Unit-1

Definition and Characteristics of Project

Project is a great opportunity for organizations and individuals to achieve their
business and non-business objectives more efficiently through implementing change.
Projects help us make desired changes in an organized manner and with reduced
probability of failure.

A Project is a temporary, unique and progressive attempt or endeavor made to

produce some kind of a tangible or intangible result (a unique product, service,
benefit, competitive advantage, etc.). It usually includes a series of interrelated tasks
that are planned for execution over a fixed period of time and within certain
requirements and limitations such as cost, quality, performance, others.

Projects differ from other types of work (e.g. process, task, procedure). Meanwhile,
in the broadest sense a project is defined as a specific, finite activity that produces
an observable and measurable result under certain preset requirements.

Projects differ from other types of work (e.g. process, task, procedure). Meanwhile,
in the broadest sense a project is defined as a specific, finite activity that produces
an observable and measurable result under certain preset requirements.

Characteristics of a Project

(a) Project has a owner, who, in the private sector, can be an individual or a
company etc., in the public sector, a government undertaking or a joint sector
organization, representing a partnership between public and private sector.

(b) Project has a set objective to achieve within a distinct time, cost and technical
performance.

(c) Project is planned, managed and controlled by an assigned team the project
team planted within the owner’s organization to achieve the objectives as per
specifications.

(d) Project, in general, is an outcome in response to environments economies and

opportunities. As an example, we find that considering the changing pattern of
modern living the domestic appliances small e.g. grinders, mixers etc., and large,
e.g. refrigerators, washing machines etc. are on ever-increasing demand. This
generates responses to avail opportunity to produce such appliances.

(e) Project is an undertaking involving future activities for completion of the project
within estimates and involves complex budgeting procedure with a mission.

(f) Implementation of the project involves a co-ordination of works/supervisions by

project team/manager.
 (g) Project involves activities to be carried out in future. As such, it has some
inherent risk and, in reality, the process of implementation may necessitate certain
changes in the plan subject to limitations and concurrence of the project owner.

(h) Project involves high-skilled forecasting with sound basis for such forecasting.

(i) Projects have a start and an end a characteristic of a life cycle. The organization
of project changes as it passes through this cycle the activities starting from—
conception stage, mounting up to the peak during implementation and, then, back to
zero level on completion and delivery of the project.

Types of Project
1. Construction Projects

The project produces an artifact. The value generated by the project is embedded in
the artifact. The artifacts may be a complex system with human and mechanical
components.

Examples:

 Warship
 Jubilee line extension
 Millennium dome
 Customer call centre
 Method guidebook
 IT system

2. Research Projects

The project produces knowledge. The knowledge may be formally represented as

models, patterns or patents. Or the knowledge may be embedded in a working
process or artifact.

Examples:

 Business modelling
 Developing a model of the UK economy
 Developing a new species of wheat
 Developing novel approaches to project management.
 Military intelligence/ codebreaking.
 The analysis, testing, QA or evaluation portions of a larger project.

3. Reengineering Projects

The project produces a desired change in some system or process.

 Examples:

 Taking sterling into the Euro

 Renumbering the UK telephone system
 Implementing PRINCE project management practices into a large
organization.
 Designing and installing an Intranet.

4. Procurement Projects

The project produces a business relationship contractually based with a selected

supplier for a defined product or service based on a fixed specification and/or a
defined specification process

Examples:

 Outsourcing a specific construction or research project

 Outsourcing a complete business function (such as IT).
 Imposing new rules and measures on a regulated industry.

5. Business Implementation Projects

The project produces an operationally effective process. The value generated by the
project is embedded in the process.

 Developing a new business process to repackage and exploit existing assets.

 Installing e-commerce

Some projects are difficult to classify under this scheme.

(i) National symbolic programmes

 Putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade

 Mitterand’s Grandes Projects
 New Labour

(ii) Large medical programmes

 Creating an artificial heart

 Mass inoculation programmes

(iii) Other hybrid or interdisciplinary projects

 Pilot projects
 Moving offices
Project Life Cycle
The project life cycle describes the stages a project goes through as it progresses
from start to finish. A well-defined life cycle brings order and structure to the project.

The Project Life Cycle refers to the four-step process that is followed by nearly all
project managers when moving through stages of project completion. This is the
standard project life cycle most people are familiar with. The Project Life Cycle
provides a framework for managing any type of project within a business. Leaders in
project management have conducted research to determine the best process by
which to run projects. It has been found that following a project life cycle is critical for
any services organization.

The Project Life Cycle (Phases)

The project manager and project team have one shared goal: to carry out the work of
the project for the purpose of meeting the project’s objectives. Every project has a
beginning, a middle period during which activities move the project toward
completion, and an ending (either successful or unsuccessful). A standard project
typically has the following four major phases (each with its own agenda of tasks and
issues): initiation, planning, implementation, and closure. Taken together, these
phases represent the path a project takes from the beginning to its end and are
generally referred to as the project “life cycle.”
 1.Initiation Phase

During the first of these phases, the initiation phase, the project objective or need is
identified; this can be a business problem or opportunity. An appropriate response to
the need is documented in a business case with recommended solution options. A
feasibility study is conducted to investigate whether each option addresses the
project objective and a final recommended solution is determined. Issues of
feasibility (“can we do the project?”) and justification (“should we do the project?”)
are addressed.

Once the recommended solution is approved, a project is initiated to deliver the

approved solution and a project manager is appointed. The major deliverables and
the participating work groups are identified, and the project team begins to take
shape. Approval is then sought by the project manager to move onto the detailed
planning phase.

2. Planning Phase

The next phase, the planning phase, is where the project solution is further
developed in as much detail as possible and the steps necessary to meet the
project’s objective are planned. In this step, the team identifies all of the work to be
done. The project’s tasks and resource requirements are identified, along with the
strategy for producing them. This is also referred to as “scope management.” A
project plan is created outlining the activities, tasks, dependencies, and timeframes.
The project manager coordinates the preparation of a project budget by providing
cost estimates for the labor, equipment, and materials costs. The budget is used to
monitor and control cost expenditures during project implementation.

Once the project team has identified the work, prepared the schedule, and estimated
the costs, the three fundamental components of the planning process are complete.
This is an excellent time to identify and try to deal with anything that might pose a
threat to the successful completion of the project. This is called risk management. In
risk management, “high-threat” potential problems are identified along with the action
that is to be taken on each high-threat potential problem, either to reduce the
probability that the problem will occur or to reduce the impact on the project if it does
occur. This is also a good time to identify all project stakeholders and establish a
communication plan describing the information needed and the delivery method to
be used to keep the stakeholders informed.

