What Is Project Management…Exactly?

What Is Project Management Exactly?

If you are like most people, you are "pretty sure" you know what projects are, and you "think" you know what project management is (and what a project manager does), but there's always a varying amount of uncertainty in those perceptions. So, let's start off by clarifying some key concepts. Project management is simply the process of managing projects (and you thought this was going to be difficult). While this definition is not particularly helpful, it does illustrate three key points:

• Project management is not "brain surgery." Yes, it covers a vast array of subjects, processes, skills, and tools, but the key fundamentals of project management are straightforward and are consistent across industries.
• To better understand project management, we need to understand what a project is. The nature of a project provides insights into the scope and challenges of project management.
• To better understand project management, we need to understand what is implied by the term managing and how this compares against traditional business management.

What Is a Project Exactly?

A project is the work performed by an organization one time to produce a unique outcome. By "one time," we mean the work has a definite beginning and a definite end, and by "unique," we mean the work result is different in one or more ways from anything the organization has produced before. Examples of projects would include the following:

• Building a new house
• Developing a new software application
• Performing an assessment of current manufacturing processes
• Creating a new radio commercial

The Project Management Institute (PMI), the globally recognized standards organization for project management, defines a project as "a temporary endeavor to produce a unique product or service."

This is in contrast to the operations of an organization. The operational work is the ongoing, repetitive set of activities that sustain the organization. Examples of ongoing operations include the following:

• Processing customer orders
• Performing accounts receivable and accounts payable activities
• Executing the daily manufacturing orders

To further explain the nature of projects (and project management) and how they compare to the ongoing operations of an organization, please review the summary in Table 1.1.

Table 1.1. Comparing Projects and Operations

Feature	Projects	Operations
Key Similarities	Planned, executed, and controlled Performed by people Resource constrained	Planned, executed, and controlled Performed by people Resource constrained
Purpose	Attain objectives and terminate	Sustain the organization
Time	Temporary Definite beginning and end points	Ongoing
Outcome	Unique product, service, or result	Non-unique product, service, or result
People	Dynamic, temporary teams formed to meet project needs Generally not aligned with organizational structure	Functional teams generally aligned with organizational structure
Authority of Manager	Varies by organizational structure Generally minimal, if any, direct line authority	Generally formal, direct line authority

After learning more about the nature of projects, you are beginning to see the inherent challenges involved with project management (and we will detail these out later in this chapter). For now, let's better define "project management."

"Managing" Projects

What do we mean when we say "managing" projects?

• We mean applying both the science and art to planning, organizing implementing, leading, and controlling the work of a project to meet the goals and objectives of the organization.
• We mean the process of defining a project, developing a plan, executing the plan, monitoring progress against the plan, overcoming obstacles, managing risks, and taking corrective actions.
• We mean the process of managing the competing demands and trade-offs between the desired results of the project (scope, performance, quality) and the natural constraints of the project (time and cost).
• We mean the process of leading a team that has never worked together before to accomplish something that has never been done before in a given amount of time with a limited amount of money.

Sounds like fun, doesn't it? We will explain each of these key aspects of project management in subsequent chapters, and we will discuss many of the specific tasks and responsibilities performed by the project manager in Chapter 2, "The Project Manager," but for now we just want to align our general understanding of project management.

PMI definition of project managementThe application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements.

 

An Academic Look

To further assist this alignment process, let's look at project management from a more academic level. The Project Management Institute (PMI) defines project management as a set of five process groups (refer to Table 1.2) and nine knowledge areas (refer to Table 1.3).

Table 1.2. Description of Project Management Process Groups

#	Process Group	Description per PMBOK 2000 Edition	Common Terms
1	Initiating	Authorizing the project or phase	"preliminary planning" "kicking off"
2	Planning	Defining and refining objectives of the project and selecting the best course of action to attain those objectives	"defining" "developing the plan" "setting the stage"
3	Executing	Coordinating the people and resources to implement the plan	"making it happen" "getting it done" "coordinating"
4	Controlling	Ensuring project objectives are met by monitoring and measuring progress regularly to identify variances from the plan so that corrective actions can be taken	"tracking progress" "keeping on course"
5	Closing	Formalizing acceptance of project or phase and bringing to an orderly end	"client acceptance" "transition" "closeout"

Table 1.3. Description of PMBOK Knowledge Areas

#	Knowledge Area	Description per PMBOK 2000 Edition	Common Deliverables
1	Project Integration Management	Processes required to ensure the elements of the project are properly coordinated	Project Charter Project Plan Change Requests Work Results
2	Project Scope Management	Processes required to ensure that project includes all the work that is required and only the work that is required to complete the project successfully	Scope Statement Work Breakdown Structure Formal Acceptance
3	Project Time Management	Processes required to ensure timely completion of the project	Network Diagram Task Estimates Project Schedule
4	Project Cost Management	Processes required to ensure the project is completed within the approved budget	Resource Requirements Cost Estimates Project Budget
5	Project Quality Management	Processes required to ensure the project will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken	Quality Management Plan Checklists Quality Reviews
6	Project Human Resources Management	Processes required to make the most effective use of the people involved with the project	Role and Responsibility Matrix Organization Chart Performance Evaluations
7	Project Communications Management	Processes required to ensure the timely and appropriate generation, collection, dissemination, storage, and ultimate disposition of project information	Communication Plan Status Reports Presentations Lessons Learned
8	Project Risk Management	Processes concerned with identifying, analyzing, and responding to project risk.	Risk Management Plan Risk Response Plan Risk Log
9	Project Procurement Management	Processes required to acquire goods and services outside the performing organization	Procurement Plan Statement of Work Proposals Contracts

Figure 1.1 summarizes the relationships among the project management process groups, which is based on PMBOK 2004 Edition (Figure 3-2 page 40).

Figure 1.1. Project management process relationships.

Again, depending on your experiences, you may not have realized that project management consisted of all this, and you may not actually perform all of these activities as a project manager in your organization. However, it is important and helpful to understand how big your playing field is when learning something new. This book will not completely educate you on each of these process groups nor each of the nine knowledge areas, but it will provide you with the knowledge, essential tools and "real-world" insights to make you effective in your first project management opportunity.

Project management is a broad field with great potential for specialized and in-depth study. There are entire books and training classes focused solely on advanced analysis of individual process groups and knowledge areas.