A Detailed Guide to Project Management Terms and Techniques
If you have natural leadership abilities, an eye for detail, and a preference for clear expectations, you’ve managed projects for your team. But if you lack professional expertise in project management, it might be easy to become overwhelmed by this new duty. But don’t worry, we are here to assist you.
This introductory overview of project management will identify best project management software, terms, tools, and practices to equip you with the skills necessary to run a project.
Project Management
Project management is the practice or discipline of organizing, motivating, and directing efforts to accomplish a given goal. The project objective is generated and delivered within the budget, scope, and schedule parameters.
Functions and Structure of the Project Team
Now let’s discuss who participates in project management.
Project Manager
Only the project manager is granted the authority to handle a project. They are responsible for developing the processes needed to manage people, tasks, and deliveries throughout the project lifecycle, from planning to closure.
The role of project manager is responsible for defining the work/tasks, creating the project plan, maintaining the budget, and managing the change order or request process. They also collect the project scope, maintain project documentation, and report and communicate with all project stakeholders regarding its progress and status.
Project Group
The project team could consist of full-time or part-time employees and independent contractors. This team should be execution-focused, ensuring that each task is completed as defined, under budget, and on schedule. In addition, they are responsible for comprehending the work to be done, determining when to raise concerns or issues to the project manager, and conveying task updates proactively.
Project Sponsor
The project sponsor is the individual who initiates the project and has the final authority and say. Typically, they are accountable for getting project funding, resolving high-impact issues and scope modifications, and approving the major project deliverables. The project is neither successful nor complete until its sponsor declares it so.
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Project Management Documentation
A vital role of project manager is to create and maintain project documentation. From identifying the project’s goal before work begins to documenting lessons gained after the project concludes, project documentation assures consensus and transparency regarding expectations. It also serves as a guide for the team and informs the design of future similar initiatives.
Project Plan
A project plan is a central document for a project. In addition to defining the project objectives/scope, project schedule, and high-level requirements, it also considers the budget and schedule. This document, often known as a project charter, is where you will formally identify the project team and roles.
Project Scope
The scope describes the project’s final objective and the tasks required to achieve it. The project manager collaborates with the project sponsor to determine the project scope before the project starts and makes adjustments as necessary. The project plan should document the high-level scope and the project’s borders and perimeters.
The best foundation for a successful project is a scope that is specified clearly and concisely.
Project Requirements
In essence, requirements are precise descriptions of what the product or service should serve the user, what it should look like, and how it should function.
The project manager should include the high-level requirements in the project plan as part of the project’s scope, and the specific requirements in a document that is easily accessible to the team. Each team member should study the requirements’ specifics to guarantee clarity and consensus over what must be done.
Change Orders
Once the project’s scope, requirements, budget, and schedule have been authorized, any adjustments must go through a formal change order process. This guarantees that all requested changes are correctly documented, evaluated, and subsequently approved or denied. In addition, this creates trust in the project management process among all stakeholders and forces hasty or poorly thought-out decisions to be refined before implementation.
Status Updates
Last but not least, the status report is a regular report detailing the project’s progress, important task updates, and budget adjustments. This continuing and transparent report assists you, your project team, and critical stakeholders maintain integrity regarding the project’s work, budget, and issues.
Read More: Top Project Management Software Dashboards Compared
Project Management Tools
Let’s examine the most fundamental project management planning tools and their functionality within project management software.
Gantt Chart
A Gantt chart represents a project’s tasks and a timetable is used to monitor project schedules.
Work Breakdown Structure
Work breakdown structure (WBS) is a hierarchical chart that describes the primary deliverables of a project and then breaks them down into smaller, more manageable tasks.
Critical Path
A critical path is the sequence and timing of tasks that you must do to complete the entire project on time. A task is on the critical path if, for instance, a one-day delay on that job will result in a one-day delay for the entire project. The critical path will require the most significant time to execute the project’s tasks.
Project Risk
Every project contains future occurrences that, if they materialize, would have a detrimental influence on at least one project’s aim. These occurrences are project risks, and as the project manager, you should construct a risk register to capture each risk occurrence, the action required to mitigate it, and its status.
Popular Project Management Methodologies
Agile
Agile Project Management Software is an adaptable, flexible process for obtaining project requirements, executing, and delivering the project. The project will begin with high-level needs, but not every detail will be determined before the team starts work. Instead, the team will focus on work blocks, present them to the project sponsor, and then make adjustments or move on to the next work block.
Scrum
Scrum is an Agile teamwork technique characterized by the delivery of iterative, incremental work increments. It is frequently employed in software product development. Scrum is derived from the sport of rugby, in which the team leader, the Scrum Master, empowers the Scrum team to operate rapidly and independently. An empowered team is a Scrum team.
Bottom Line
Project management goes much beyond its definition. It is a large subject that encompasses numerous topics. We hope this guide provides you with strategies and best practices to improve your project management process.