Finally, we will want to document a quality plan, providing quality targets, assurance,
and control measures, along with an acceptance plan, listing the criteria to be met to
gain customer acceptance. At this point, the project would have been planned in
detail and is ready to be executed.

3.Implementation (Execution) Phase

During the third phase, the implementation phase, the project plan is put into motion
and the work of the project is performed. It is important to maintain control and
communicate as needed during implementation. Progress is continuously monitored
and appropriate adjustments are made and recorded as variances from the original
plan. In any project, a project manager spends most of the time in this step. During
project implementation, people are carrying out the tasks, and progress information
is being reported through regular team meetings. The project manager uses this
information to maintain control over the direction of the project by comparing the
progress reports with the project plan to measure the performance of the project
activities and take corrective action as needed. The first course of action should
always be to bring the project back on course (i.e., to return it to the original plan). If
that cannot happen, the team should record variations from the original plan and
record and publish modifications to the plan. Throughout this step, project sponsors
and other key stakeholders should be kept informed of the project’s status according
to the agreed-on frequency and format of communication. The plan should be
updated and published on a regular basis.

Status reports should always emphasize the anticipated end point in terms of cost,
schedule, and quality of deliverables. Each project deliverable produced should be
reviewed for quality and measured against the acceptance criteria. Once all of the
deliverables have been produced and the customer has accepted the final solution,
the project is ready for closure.

4.Closing Phase

During the final closure, or completion phase, the emphasis is on releasing the final
deliverables to the customer, handing over project documentation to the business,
terminating supplier contracts, releasing project resources, and communicating the
closure of the project to all stakeholders. The last remaining step is to conduct
lessons-learned studies to examine what went well and what didn’t. Through this
type of analysis, the wisdom of experience is transferred back to the project
organization, which will help future project teams.

Example: Project Phases on a Large Multinational Project

A U.S. construction company won a contract to design and build the first copper
mine in northern Argentina. There was no existing infrastructure for either the mining
industry or large construction projects in this part of South America.

During the initiation phase of the project, the project manager focused on defining and
finding a project leadership team with the knowledge, skills, and experience to
manage a large complex project in a remote area of the globe. The project team set
up three offices. One was in Chile, where large mining construction project
infrastructure existed. The other two were in Argentina. One was in Buenos Aries to
establish relationships and Argentinian expertise, and the second was in Catamarca
—the largest town close to the mine site. With offices in place, the project start-up
team began developing procedures for getting work done, acquiring the appropriate
permits, and developing relationships with Chilean and Argentine partners.
During the planning phase, the project team developed an integrated project
schedule that coordinated the activities of the design, procurement, and construction
teams. The project controls team also developed a detailed budget that enabled the
project team to track project expenditures against the expected expenses. The
project design team built on the conceptual design and developed detailed drawings
for use by the procurement team. The procurement team used the drawings to begin
ordering equipment and materials for the construction team; develop labor
projections; refine the construction schedule; and set up the construction site.
Although planning is a never-ending process on a project, the planning phase
focused on developing sufficient details to allow various parts of the project team to
coordinate their work and allow the project management team to make priority
decisions.

The implementation phase represents the work done to meet the requirements of

the scope of work and fulfill the charter. During the implementation phase, the project
team accomplished the work defined in the plan and made adjustments when the
project factors changed. Equipment and materials were delivered to the work site,
labor was hired and trained, a construction site was built, and all the construction
activities, from the arrival of the first dozer to the installation of the final light switch,
were accomplished.

The closeout phase included turning over the newly constructed plant to the
operations team of the client. A punch list of a few remaining construction items was
developed and those items completed. The office in Catamarca was closed, the
office in Buenos Aries archived all the project documents, and the Chilean office was
already working on the next project. The accounting books were reconciled and
closed, final reports written and distributed, and the project manager started on a
new project.

Concepts of Deliverables
The term deliverables is a project management term that’s traditionally used to
describe the quantifiable goods or services that must be provided upon the
completion of a project. Deliverables can be tangible or intangible in nature. For
example, in a project focusing on upgrading a firm’s technology, a deliverable may
refer to the acquisition of a dozen new computers.

On the other hand, for a software project, a deliverable might allude to the
implementation of a computer program aimed at improving a company’s accounts
receivable computational efficiency.

Deliverables:

In addition to computer equipment and software programs, a deliverable may refer to

in-person or online training programs, as well as design samples for products in the
 process of being developed. In many cases, deliverables are accompanied by
instruction manuals.

Documentation

Deliverables are usually contractually obligated requirements, detailed in

agreements drawn up between two related parties within a company, or between a
client and an outside consultant or developer. The documentation precisely
articulates the description of a deliverable, as well as the delivery timeline and
payment terms.

Milestones

Many large projects include milestones, which are interim goals and targets that
must be achieved by stipulated points in time. A milestone may refer to a portion of
the deliverable due, or it may merely refer to a detailed progress report, describing
the current status of a project.

Film Deliverables

In film production, deliverables refer to the range of audio, visual, and paperwork
files that producers must furnish to distributors. Audio and visual materials generally
include stereo and Dolby 5.1 sound mixes, music and sound effects on separate
files, as well as the full movie in a specified format.

Paperwork deliverables include signed and executed licensing agreements for all
music, errors, and omissions reports, performance releases for all on-screen talent,
a list of the credit block that will appear in all artwork and advertising, as well as
location, artwork, and logo legal releases. Films deliverables also pertain to elements
that are ancillary to the movies themselves. These items include the trailer, TV spots,
publicity stills photographed on set, and other legal work.

 The word “deliverables” is a project management term describing the

quantifiable goods or services that must be provided upon the completion of a
project.
 Deliverables can be tangible in nature, such as the acquisition of a dozen new
computers, or they can be intangible, like the implementation of a computer program
aimed at improving a company’s accounts receivable computational efficiency.
 A deliverable may refer to in-person or online training programs, as well as
design samples for products in the process of being developed.
 In many cases, deliverables are accompanied by instruction manuals.
 In film production, deliverables refer to the range of audio, visual, and
paperwork files that producers must furnish to distributors.

Scope of Work and Milestones

 A scope of work (SOW) document is an agreement on the work you’re going to perform on
the project.

The document includes

1. Deliverables

This is what your project delivers, of course. Whether it’s a product or a service, it’s
the reason you’re executing the project for your customer, stakeholder or sponsor.
Whatever that deliverable is, and it can be some sort of document or report,
software, product, build (or all of the above), you need to have each item clearly
identified here.

2. Timeline

Think of a timeline as a road leading from the start of a project to its end. It’s a
section of the document that delineates the major phases across the schedule of the
project’s duration. It should also mark the points in the project when your
deliverables are ready. As you can guess, it’s essential to scoping out the overall
plan of any project. This is best presented visually, like a rolled-up Gantt chart plan,
so the stakeholders can see the high level timeline.

