What Is Project Management: Definitions, Tools, Institutions

WHAT IS PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Project management is a process that involves the use of the right tools to lead the work of a team. In other words, starting and ending a project depends on the scope, time, and budget available. Furthermore, the use of tools such as Monday and Agile project management can help you to speed up your project. In this piece, you will learn about institutions for project management.

What Is Project Management?

Project management is the process of planning, implementing, organizing, and monitoring a team’s efforts to complete all project objectives within a given time and budget. In the first place, it involves using particular expertise, know-how, resources, methods, and tools to provide value to people. Also, it is a unique process that consists of a set of activities under control that coordinates them with a starting and finishing date. Similarly, achieving an objective that conforms to a particular project requirement is based on time, cost, and available resources. On the positive side, every project is a short-term attempt to further add value by producing a distinct good, service, or outcome. Organizations began systematically using project management tools and techniques on challenging engineering projects in the 1950s.

Project management emerged from a number of application areas, such as heavy defense work, civil construction, and engineering. Furthermore, Henry Gantt is the father of management and is famous for the use of the Gantt chart as a tool for managing projects. The Project Management Institute (PMI) was established in 1969 as a result of the need to address the scheduling and resource problems linked to projects that were becoming more complex.

Who Leads a Project?

A project manager leads a project; he uses different approaches, tools, and techniques to ensure that he meets the project’s needs. A project manager also ensures that team members meet the goals. Lastly, the success or failure of a project depends on the manager.

Examples of Projects Include:

  • The development of software for a better business process.
  • The expansion of sales into a new geographical market or an IT expert creating groundbreaking software.
  • Project management can furthermore help a  young student working on a science project realize success. 
  • Project management can also help a young student working on a science project realize success. 
  • Construction of a structure e.g. highway, and the effort to aid in the recovery from a natural disaster.

Stages in Project Management

Generally, the project management process involves five stages, which include:

#1. Planning

Setting goals is the main focus of the project planning phase. Also, the quality of the planning process determines whether or not a project succeeds. Most projects that fail in the middle are the result of poor planning. 

#2. Project Initiation

This is the official start of a project. This stage involves defining the project’s goal. The project manager will now assess the project’s benefits and drawbacks, identify the issue that the project is meant to address, and produce a project initiation document (PID). Goals, size, scope, risks, limitations, controls, reporting framework, and assessment criteria will all be covered in the PID. 

#3. Monitoring

If the progress is not closely monitored, the project could fail or experience other serious lapses. You can use different tools to assist you in keeping an eye on things like cost, quality, risks, and time. A project time-tracking tool is one of the most important resources. The time tracking will show you whether or not you are sticking to the plan, whether your project is on schedule, and whether you need to adjust your schedule. 

#4. Execution

After proper planning, you can start the implementation process. It is also the stage where you put your plans into action. At this stage, you ensure that you carry out the tasks you want to.

#5. Ending

This is the final part of the project. Two things normally take place in this part. It is either you have to finish the project. Another point is that the project is being canceled. Project closure usually includes the release of staff and resources; canceling or closing contracts; and preparing the final budget and project report.

Types of Project Management 

There are several types of projects, but let’s consider the following:

#1. Waterfall Project

A project is broken down into distinct phases with waterfall project management, and the next phase is longer and cannot start until the previous one is finished. Furthermore, there is no expectation that the procedure or the roles and responsibilities of each team member will change throughout the course of the project.

#2. Agile Project Management

Unlike waterfall, Agile project management is an iterative process. Any project using the Agile methodology goes through several iterations, giving the team plenty of chances to make changes as they go. It also reduces the amount of time needed to complete a project by breaking the larger goal into smaller, more manageable chunks that can be worked on. In addition, projects that frequently call for innovation, teamwork, and modifications benefit from this management approach.

#3. Scrum Project Management

The Scrum methodology, which is based on Agile for management, places an emphasis on completing work in short intervals of time known as “sprints.” Teams hold short meetings known as “standups” each day to discuss task progress and address any problems. A “Scrum master” is also in charge of these meetings, and his or her main duty is to oversee daily operations and stop anything that is trying to stop productivity.

