Project management is the process of leading the work of a team to achieve all project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project documentation, created at the beginning of the development process. The primary constraints are scope, time, and budget. The secondary challenge is to optimize the allocation of necessary inputs and apply them to meet pre-defined objectives.
The objective of project management is to produce a complete project which complies with the client’s objectives. In many cases, the objective of project management is also to shape or reform the client’s brief to feasibly address the client’s objectives. Once the client’s objectives are clearly established, they should influence all decisions made by other people involved in the project – for example, project managers, designers, contractors, and subcontractors. Ill-defined or too tightly prescribed project management objectives are detrimental to decision-making.
A project is a temporary and unique endeavor designed to produce a product, service, or result with a defined beginning and end (usually time-constrained, and often constrained by funding or staffing) undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives, typically to bring about beneficial change or added value. The temporary nature of projects stands in contrast with business as usual (or operations), which are repetitive, permanent, or semi-permanent functional activities to produce products or services. In practice, the management of such distinct production approaches requires the development of distinct technical skills and management strategies.
Project management types
Project management methods can be applied to any project. It is often tailored to a specific type of project based on project size, nature, industry or sector. For example, the construction industry, which focuses on the delivery of things like buildings, roads, and bridges, has developed its own specialized form of project management that it refers to as construction project management and in which project managers can become trained and certified. The information technology industry has also evolved to develop its own form of project management that is referred to as IT project management and which specializes in the delivery of technical assets and services that are required to pass through various life cycle phases such as planning, design, development, testing, and deployment. Biotechnology project management focuses on the intricacies of biotechnology research and development. Localization project management includes application of many standard project management practices to translation works even though many consider this type of management to be a very different discipline. There is public project management that covers all public works by the government, which can be carried out by the government agencies or contracted out to contractors. Another classification of project management is based on the hard (physical) or soft (non-physical) type.
Common among all the project management types is that they focus on three important goals: time, quality, and cost. Successful projects are completed on schedule, within budget, and according to previously agreed quality standards i.e. meeting the Iron Triangle or Triple Constraint in order for projects to be considered a success or failure.
For each type of project management, project managers develop and utilize repeatable templates that are specific to the industry they’re dealing with. This allows project plans to become very thorough and highly repeatable, with the specific intent to increase quality, lower delivery costs, and lower time to deliver project results.
Approaches of project management
A 2017 study suggested that the success of any project depends on how well four key aspects are aligned with the contextual dynamics affecting the project, these are referred to as the four P’s:[20]
- Aim & Expectations: What are the aims & expectations of the project.
- Plan: The planning and forecasting activities.
- Process: The overall approach to all activities and project governance.
- People: Including dynamics of how they collaborate and communicate.
- Power: Lines of authority, decision-makers, organograms, policies for implementation and the like.
There are a number of approaches to organizing and completing project activities, including phased, lean, iterative, and incremental. There are also several extensions to project planning, for example, based on outcomes (product-based) or activities (process-based).
Regardless of the methodology employed, careful consideration must be given to the overall project objectives, timeline, and cost, as well as the roles and responsibilities of all participants and stakeholders.
Benefits realization management
Benefits realization management (BRM) enhances normal project management techniques through a focus on outcomes (benefits) of a project rather than products or outputs and then measuring the degree to which that is happening to keep a project on track. This can help to reduce the risk of a completed project being a failure by delivering agreed upon requirements (outputs) i.e. project success but failing to deliver the benefits (outcomes) of those requirements i.e. product success. Note that good requirements management will ensure these benefits are captured as requirements of the project and their achievement monitored throughout the project.
In addition, BRM practices aim to ensure the strategic alignment between project outcomes and business strategies. The effectiveness of these practices is supported by recent research evidencing BRM practices influencing project success from a strategic perspective across different countries and industries. These wider effects are called the strategic impact.
An example of delivering a project to requirements might be agreeing to deliver a computer system that will process staff data and manage payroll, holiday, and staff personnel records in shorter times with reduced errors. Under BRM, the agreement might be to achieve a specified reduction in staff hours and errors required to process and maintain staff data after the system installation when compared without the system.
Critical path method
Critical path method (CPM) is an algorithm for determining the schedule for project activities. It is the traditional process used for predictive-based project planning. The CPM method evaluates the sequence of activities, the work effort required, the inter-dependencies, and the resulting float time per line sequence to determine the required project duration. Thus, by definition, the critical path is the pathway of tasks on the network diagram that has no extra time available (or very little extra time).”
Critical chain project management
Critical chain project management (CCPM) is an application of the theory of constraints (TOC) to planning and managing projects and is designed to deal with the uncertainties inherent in managing projects, while taking into consideration the limited availability of resources (physical, human skills, as well as management & support capacity) needed to execute projects.
The goal is to increase the flow of projects in an organization (throughput). Applying the first three of the five focusing steps of TOC, the system constraint for all projects, as well as the resources, are identified. To exploit the constraint, tasks on the critical chain are given priority over all other activities. Finally, projects are planned and managed to ensure that the resources are ready when the critical chain tasks must start, subordinating all other resources to the critical chain.