3. Milestones

Projects can be very long and complex, which is why they’re laid out over a timeline
and broken down into more manageable parts called tasks. Larger phases of the
project are marked by what is called a milestone. It’s a way to help you monitor the
progress of the project to make sure it’s adhering to your planned schedule. Define
your key milestones in the Scope of Work document, including project kickoffs,
meetings, hand offs, etc.

4. Reports

You’ll be generating these throughout the project, delivered to either you team or
customer, stakeholder or sponsor. They’re a formal record of the progress of your
project, but they’re also a means of communication beyond whether the project’s on
schedule or not. Depending on how you customize them, there’s a wealth of data
that can serve a number of different audiences. Define how you’ll be reporting on the
project and when the stakeholders can be expecting them and from whom.

Scope of Work Example

To understand a scope of work, let’s create a hypothetical project, nothing too

complex but important none the less. A wedding is a project, and depending on the
bridezilla (or groomzilla), it could be bigger and more complicated than building a
highway or an airport. So, let’s just take one aspect of that larger project, the
wedding invitations, and break this down into a scope of work. I’ll outline the
deliverables, timeline, milestones and reports in this scope of work example.
 Deliverables

 Invite List
 Addresses of Attendees
 Invites
 Addressed Envelopes
 Stamps
 Manage your projects online. Try it free for 30 days

Timeline

 1 Decided on invite list

 1 Have addresses collected of attendees
 March 1 Pick invitation style and have printed
 April 1 Address and mail invites
 May 1 Get final count of guests
 June 1 Wedding

Milestones

 Selection of guest and collection of addresses

 Mailing of invitations
 Final count of attendees

Reports

 Check on status of address collection

 Stay in touch with printer for progress on invitations
 Check RSVPs against invitation list

Tools and Techniques of

Project Management

Project management techniques

Project management techniques play a significant role in defining the structure, work
allocation, utilization of resources and at times, deciding the fate of a project as well.

1.Classic technique
The simplest, traditional technique is sometimes the most appropriate for running
projects. It includes preparing a plan of upcoming work, estimating tasks to perform,
allocating resources, providing and getting feedback from the team, and monitoring
quality and deadlines.
Where to use: this technique is ideal for running projects performed by small teams,
when it’s not really necessary to implement a complex process.

2.Agile

Agile Project Management is one of the revolutionary methods introduced for the
practice of project management. This is one of the latest project management
strategies that is mainly applied to project management practice in software
development. Therefore, it is best to relate agile project management to the software
development process when understanding it.
From the inception of software development as a business, there have been a
number of processes following, such as the waterfall model. With the advancement
of software development, technologies and business requirements, the traditional
models are not robust enough to cater the demands.
Therefore, more flexible software development models were required in order to
address the agility of the requirements. As a result of this, the information technology
community developed agile software development models.
'Agile' is an umbrella term used for identifying various models used for agile
development, such as Scrum. Since agile development model is different from
conventional models, agile project management is a specialized area in project
management.
Agile methodology is one of the most popular project management methodologies. It
uses the ‘sprint approach’ where you can break a project in the form of sprints or
cycles. As the word ‘agile’ means the ability to move quickly and responding swiftly
to changes, likewise this methodology makes way for flexibility and collaboration. It is
extensively used in software development and is best suited for small software
projects that require frequent communication and the need to work together for
analyzing requirements and other aspects of a project.
Agile project management method is a set of principles based on the value-centered
approach. It prescribes dividing project work into short sprints, using adaptive
planning and continual improvement, and fostering teams’ self-organization and
collaboration targeted to producing maximum value. Agile frameworks include such
techniques as Scrum, Kanban, DSDM, FDD, etc.
Where to use: Agile is used in software development projects that involve frequent
iterations and are performed by small and highly collaborative teams.
There are many differences in agile development model when compared to
traditional models:
The agile model emphasizes on the fact that entire team should be a tightly
integrated unit. This includes the developers, quality assurance, project
management, and the customer.
Frequent communication is one of the key factors that makes this integration
possible. Therefore, daily meetings are held in order to determine the day's work and
dependencies.
Deliveries are short-term. Usually a delivery cycle ranges from one week to four
weeks. These are commonly known as sprints.
Agile project teams follow open communication techniques and tools which enable
the team members (including the customer) to express their views and feedback
openly and quickly. These comments are then taken into consideration when
shaping the requirements and implementation of the software.

Today, many project & work management software tools like actiTIME offer
convenient ways to introduce scrum and agile in work process.With them, you can
configure multiple levels of your work structure, track long-term and short-term
deadlines, use estimates in planning process, and create Kanban boards to monitor
work progress. Basically, software tools allow to structure your work according to the
Agile method, and visualize the structure.

Scope of Agile Project Management

In an agile project, the entire team is responsible in managing the team and it is not
just the project manager's responsibility. When it comes to processes and
procedures, the common sense is used over the written policies.

This makes sure that there is no delay is management decision making and
therefore things can progress faster.
In addition to being a manager, the agile project management function should also
demonstrate the leadership and skills in motivating others. This helps retaining the
spirit among the team members and gets the team to follow discipline.
Agile project manager is not the 'boss' of the software development team. Rather,
this function facilitates and coordinates the activities and resources required for
quality and speedy software development.

Responsibilities of an Agile Project Manager

he responsibilities of an agile project management function are given below. From
one project to another, these responsibilities can slightly change and are interpreted
differently.

 Responsible for maintaining the agile values and practices in the project team.

 The agile project manager removes impediments as the core function of the
role.

 Helps the project team members to turn the requirements backlog into
working software functionality.

 Facilitates and encourages effective and open communication within the

team.

 Responsible for holding agile meetings that discusses the short-term plans
and plans to overcome obstacles.

 Enhances the tool and practices used in the development process.

 Agile project manager is the chief motivator of the team and plays the mentor
role for the team members as well.

Agile Project Management does not

 manage the software development team.

 overrule the informed decisions taken by the team members.

 direct team members to perform tasks or routines.

  drive the team to achieve specific milestones or deliveries.

 assign task to the team members.

 make decisions on behalf of the team.

 involve in technical decision making or deriving the product strategy.

In agile projects, it is everyone's (developers, quality assurance engineers,
designers, etc.) responsibility to manage the project to achieve the objectives of the
project.
In addition to that, the agile project manager plays a key role in agile team in order to
provide the resources, keep the team motivated, remove blocking issues, and
resolve impediments as early as possible.
In this sense, an agile project manager is a mentor and a protector of an agile team,
rather than a manager.