#4. Kanban Methodology

This is another system of Agile management and aids managers in visualizing and organizing the workflow of their teams. It also places a strong emphasis on removing inconsistencies and wasteful work in order to boost productivity. Going further, kanban accomplishes this by breaking projects down into smaller tasks, allowing team members to concentrate on one useful task at a time.

Institutions for Management Project

Project management institutions are all over the world for easy and higher learning. Significantly, these institutions are for both a bachelor’s and a professional degree in project management. Most Project Management institutions are nonprofitable organizations, and others are affordable for all kinds of management programs.

The following are project management institutions for getting higher knowledge:

#1. Project Management Institute

This is the first legal non-profit project management institute(PMI), founded in 1969, and is located in the U.S. with over five million professionals and about 680,000 members with volunteers in over 180 countries around the world. The mission of the association is to assist those looking for support in successfully managing their projects and portfolios by offering tools, a network, and best practices. In addition, the PMI provides a journal to review management research and gives grants for management research. 

#2. The University of California

This institution is located in Los Angeles (LA) and has a 24-unit Project Management Certificate offered by UCLA Extension. Also, the various management courses help in building your career in management.

#3. Harvard Business School

Harvard offers a certificate of management excellence for advanced learning that will help you increase your business and leadership skills. In addition, the certificate of management is given to individuals who successfully complete their course.

#4. George Washington University

Washington University, founded in 1996, is one of the oldest and most reputable specialized degree programs in the world. It is also, located in DC, USA, and offers an Online Master of Science in Project Management and other related management disciplines.

Monday Tools Project Management

Monday Project Tools (Monday.com), formerly known as dapulse, is a project management tool that facilitates team collaboration, streamlines workflows, and helps teams manage challenging projects. As far as it has to do with projects, Monday.com can be used in any organization. In continuation, Monday project management tools are used to start the week and allow you to view two boards in a project. In addition, Monday offers templates that edit software development. Monday tools are also best for the use of a team project structure. The Monday Project Management API is the first version of the Monday.com project and uses cross-origin sharing resources(CORS). The second version of the API is GraphQL, which allows users to pull and alter data.

Features of Monday.com Tools

The Monday project management tools further help team members manage their projects easily. Let’s consider the following features:

  • Checklist
  • Columns
  • Project Automation
  • Intensive integration
  • Customer support
  • Market for Apps
  • Screenshot for Monday.com
  • Individual planning
  • Standard planning
  • Pro planning

Agile Project Tools

Agile project tools are the approach that enables teams to complete projects on time and also not hinder the quality of the project. Also, by using Agile project tools, a team can finish a project quickly without affecting the quality. In addition, it uses an Agile methodology that enables teams and businesses to save time and money and provides an environment for change. In continuation, Agile project tools are a management methodology that is usually for developing software. Lastly, Agile project tools for project management use software to break big work structures into smaller pieces.

Advantages of Agile Management Tools

  • Gives more value to customers using the software. 
  • Helps to identify issues faster
  • Reduces waste
  • better ability to adapt to change
  • Agile project management tools also, increase success through more focused efforts
  • Customized team structures
  • Optimize for development processes
  • Eliminates rework
  • meaningful project metrics
  • High rate of collaboration

List of Agile Project Management Tools ProofHub

The following are the lists of Agile management tools:

  • Wrike
  • Smartsheet
  • Active collab
  • Asana
  • VersionOne
  • Agilean
  • Binfire
  • LeankitKanban
  • Atlassian Jira
  • Axosoft
  • Planbox
  • Pivotal Tracker
  • MeisterTask

Conclusion

Managing projects, having a team, and understanding the cost, time and budget are what make a project achievable. In addition, it is important to understand and make proper use of the different Agile tools when necessary. Lastly getting more certification from management institutions is also important in other to upgrade your management skills.

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FAQs on Project Management

what is project management?

It is the process of planning, implementing, organizing, and monitoring a team’s efforts to complete all project objectives within a given time and budget. It also involves using particular expertise, know-how, resources, methods, and tools to provide value to people. it is about planning,

5 stages of projects

  • Planning
  • Initiation
  • Execution
  • Monitoring
  • Ending

what is the start of a project called?

The start of a project is called project planning, this is when you start bringing in the ideas that are needed to carry out a particular project.