line Management Project Ownership
Whether creating a new product or service or upgrading an internal process or software application, all projects fundamentally represent a change to the way an organization does business. This change is represented by two components, the technical object being added or altered and the emotional acceptance and implementation of the new technical object by the workforce. While each change component is equally important to the project’s success, it is the later that often poses the most risk of failure. To reduce this risk and thereby increase the project’s likelihood of success requires strong line ownership especially on the part of executives and managers.
Project Management Best Practice 4 – Team Calendar
Project complexity seems to increase exponentially with team size. Larger teams require greater division of work and additional managers and supervisors to oversee these disparate efforts. Subsequently, the number of meetings increases to coordinate and align efforts between work groups, communication with stakeholders, and gather requirements and ideas from the organization’s subject matter experts. Absent meeting coordination, team members and line organization sponsors and participants become increasingly double and triple booked; causing individual frustration and diminishing the team’s effectiveness credibility.
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