Defining Project Management

We spend a lot of time talking about “Project Management.” But we should make sure you understand what we mean by the term or phrase “Project Management.” 

Project management is the discipline of carefully projecting or planning, organizing, motivating and controlling resources to achieve specific goals and meet specific success criteria. The actual project is generally a temporary endeavor designed to produce a unique product, service or result with a defined beginning and end (usually time-constrained, and often constrained by funding or deliverables) undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives, typically to bring about beneficial change or added value. In general this can be reduced to a simple goal of functional, on time and on budget.

The temporary nature of projects stands in contrast with business as usual (or operations), which are repetitive, permanent, or semi-permanent functional activities to produce products or services. In practice, the management of these two systems is often quite different, and as such requires the development of distinct technical skills and management strategies.

The primary challenge of project management is to achieve all of the project goals and objectives while honoring the preconceived constraints. The primary constraints are scope, time, quality and budget. The secondary, and more ambitious, challenge is to optimize the allocation of necessary inputs and integrate them to meet pre-defined objectives.

Until 1900, civil engineering projects were generally managed by creative architects, engineers, and master builders themselves, for example Vitruvius (first century BC), Christopher Wren (1632–1723), Thomas Telford (1757–1834) and Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806–1859). It was in the 1950s that organizations started to systematically apply project management techniques and tools to complex engineering and manufacturing projects.

In 1969, the Project Management Institute (PMI) was formed in the USA. PMI publishes A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), which describes project management practices that are common to "most projects, most of the time." PMI also offers multiple certifications.

Our Project Management Professional Certification Classroom Prep Course has been prepared by PMstudy – a global leader in PMP certification training which has enabled over 200,000 students to succeed at a rate of 98.7%. This exhaustive classroom preparatory course has been designed with your success in mind. We offer both online and classroom course paths. Use four full-length simulated exams designed on the lines of the actual exam.

If you’d like to know about PMP Certification, go to www.leapuniversity.biz for more info.

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