Earned value management
Earned value management (EVM) extends project management with techniques to improve project monitoring. It illustrates project progress towards completion in terms of work and value (cost). Earned Schedule is an extension to the theory and practice of EVM.
Iterative and incremental project management
In critical studies of project management, it has been noted that phased approaches are not well suited for projects which are large-scale and multi-company, with undefined, ambiguous, or fast-changing requirements, or those with high degrees of risk, dependency, and fast-changing technologies. The cone of uncertainty explains some of this as the planning made on the initial phase of the project suffers from a high degree of uncertainty. This becomes especially true as software development is often the realization of a new or novel product.
These complexities are better handled with a more exploratory or iterative and incremental approach. Several models of iterative and incremental project management have evolved, including agile project management, dynamic systems development method, extreme project management, and Innovation Engineering.
Project Management Professional
Project Management Professional (PMP) is an internationally recognized professional designation offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI).As of 31 July 2020, there are 1,036,368 active PMP-certified individuals and 314 chartered chapters across 214 countries and territories worldwide.
The exam is one of eight credentials offered by PMI and is based on the PMI Project Management Body of Knowledge. Most of the questions reference the PMI A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (also known as the PMBOK Guide).
Purpose
Government, commercial and other organizations employ PMP-certified project managers in an attempt to improve the success rate of projects in all areas of knowledge, by applying a standardized and evolving set of project management principles as contained in PMI’s PMBOK Guide.
In December 2005, the PMP credential was number 7 of ZDNet’s 10 best IT certifications. In 2012 the PMP credential was ranked as a top certification by CIO. In 2015, the PMP credential was ranked as the #4 certification by Global Knowledge, behind 3 Security certifications.
Examination process
The global network of Pearson VUE testing centers provides the PMP exam as a computer-based test. They also offer a paper-based option for locations with no nearby Prometric testing centers. The exam consists of 180 questions (“items”). Five are pre-release items, which are not included in exam scoring. Prometric calculates the score based on the other 175 items. Each multiple-choice item has one correct answer and three incorrect answers.
Candidates who take the computer-based test receive their results (passed or not passed) immediately upon completion. PMI also evaluates proficiency levels in each project management process group in 4 levels: Above Target, Target, Below Target, and Needs Improvement. Examiners provide these results to the candidate on a score report after the examination. Candidates who take paper-based tests receive their test results and score reports typically within 4 weeks.
PMI audit
PMI conducts application audits to confirm the experience and/or education documented on certification applications. The purpose of the audit is to enhance the credibility of the certification program and of the certification holders. For each certification, a specified percentage of applications are randomly selected for audit.
Item writing
Item writing is an ongoing process at PMI, and they periodically add new four-choice questions (items) and remove others. Item writers use the PMP Examination Specification to identify item contents and references (project management texts or standards) to verify correctness. Individuals who are active in the field of PMP exam preparation (such as trainers, courseware developers, and book authors) may not participate in item writing.
Prerequisites to become eligible
Candidates must meet the prerequisites in one of the following groups to be eligible for PMP Certification:
Group A
- A four-year degree; 36 months leading projects; 35 hours of project management education/training or Certified Associate in Project Management
Group B
- A high school diploma or an associate’s degree (or global equivalent); 60 months leading projects; 35 hours of project management education/training or CAPM Certification
Continuous credential requirements
Continuous credential requirements are also called CCRs. To maintain the PMP qualification, 60 professional development units (PDUs) must be earned over a three-year cycle, from activities such as researching, authoring articles, speaking on project management-related topics, or being engaged full-time in project management. Credential holders may earn PDUs towards the maintenance of their credential through formal academic courses or courses offered by a provider (R.E.P. or Component). However, these are only two of the five categories of PDU earning opportunities in which a credential holder may participate.
Effective 1 December 2015, CCRs were updated to align with the employer-identified skills depicted in the PMI Talent Triangle, a combination of technical, leadership, and strategic and business management expertise, to ensure credential holders are equipped with skills relevant in a continually changing business environment.
Credential value and alternatives
The US Department of Education and the National Science Foundation have deemed all United States professional certifications to be at level 50 in the Mapping The World of Education, Comparable Database System (Volume Two: Codes for Program Completion Awards by Country). The Level 50 code addresses “Postsecondary Programs and Awards of No More Than 2 Years. Programs and awards that are designed to represent no more than 2 years of study; constitute postsecondary education as operationally defined in CDS; and are not second (graduate-level) programs and awards.”
PRINCE2 certifications could be seen as a competitor of Project Management Professional (PMP). In general, the US and American countries prefer PMP, and UK, Australia and Europe prefer PRINCE2. Asia, Africa and the Middle East area have no strong preference for one or the other. The organizations behind these two certifications acknowledge each other’s existence in their advertising material and attempt to position themselves as complementary products – PRINCE2 as a methodology, and the subject of the PMP certification (such as the PMBOK Guide) as a guide or standard – which can be used alongside each other. In practice, companies and practitioners choose one system or both due to the project environment, their geographical location and costs involved.
