I’m currently studying to sit for the PMP certification. So far my studies have consisted of various project management videos online (primarily Google video and YouTube), and using the book Preparing for the Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification Exam Third Edition. The book is an excellent resource and I highly reccomend it to anyone studying for the exam. The following posts in this series will organize my thoughts and be a place to record my notes. With that said, let’s get started with a general overview of project management!

Introduction

There are two types of business functions: projects and operations.

Project - a temporary endevor undertaken to create a unique product or service (unique than your other company functions)

Operations - day-to-day work that goes on in the organization

A project’s end results can turn in to operations. A project may be to design and create a dynamic website, while the operations that are the direct result of the project would be to keep it updated.

The Five Project Management Processes

Initiating - Needs assessment process; project charter developed; project manager chosen
Planning - Project management and team develop plans for project completion (one of the most important steps in the project management process)
Executing - Project team and vendors move forward to complete the project’s work
Controlling - Project manager works with vendors and team members to ensure milestone completion; defends from scope creep; Inspects quality, and informs project sponsors, management, and perhaps key stakeholders in the organization
Closing - Also known as project postmortem; involves closing out project accounts and completing the projects final acceptance

Project constraints influence nearly all parts of a project.  Common constraints are time (in the form of deadlines) and availability of resources.

The Three Project Constraints

Project Scope - Defines what the end deliverable for a project are. Changing these will change the budget and/or scope in general
Schedule - The expected end date of the project
Cost - The cost of completing the project; the project manager must try to accurately predict the cost

Project Risk - Just like in most things, the risk/reward principal also pertains to project management. Taking risks can lead to great rewards and vise versa, but some risks are worth taking

Project Quality - Having well defined quality guidelines for projects ensures a usable end product; you can define the quality guidelines yourself, or follow guidelines such as ISO 9000.

Management by Projects

  • More and more companies are transitioning to a projectized structure from a functional structure
  • Functional business environments are ones that are separated by function such as information technology, accounting, research and development, ect
  • Service oriented companies are often times projectized (a landscaping company gets hired to design and implement a landscaping job, a consulting firm develops and implements an IT solution, an accounting firm re-files a client’s taxes for the past 5 years, ect)

Stay tuned for my next post in this series that finishes up the general overview of project management, and for the rest of the series that goes into further detail of the topics above!