3.Waterfall

The Waterfall Model was the first Process Model to be introduced. It is also referred
to as a linear-sequential life cycle model. It is very simple to understand and use. In
a waterfall model, each phase must be completed before the next phase can begin
and there is no overlapping in the phases.
The Waterfall model is the earliest SDLC approach that was used for software
development.
The waterfall Model illustrates the software development process in a linear
sequential flow. This means that any phase in the development process begins only
if the previous phase is complete. In this waterfall model, the phases do not overlap.

This technique is also considered traditional, but it takes the simple classic approach
to the new level. As its name suggests, the technique is based on the sequential
performance of tasks. The next step starts when the previous one is accomplished.
To monitor progress and performed steps, Gantt charts are often used, as they
provide a clear visual representation of phases and dependencies.
Where to use: this technique is traditionally used for complex projects where detailed
phasing is required and successful delivery depends on rigid work structuring.

The Waterfall methodology is sequential that means one task has to be completed
before the next starts in the pipeline. Here, all the requirements must be defined in
the beginning so that there is a proper planning and organization of a project plan.
The sequential phases in Waterfall model are −

 Requirement Gathering and analysis − All possible requirements of the system to

be developed are captured in this phase and documented in a requirement
specification document.

 System Design − The requirement specifications from first phase are studied in this
phase and the system design is prepared. This system design helps in specifying
hardware and system requirements and helps in defining the overall system
architecture.

 Implementation − With inputs from the system design, the system is first developed
in small programs called units, which are integrated in the next phase. Each unit is
developed and tested for its functionality, which is referred to as Unit Testing.

 Integration and Testing − All the units developed in the implementation phase are
integrated into a system after testing of each unit. Post integration the entire system is
tested for any faults and failures.

 Deployment of system − Once the functional and non-functional testing is done; the
product is deployed in the customer environment or released into the market.

 Maintenance − There are some issues which come up in the client environment. To
fix those issues, patches are released. Also to enhance the product some better
versions are released. Maintenance is done to deliver these changes in the customer
environment.
All these phases are cascaded to each other in which progress is seen as flowing
steadily downwards (like a waterfall) through the phases. The next phase is started
only after the defined set of goals are achieved for previous phase and it is signed
off, so the name "Waterfall Model". In this model, phases do not overlap.

Waterfall Model - Application

Every software developed is different and requires a suitable SDLC approach to be
followed based on the internal and external factors. Some situations where the use
of Waterfall model is most appropriate are −

 Requirements are very well documented, clear and fixed.

 Product definition is stable.

 Technology is understood and is not dynamic.

 There are no ambiguous requirements.

 Ample resources with required expertise are available to support the product.

 The project is short.

Waterfall Model - Advantages

The advantages of waterfall development are that it allows for departmentalization
and control. A schedule can be set with deadlines for each stage of development
and a product can proceed through the development process model phases one by
one.
Development moves from concept, through design, implementation, testing,
installation, troubleshooting, and ends up at operation and maintenance. Each phase
of development proceeds in strict order.
Some of the major advantages of the Waterfall Model are as follows −

 Simple and easy to understand and use

 Easy to manage due to the rigidity of the model. Each phase has specific
deliverables and a review process.

 Phases are processed and completed one at a time.

 Works well for smaller projects where requirements are very well understood.

 Clearly defined stages.

 Well understood milestones.

 Easy to arrange tasks.

 Process and results are well documented.

Waterfall Model - Disadvantages

The disadvantage of waterfall development is that it does not allow much reflection
or revision. Once an application is in the testing stage, it is very difficult to go back
and change something that was not well-documented or thought upon in the concept
stage.
The major disadvantages of the Waterfall Model are as follows −
  No working software is produced until late during the life cycle.

 High amounts of risk and uncertainty.

 Not a good model for complex and object-oriented projects.

 Poor model for long and ongoing projects.

 Not suitable for the projects where requirements are at a moderate to high risk
of changing. So, risk and uncertainty is high with this process model.

 It is difficult to measure progress within stages.

 Cannot accommodate changing requirements.

 Adjusting scope during the life cycle can end a project.

 Integration is done as a "big-bang. at the very end, which doesn't allow

identifying any technological or business bottleneck or challenges early.

4. Prince2

PRINCE stands for Projects in Controlled Environments. Dealing with a bit of history,
this method was first established by the Central Computer and Telecommunications
Agency (It is now referred to as the Office of Government Commerce).
It has since become a very commonly used project management method in all parts
of the world and has therefore proven to be highly effective in various respects.
The method also helps you to identify and thereafter assign roles to the different
members of the team based on expertise. Over the years, there have been a number
of positive case studies of projects that have used PRINCE2 project management
methodology.
This method deals with the various aspects that need to be managed in any given
project.
PRINCE2 is an acronym for projects in controlled environment . It is a project
management methodology that is made up of principles and processes. Originated in
the UK, Prince2 is quite a well-put methodology in which a project is divided into
multiple levels and stages each having its own set of steps to be followed. This
standardness enables it to be implemented in any organization irrespective of its
nature enabling them take the appropriate action for successful completion of
projects.
In the above diagram:

 The seven principles shown in the above diagram must be applied if the
project is to be called a PRINCE2 project. These principles will show you
whether and how well the project is being carried out using this particular
project management method.

 Similarly, the themes of PRINCE2 refer to the seven principles that need to be
referred to at all times during the project, if the project is to indeed be
effective. If adherence to these principles is not carefully tracked from the
inception of the project through to the end, there is a high chance that the
project will fail entirely.

 The processes refer to the steps that need to be followed. This is why this
method is known as a 'process-based' method.

 Finally, with regard to the project environment, it's important to know that this
project management method is not rigid. Changes can be made based on
how big the project is, and the requirements and objectives of each
organization. PRINCE2 offer this flexibility for the project and this is one of the
reasons why PRINCE2 is quite popular among the project managers.

The Pros and Cons of the Methodology

One benefit of using this method over others could be said to be the fact that it is
product-based and it also divides the project into different stages making it easy to
manage. This is sure to help the project team to remain focused and deliver a quality
outcome at the end of the day.
The most important of all benefits is that it improves communication between all
members of the team and also between the team and other external stakeholders,
thereby giving the team more control of the project.
It also gives the stakeholder a chance to have a say when it comes to decision
making as they are always kept informed by the issuance of reports at regular
intervals.
PRINCE2 also ensures that improvements can be made in the organization. This is
because you would be able to identify any flaws that you make in projects and
correct, which of course would help you to a great extent in the long run.
The flexibility of PRINCE2 allows these changes to be made run-time. Although
there can be some implications and issues to the project schedule when certain
changes are done run-time, PRINCE2 offers some of the best practices to minimize
the impact.
Your team will also learn to save a lot of time and be more economical when it
comes to the use of assets and various other resources, thereby ensuring that you
are also able to cut down on costs a great deal.
When it comes to disadvantages, PRNCE2 does not offer the level of flexibility
offered by some of the modern project management methodologies. Since project
management, especially in software industry, has grown to a different level,
PRINCE2 may find difficulties in catering some of the modern project management
needs.
It should be kept in mind that PRINCE2 is a very complex method and cannot be
carried out without special training. Failure to understand precisely how it works
could lead to a lot of problems and difficulties whilst carrying out the project.
PRINCE2 guidelines can be selectively applied to certain projects that do not last
long. This makes the method even more flexible and thereby more appealing to
dynamic organizations and projects.

