What is Project Management?
Project management is the art of managing projects and their outputs. Project management involves identifying requirements, and creating clear and achievable goals to ensure the purpose is achieved.
The importance of project management in any organization cannot be overstated. When project management is implemented correctly, it helps every part of the business to run smoothly. It allows you to focus on getting things done nicely.
Project managers are the people who communicate the changes, who understand how to get the best work out of everyone, and who steer the project from beginning to end, even when it’s being pushed off track. Project Managers not only plan and organize the work but also explain the importance of planning for projects, so everyone on the team knows why what they’re doing is essential.
The right project manager takes your project management strategy nicely implemented. They transform your project’s plan into action. And most importantly, they bring everyone along on the journey — together.
Save time & money
With proper planning, you can ensure that your work is delivered on time and on budget. Using project management methods, you can map out your project's path from the very beginning and know in advance where deadlines – and projected expenses – will fall short, so you can allocate your resources more efficiently, helping you avoid project delays and cost overruns.
Improve internal communication
Collaboration can be challenging. With more efficient project management processes, you can reduce the complexity of collaboration, increase transparency, and ensure accountability, even when working across teams or departments.
Better project planning
Without proper project management and planning, you are more likely to waste time in the long run. In fact, one survey found that 80% of people spend at least half of their time overworking. That's a huge number of precious hours lost - and could be avoided with a little extra planning.
We can ensure the following with a solid plan in the beginning:
- Ensure stakeholder alignment from the start to help you gain buy-in, minimize organizational hurdles, and set the project scope. In fact, spending a little extra time getting this aligned early on in your project can save you a lot of heartaches because it removes ambiguity and gives everyone a clear picture of what is expected.
- Make sure everyone is on the same page and everyone knows exactly what they need to do and when - so no more "but I thought someone else was doing it" accidents.
- Mark risks in advance so you know the warning signs to look out for. These will vary from project to project but can include things like one major deadline that will have a knock-on effect on others if missed; going over budget, which means you have to take money from somewhere else. Once you know what to be on the lookout for, you'll be better able to spot when you're going off course and correct your course in the moment rather than when it's too late.
- Make sure each project has a strategic goal. Goodbye, work. By having a solid project management plan in place, you can ensure that each project contributes to your overall strategic goals.
- Expect the unexpected. Planning does not mean that there is no room for change. The best planning has a little wiggle room built in from the start so you can adapt and stay. (More on that later.)
When it comes down to it, better project planning can revolutionize the work your team produces—and the results you achieve. That means happier stakeholders, more fulfilled teams, and, if you're in a client-facing industry, more happy customers (and more glowing reviews).
Project management is too large an area to cover in a few pages, and the effort is to provide concise and clear definitions of the various concepts and terminologies associated with the project. It is important to note that project management provides a framework within which the organization's subsequent actions can be taken, and in this way, it is essential for organizations to adopt the framework that project management practices provide.
