What is Project Management?

by Mike Reyer

According to the Project Management Institute, project management is “the use of specific knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to deliver something of value to people.”

Pretty straightforward, right?

The pure definition of project management is so broad because the practice of managing projects varies as much as any career can. At the same time, the tools required to successfully manage a project are surprisingly universal.

This article will introduce the most basic concepts of project management while providing the foundation upon which we will build our understanding as we move through the process.

What is a Project?

When you think of a project, you might think of something you or a family member said they would have gotten done months ago. Something like painting a bedroom, installing a light fixture, or fixing a leaky faucet.

All of these are perfectly fine examples of projects. However, in the business and IT worlds, projects can look quite a bit different. Maybe a new tech start-up wants to develop a website for marketing their services. Maybe a financial services provider wants to create a new investment product and needs to ensure it plays nicely with the rest of their offerings. Or maybe a construction company has been asked to engineer and build a new bridge across a river.

The word project casts a wide net. There is a near-infinite variety of projects, but they all share some common elements:

• Scope: The specific objectives the project must complete, that can be broken down into groups of smaller tasks.
• Schedule: How long it will take to satisfy the project objectives.
• Cost: How much of a financial investment the project requires to fulfill its scope.

While there are multiple correct ways to define a project, with these elements in mind, we’ll define it as follows:

A project is a set of tasks that must be completed by a predetermined time, within an allotted budget, to achieve a specific goal or outcome.

What is a Project Manager?

While they may have manager in their title, the responsibilities of a project manager differ greatly from other managerial roles. The project manager leads the project team and oversees every aspect of the project, but they do not play a direct supervisory role for any individual. Their primary job is to be a facilitator — making sure the team, stakeholders, and the project itself has everything they need to be successful.

If the role of a project manager could be condensed into two words, those words would be Communicate and Organize. The project manager is the bridge between the stakeholders that want something to be delivered, and the team members who are working to deliver it. Ensuring that the right conversations are happening and relevant information is being shared is critical to a project’s success.

Additionally, as administrator of the project plan, the project manager is responsible for keeping the team organized and on track. This includes proper documentation, useful metrics, and a host of other tools that we’ll dive into in a later topic.

Project Constraints

Earlier we were introduced to the concepts of Scope, Schedule, and Cost — three elements all projects have in common. These are called project constraints. A project constraint is a limiting factor that can impact the ability to achieve a project’s goals.

Consider a project’s cost. In order to complete an objective (i.e. build a website), expenses are incurred (developer wages, hosting fees, etc.). No matter how profitable a business may be, no budget is limitless, yet there must be some funding allocated to the project otherwise it will never get off the ground.

This is true for all constraints; a project must also have objectives and a timeline, but neither can be infinite. Each of these constraints impacts a fourth — and arguably most important — one: Quality. Project quality measures how well project deliverables meet initial expectations and needs. The project team can complete all tasks by a specific date without spending more than they’re budgeted, but if the final product doesn’t meet the needs of the client, the project is a failure.

These four constraints — Scope, Schedule, Cost, and Quality — form what is called the Project Management Triangle. They push and pull at each other constantly, and the job of the project manager is to maintain equilibrium between them.

To illustrate, imagine a client suddenly decided they needed their company website finished two months earlier than originally planned. To fulfill this new schedule, something else must adjust. If scope and cost remain the same, then the quality of the website will have to drop. If the client wants to maintain the same level of quality, then they will either need to remove something from scope or increase the budget.

It’s like walking a tight rope with weights on either side of you. If more weight is added on one end, an equal amount must be accounted for on the other to prevent disaster.

The Project Management Triangle represents the four most prevailing constraints. There are other constraints within most projects, but we’ll cover those and dive deeper into the ones we already know about elsewhere.

The Project Lifecycle

Just about everything has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Projects are no different, though in typical fashion they tend to make things just a little more complicated.

The lifecycle of a project consists of five phases most projects progress through from start to finish:

• Initiation: Define the goals and objectives of the project. The initiation phase is where all the project stakeholders are identified, and the high-level constraints (scope, timeline, and budget) are agreed upon. A project charter is drafted, and if considered feasible, approvals are granted to continue to the next phase.
• Planning: Determine the specific tasks required to achieve the project’s objectives. The project team will recommend how to break apart the work, and potentially request updates to constraints if initial estimates were too low. The team and the project manager build the Project Roadmap, a visual interpretation of your project timeline. This is arguably the most pivotal phase of the project lifecycle.
• Execution: The project is officially started. A kickoff meeting is held, where all key members of the project team and stakeholder group are introduced, and all aspects of the project are communicated. The project team will begin executing the tasks and moving through the roadmap. Depending on how thoroughly the planning phase was conducted, this can either be the smoothest chapter of the project, or the most turbulent.
• Monitoring: Keep the project going according to plan. This phase overlaps with the execution phase and is where the project manager truly starts earning their keep. As the project team gets to work, the project manager compares their progress to the plan and roadmap. When (not if) the project starts veering off course, the project manager works with the team and stakeholders to get it back on track.
• Closure: Project objectives have been satisfied. After all milestones are met and all deliverables are accounted for, it’s time to officially put the pin on the project. Final documentation and sign-offs are organized, and the team reflects on their work — what went well, what could have gone better, and what they learned through the process.

The project lifecycle provides a framework for organizing and processing through the many elements of a project. Some projects may not necessarily follow this phase-by-phase, but establishing distinct periods of time in which to tackle the various responsibilities of a project manager can help ensure that nothing falls through the cracks.

These four elements — the Project, the Project Manager, Project Constraints, and the Project Lifecycle — are the pillars upon which just about every project is built. There are many different types of projects, but all of them will have some version of these items.

Subsequent articles will provide further context on each of these concepts, however this provides a starting point for understanding what project management truly means.