5.Scrum

Scrum is part of the Agile movement. Agile is a response to the failure of the
dominant software development project management paradigms (including waterfall)
and borrows many principles from lean manufacturing. In 2001, 17 pioneers of
similar methods met at the Snowbird Ski Resort in Utah and wrote the Agile
Manifesto, a declaration of four values and twelve principles. These values and
principles stand in stark contrast to the traditional Project Manager’s Body Of
Knowledge (PMBOK). The Agile Manifesto placed a new emphasis on
communication and collaboration, functioning software, team self organization, and
the flexibility to adapt to emerging business realities.
SCRUM is one of those methodologies that mainly focuses on improving
communication, teamwork, and speed of development in a project. In Scrum
methodology, a team is often led by a scrum master that is also called Subject
Matter Expert (SME) making way for seamless collaboration and encourages team
members to deliver results. It was developed keeping in mind the needs of software
development teams but with the changing times, many teams are either using a
derivative of it or combine it with an another methodology.

Scrum’s early advocates were inspired by empirical inspect and adapt feedback
loops to cope with complexity and risk. Scrum emphasizes decision making from
real-world results rather than speculation. Time is divided into short work cadences,
known as sprints, typically one week or two weeks long. The product is kept in a
potentially shippable (properly integrated and tested) state at all times. At the end of
each sprint, stakeholders and team members meet to see a demonstrated potentially
shippable product increment and plan its next steps.

Scrum Roles

Scrum has three roles: Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Team.

Product Owner: The Product Owner should be a person with vision, authority, and
availability. The Product Owner is responsible for continuously communicating the
vision and priorities to the development team.
It’s sometimes hard for Product Owners to strike the right balance of involvement.
Because Scrum values self-organization among teams, a Product Owner must fight
the urge to micro-manage. At the same time, Product Owners must be available to
answer questions from the team.
Scrum Master: The Scrum Master acts as a facilitator for the Product Owner and
the team. The Scrum Master does not manage the team. The Scrum Master works
to remove any impediments that are obstructing the team from achieving its sprint
goals. This helps the team remain creative and productive while making sure its
successes are visible to the Product Owner. The Scrum Master also works to advise
the Product Owner about how to maximize ROI for the team.
Team: According to Scrum’s founder, “the team is utterly self managing.” The
development team is responsible for self organizing to complete work.

6.Critical Chain Methodology

The idea of critical chain methodology was introduced in 1997 in Eliyahu M.

Goldratt’s book, Critical Chain where he described the methodology as a method of
planning and managing projects that strives to keep resources levelled. It is different
from other methodologies in a way that it focuses on resources than on the method
itself and makes sure that the project plan is feasible enough and completed on time.
Apart from these methodologies, there is one more thing is equally important in
project management – project management tools and software. Many project
managers consider these tools a deciding factor that differentiates them from others.
When it comes to a project, it has a lower limit of possible lead time. This basically
determines the cost associated with the project.
The critical chain of a project is the dependent tasks that define the lower limit of
possible lead time. Therefore, it is safe to assume that the critical chain is made of
sequenced dependent tasks. In critical chain scheduling (CCS), these dependent
tasks are scheduled in the most effective and beneficial way.
When it comes to critical chain scheduling, dependencies are used to determine the
critical chain. In this case, two types of dependencies are used; hands-off
dependencies and resource dependencies.
This simply means that output of one task is the input for another. Therefore, the
latter task cannot be started until the first task is completed.
In this case, one task is utilizing a resource, so the other task cannot be started until
the first task is completed and the resource is freed.
In simple, using traditional project management terminology, the critical chain can be
explained as the "resource constrained critical path".
Critical chain scheduling appreciates the "impact of variation" of a project. Usually, in
project management, the impact of variation is found using statistical models such as
PERT or Mote Carlo analysis. Critical chain scheduling does complement the impact
of variance with a concept called the "buffer".
We will discuss more about the buffer later. The buffer basically protects the critical
chain from variations in other non-critical chains making sure critical chain the indeed
critical.

What is a Buffer?
Buffer is one of the most interesting concepts in critical chain scheduling. The buffers
are constructed and applied to a project in order to make sure the success of the
project. The buffer protects the due delivery dates from variations to the critical
chain.
With a "feeding buffer" of a proper size, the dependent tasks in the critical chain that
is dependent on the output of the non-critical chain tasks have a great opportunity to
start the task as soon as its predecessor dependent task in the critical chain is
finished. Therefore, with the feeding buffer, the dependent tasks in the critical chain
do not have to wait for non-critical chain tasks to complete.
This makes sure that the critical chain moves faster towards the project completion.
When there are multiple projects running in an organization, critical chain scheduling
employs something called "capacity buffers." These buffers are used to isolate key
resource performance variances in one project impacting another project.
Resource buffers are the other type of buffer employed for projects in order to
manage the impact by the resources to the project progress.

Same as for critical path methodology, there is software for critical chain scheduling.
This software can be categorized into "standalone" and "client-server" categories.
This software supports multi-project environments by default. Therefore, this
software is useful when it comes to managing a large project portfolio of a large
organization.
Critical chain scheduling is a methodology focused on resource-levelling. Although
dependent tasks mostly define the project timelines, the resource utilization plays a
key role. A methodology such as critical path may be highly successful in
environments, where there is no resource shortage. But in reality, this is not the
case.
Projects run with limited resources and resource-levelling is a critical factor when it
comes to the practicality. Therefore, critical chain scheduling gives a better answer
for resource intensive projects to manage their deliveries.

Project Management Tools

When applying any of the techniques to the project you need to accomplish, you also
need to use specific tools for successfully implementing the technique. Here’s a list
of software tools that are used in project management on different work steps.

Organizing Workflow & Planning

This step is the core part of starting a project: it defines how the project will be
performed, and how the quality of its outcome will be ensured. Large companies
often use such comprehensive solutions as MS Project. For smaller teams, various
alternatives are available. They don’t provide all the rich functionality typical to
complex and expensive tools, but they have planning and roadmap features that are
sufficient for visualizing future project progress. There are also free project
management solutions that suit best for startups and small businesses.

Communication
Being the key point in many techniques and methodologies, communication within a
project team needs to be properly organized. While using email for formal
communication and important messages, it’s also essential to have a corporate
messenger – Slack and Skype are the most popular ones. And, if your team
members use different tools to communicate, eliminate the pain of having multiple
messengers by integrating them.

Scheduling
When allocating resources and planning for future, it’s crucial to know who on the
team is available for specific dates. Use scheduling software for that! Such tools as
actiPLANS provide a clear visual chart of absences for upcoming dates, and allow to
see all necessary details to team members’ leaves and time off.

Time Management
Knowing where your team’s time goes not just helps to manage current project risks.
It also provides valuable information for future planning and estimating. Time
management tools, such as,actiTIME help managers understand both individual
time expenses and team’s results for any period. Informative reports with time and
cost summaries and notes to the logged time provide insights into how time is used
and what can be optimized.

Finance and Accounting

For any project manager and business owner, understanding the financial outcome
of the projects is crucial for analysis and future planning. The most used accounting
tools – QuickBooks, Zoho, Freshbooks – help collect this information. For smaller
project teams, other accounting solutions can be reasonable. They require less
investment, but also provide insights on project profitability, teams’ performance, and
estimation accuracy.
Before starting work on any project, select the technique to be used and the tools
that will help your team speed up and automate work. This defines the entire
workflow, management process, and control procedures. By following the principles
of the selected technique and using the functionality of the project management
tools, you’ll ensure successful project delivery in compliance with requirements and
deadlines.

Characteristics of Project Team

On this type of team, there is usually a strong trust bond, people work cooperatively
together to reach the common project goals, and often the project is even more
successful than the project manager and customer could have imagined.

These types of teams generally have some key characteristics in common that help
make them the effective, high-performing teams that they are.

Clearly defined goals

Clearly defined goals are essential so that everyone understands the purpose and
vision of the team. It’s surprising to learn sometimes how many people do not know
the reason they are doing the tasks that make up their jobs, much less what their
team is doing. Everyone must be pulling in the same direction and be aware of the
end goals. Clear goals help team members understand where the team is going.
Clear goals help a team know when it has been successful by defining exactly what
the team is doing and what it wants to accomplish. This makes it easier for members
to work together – and more likely to be successful.

Clear goals create ownership. Team members are more likely to “own” goals and
work toward them if they have been involved in establishing them as a team. In
addition, ownership is longer lasting if members perceive that other team members
support the same efforts. Clear goals foster team unity, whereas unclear goals foster
confusion – or sometimes individualism. If team members don’t agree on the
meaning of the team goals, they will work alone to accomplish their individual
interpretations of the goals. They may also protect their own goals, even at the
expense of the team.

Clearly defined roles

If the team’s roles are clearly defined, all team members know what their jobs are,
but defining roles goes beyond that. It means that we recognize individuals’ talent
and tap into the expertise of each member – both job-related and innate skills each
person brings to the team, such as organization, creative, or team-building skills.
Clearly defined roles help team members understand why they are on a team. When
the members experience conflict, it may be related to their roles. Team members
often can manage this conflict by identifying, clarifying, and agreeing on their
individual responsibilities so that they all gain a clear understanding of how they will
accomplish the team’s goals. Once team members are comfortable with their primary
roles on the team, they can identify the roles they play during team meetings. There
are two kinds of roles that are essential in team meetings.

Open and clear communication

The importance of open and clear communication cannot be stressed enough. This
is probably the most important characteristic for high-performance teams. Many
different problems that arise on projects can often be can be traced back to poor
communication or lack of communication skills, such as listening well or providing
constructive feedback. Enough books have been written about communication to fill
a library. And I’ve personally written several articles on this subject alone for this site
over the past few months.

Excellent communication is the key to keeping a team informed, focused, and

moving forward. Team members must feel free to express their thoughts and
opinions at any time. Yet, even as they are expressing themselves, they must make
certain they are doing so in a clear and concise manner. Unfortunately, most of us
are not very good listeners. Most of us could improve our communication if we just
started to listen better—to listen with an open mind, to hear the entire message
before forming conclusions, and to work toward a mutual understanding with the
speaker.

Effective decision making

Decision making is effective when the team is aware of and uses many methods to
arrive at decisions. A consensus is often touted as the best way to make decisions—
and it is an excellent method and probably not used often enough. But the team
should also use majority rule, expert decision, authority rule with discussion, and
other methods. The team members should discuss the method they want to use and
should use tools to assist them, such as force-field analysis, pair-wise ranking
matrices, or some of the multi-voting techniques.

Effective decision making is essential to a team’s progress; ideally, teams that are
asked to solve problems should also have the power and authority to implement
solutions. They must have a grasp of various decision-making methods, their
advantages and disadvantages, and when and how to use each. Teams that choose
the right decision-making methods at the right time will not only save time, but they
will also most often make the best decisions.  This completes the four basic
foundation characteristics: clear goals, defined roles, open and clear communication,
and effective decision making.

Balanced participation

If communication is the most important team characteristic, participation is the

second most important. Without participation, you don’t have a team; you have a
group of bodies. Balanced participation ensures that everyone on the team is fully
involved. It does not mean that if you have five people each is speaking 20 percent
of the time. Talking is not necessarily a measure of participation. We all know people
who talk a lot and say nothing. It does mean that each individual is contributing when
it’s appropriate. The more a team involves all of its members in its activities, the
more likely that team is to experience a high level of commitment and synergy.

Leader’s behavior

A leader’s behavior comes as much from attitude as from anything. Leaders who are
effective in obtaining participation see their roles as being a coach and mentor, not
the expert in the situation. Leaders will get more participation from team members if
they can admit to needing help, not power. Leaders should also specify the kind of
participation they want right from the start.

Participants’ expectations

Participants must volunteer information willingly rather than force someone to drag it
out of them. They should encourage others’ participation as well by asking a
question of others, especially those who have been quiet for a while.

Participants can assist the leader by suggesting techniques that encourage everyone
to speak, for example, a round robin. To conduct a round robin, someone directs all
members to state their opinions or ideas about the topic under discussion. Members
go around the group, in order, and one person at a time says what’s on his or her
mind. During this time, no one else in the group can disagree, ask questions, or
discuss how the idea might work or not work, be good or not good.
 Only after everyone has had an opportunity to hear others and to be heard him- or
herself, a discussion occurs. This discussion may focus on pros and cons, on
clarifying, on similarities and differences, or on trying to reach consensus.

Valued diversity

Valued diversity is at the heart of building a team. Thus, the box is at the center of
the model. It means, put simply, that team members are valued for the unique
contributions that they bring to the team.

Diversity goes far beyond gender and race. It also includes how people think, what
experience they bring, and their styles. The diversity of thinking, ideas, methods,
experiences, and opinions helps to create a high-performing team.

Managed Conflict

Conflict is essential to a team’s creativity and productivity. Because most people

dislike conflict, they often assume that effective teams do not have it. In fact, both
effective and ineffective teams experience conflict. The difference is that effective
teams manage it constructively. In fact, effective teams see conflict as positive.

Managed conflict ensures that problems are not swept under the rug. It means that
the team has discussed members’ points of view about an issue and has come to
see well-managed conflict as a healthy way to bring out new ideas and to solve
whatever seems to be unsolvable. Here are some benefits of healthy conflict:

 Conflict forces a team to find productive ways to communicate differences, seek

common goals, and gain consensus;
 Conflict encourages a team to look at all points of view, then adopt the best ideas
from each;
 Conflict increases creativity by forcing the team to look beyond current
assumptions and parameters.

Positive team atmosphere

To be truly successful, a team must have a climate of trust and openness, that is, a
positive atmosphere. A positive atmosphere indicates that members of the team are
committed and involved. It means that people are comfortable enough with one
another to be creative, take risks, and make mistakes. It also means that you may
hear plenty of laughter, and research shows that people who are enjoying
themselves are more productive than those who dislike what they are doing.

Cooperative relationships

Directly related to having a positive atmosphere are cooperative relationships. Team

members know that they need one another’s skills, knowledge, and expertise to
produce something together that they could not do as well alone. There is a sense of
belonging and a willingness to make things work for the good of the whole team. The
atmosphere is informal, comfortable, and relaxed. Team members are allowed to be
themselves. They are involved and interested.

Cooperative relationships are the hallmark of top-performing teams. These top

teams demonstrate not only cooperative relationships between team members but
also cooperative working relationships elsewhere in the organization.

Participative Leadership

The participative leadership block is not at the top of the model because it is the
most important.

It is at the top because it is the only block that can be removed without disturbing the
rest.

Participative leadership means that leaders share the responsibility and the glory,
are supportive and fair, create a climate of trust and openness, and are good
coaches and teachers.

In general, it means that leaders are good role models and that the leadership shifts
at various times.

In the most productive teams, it is difficult to identify a leader during a casual

observation.

In conclusion, a high-performing team can accomplish more together than all the
individuals can apart.

Characteristics of Project Leader
The terms project manager and project leader get used interchangeably all the time,
and yet there are a couple important differences that can be derived from the
respective terms themselves. Managers manage. Leaders lead. What this means in
practice is that project leaders are responsible for establishing direction,
communicating their vision to management and the workforce, and forging teams
that are capable of delivering high-performance. In contrast, project managers focus
primarily on short-term goals and are responsible for solving short-term problems.

The project manager implements the project and solves roadblocks as they emerge.
Noting that difference, it is easy to argue that project leaders have the most difficult
job of all in regard to the implementation of major change initiatives.

After all, project leaders liaise between management and the workforce, and are
directly responsible for ensuring the inspired execution of the agreed upon strategy.
Here are the five characteristics of highly effective project leaders. 
1. They are strong communicators

Project leaders need to be particularly strong communicators as they must

eventually provide feedback to the management and facilitate the continual
improvement efforts of the men and women working under them.

2. They are trustworthy

Whether project leaders come from inside or outside the organization, they must
have the continued support and trust of the board of directors and management.
Without this, micromanagement and inefficiencies are bound to occur over the
course of a major transformation.

3. They understand people

While the project leader doesn’t necessarily need to be a “people person”, he or she
does need to have a strong sense of where the aptitudes and abilities of the team
members lie. Putting together a team twith complimentary strengths and
weaknesses helps to ensure the eventual success of the chosen project.

4. They can see the overall Performance

Being able to take the long-term view is a critical characteristic of project leadership
and project leaders need to be able to see the whole as it is in order to make
connections that the individual team members cannot see due to their limited scope
in the overall project.

5. They can see the all level of efforts

While taking the holistic view is critical for project leaders, they need to be able to
communicate on a detailed level about all aspects of the project to any level of
seniority. Possessing long-term vision will prove insufficient when it comes to
managing people and their individual roles within the larger project.

Project Organization

The project organization consists of a number of horizontal organizational units to

complete projects of a long duration.

Each project is vitally important to the organization. Therefore, a team of specialist

from different areas is created for each project.
 The size of the project team varies from one project to another. The activities of a
project team are coordinated by the project manager who has the authority to obtain
advice and assistance of experts both inside and outside the organization.

The core concept of project organization is to gather a team of specialists to work on

and complete a particular project. The project staff is separate and is independent of
the functional departments. Project organization is employed in aerospace,
construction, aircraft manufacture and professional areas like management
consultancy etc.

Project organization is appropriate when the enterprise is undertaking tasks that

have definite goals that are frequent and unfamiliar to the present structure, that are
complex because of interdependence of tasks and that are crucial for the success of
the firm. A project team is a temporary set up. Once the project is complete, the
team is dissolved and the functional specialists are assigned some other projects.

Merits of Project Organization

1. It provides concentrated attention that a complex project demands.

2. It permits the timely completion of the project without disturbing the normal
routine of rest of the organization.
3. It provides a logical approach to any challenge in fulfilling a large project with
definite beginning, end and clearly defined result.

Demerits of Project Organization

1. There is an organizational uncertainly as a project manager has to deal with

professionals drawn from diverse fields.
2. Organizational uncertainties may lead to interdepartmental conflicts.
3. There is a considerable fear among personnel that the completion of the project
may result in loss of job. This feeling of insecurity may create considerable worry about
career progress.

Importance of Project Management
1. Strategic Alignment

Project management is important because it ensures what is being delivered, is right,

and will deliver real value against the business opportunity.

Every client has strategic goals and the projects that we do for them advance those
goals. Project management is important because it ensures there’s rigor in
architecting projects properly so that they fit well within the broader context of our
client’s strategic frameworks Good project management ensures that the goals of
projects closely align with the strategic goals of the business.

In identifying a solid business case, and being methodical about calculating ROI,
project management is important because it can help to ensure the right thing is
delivered, that’s going to deliver real value.

Of course, as projects progress, it is possible that risks may emerge, that turn into
issues or even the business strategy may change. But a project manager will ensure
that the project is part of that realignment. Project management really matters here
because projects that veer off course, or which fail to adapt to the business needs
may end up being expensive and/or unnecessary.

2. Leadership

Project management is important because it brings leadership and direction to

projects.

Without project management, a team can be like a ship without a rudder; moving but
without direction, control or purpose. Leadership allows and enables a team to do
their best work. Project management provides leadership and vision, motivation,
removing roadblocks, coaching and inspiring the team to do their best work.

Project managers serve the team but also ensure clear lines of accountability. With a
project manager in place there’s no confusion about who’s in charge and in control of
whatever’s going on in a project. Project managers enforce process and keep
everyone on the team in line too because ultimately they carry responsibility for
whether the project fails or succeeds.

3. Clear Focus & Objectives

Project management is important because it ensures there’s a proper plan for

executing on strategic goals.
 Where project management is left to the team to work out by themselves, you’ll find
teams work without proper briefs, projects lack focus, can have vague or nebulous
objectives, and leave the team not quite sure what they’re supposed to be doing, or
why.

As project managers, we position ourselves to prevent such a situation and drive the
timely accomplishment of tasks, by breaking up a project into tasks for our teams.
Oftentimes, the foresight to take such an approach is what differentiates good project
management from bad. Breaking up into smaller chunks of work enables teams to
remain focused on clear objectives, gear their efforts towards achieving the ultimate
goal through the completion of smaller steps and to quickly identify risks, since risk
management is important in project management.

Often a project’s goals have to change in line with a materializing risk. Again, without
dedicated oversite and management, a project could swiftly falter but good project
management (and a good project manager) is what enables the team to focus, and
when necessary refocus, on their objectives.

4. Realistic Project Planning

Project management is important because it ensures proper expectations are set

around what can be delivered, by when, and for how much.

Without proper project management, budget estimates and project delivery timelines
can be set that are over-ambitious or lacking in analogous estimating insight from
similar projects. Ultimately this means without good project management, projects
get delivered late, and over budget.

Effective project managers should be able to negotiate reasonable and achievable

deadlines and milestones across stakeholders, teams, and management. Too often,
the urgency placed on delivery compromises the necessary steps, and ultimately,
the quality of the project’s outcome.

We all know that most tasks will take longer than initially anticipated; a good project
manager is able to analyze and balance the available resources, with the required
timeline, and develop a realistic schedule. Project management really matters when
scheduling because it brings objectivity to the planning.

A good project manager creates a clear process, with achievable deadlines, that
enables everyone within the project team to work within reasonable bounds, and not
unreasonable expectations.

5. Quality Control

Projects management is important because it ensures the quality of whatever is

being delivered, consistently hits the mark.
 Projects are also usually under enormous pressure to be completed. Without a
dedicated project manager, who has the support and buy-in of executive
management, tasks are underestimated, schedules tightened and processes rushed.
The result is bad quality output. Dedicated project management ensures that not
only does a project have the time and resources to deliver, but also that the output is
quality tested at every stage.

Good project management demands gated phases where teams can assess the
output for quality, applicability, and ROI. Project management is of key importance to
Quality Assurance because it allows for a staggered and phased process, creating
time for teams to examine and test their outputs at every step along the way.

6. Risk Management

Project management is important because it ensures risks are properly managed

and mitigated against to avoid becoming issues.

Risk management is critical to project success. The temptation is just to sweep them
under the carpet, never talk about them to the client and hope for the best. But
having a robust process around the identification, management and mitigation of risk
is what helps prevent risks from becoming issues.

Good project management practice requires project managers to carefully analyze

all potential risks to the project, quantify them, develop a mitigation plan against
them, and a contingency plan should any of them materialize. Naturally, risks should
be prioritized according to the likelihood of them occurring, and appropriate
responses are allocated per risk. Good project management matters in this regard,
because projects never go to plan, and how we deal with change and adapt our
plans is a key to delivering projects successfully.

7. Orderly Process

Project management is important because it ensures the right people do the right
things, at the right time – it ensures proper project process is followed throughout the
project lifecycle.

Surprisingly, many large and well-known companies have reactive planning

processes. But reactivity – as opposed to proactivity – can often cause projects to go
into survival mode. This is a when teams fracture, tasks duplicate, and planning
becomes reactive creating inefficiency and frustration in the team.

Proper planning and process can make a massive difference as the team knows
who’s doing what, when, and how. Proper process helps to clarify roles, streamline
processes and inputs, anticipate risks, and creates the checks and balances to
ensure the project is continually aligned with the overall strategy. Project
management matters here because without an orderly, easily understood process,
companies risk project failure, attrition of employee trust and resource wastage.
8. Continuous Oversight

Project management is important because it ensures a project’s progress is tracked

and reported properly.

Status reporting might sound boring and unnecessary – and if everything’s going to
plan, it can just feel like documentation for documentation’s sake. But continuous
project oversight, ensuring that a project is tracking properly against the original plan,
is critical to ensuring that a project stays on track.

When proper oversight and project reporting is in place it makes it easy to see when
a project is beginning to deviate from its intended course. The earlier you’re able to
spot project deviation, the easier it is to course correct.

Good project managers will regularly generate easily digestible progress or status
reports that enable stakeholders to track the project. Typically these status reports
will provide insights into the work that was completed and planned, the hours utilized
and how they track against those planned, how the project is tracking against
milestones, risks, assumptions, issues and dependencies and any outputs of the
project as it proceeds.

This data is invaluable not only for tracking progress but helps clients gain the trust
of other stakeholders in their organization, giving them easy oversight of a project’s
progress.

9. Subject Matter Expertise

Project management is important because someone needs to be able to understand

if everyone’s doing what they should.

With a few years experience under their belt, project managers will know a little
about a lot of aspects of delivering the projects they manage. They’ll know
everything about the work that their teams execute; the platforms and systems they
use, and the possibilities and limitations, and the kinds of issues that typically occur.

Having this kind of subject matter expertise means they can have intelligent and
informed conversations with clients, team, stakeholders, and suppliers. They’re well
equipped to be the hub of communication on a project, ensuring that as the project
flows between different teams and phases of work, nothing gets forgotten about or
overlooked.

Without subject matter expertise through project management, you can find a project
becomes unbalanced – the creatives ignore the limitations of technology or the
developers forget the creative vision of the project. Project management keeps the
team focussed on the overarching vision and brings everyone together forcing the
right compromises to make the project a success.

10. Managing and Learning from Success and Failure

Project management is important because it learns from the successes and failures
of the past.

Project management can break bad habits and when you’re delivering projects, it’s
important to not make the same mistakes twice. Project managers use
retrospectives or post project reviews to consider what went well, what didn’t go so
well and what should be done differently for the next project.

This produces a valuable set of documentation that becomes a record of “do and
don’t” going forward, enabling the organization to learn from failures and success.
Without this learning, teams will often keep making the same mistakes, time and
time again. These retrospectives are great documents to use at a project kickoff
meeting to remind the team about failures such as underestimating projects, and
successes such as the benefits of a solid process or the importance of keeping time
sheet reporting up to date!