The use of project management in today's society is becoming more popular today.

Entrepreneurs are
quite likely to employ workers who are already learning about the management of projects.
Consequently, skills to master project management are more helpful and are now necessary. Larson and
Erik (2011) say that outstanding project executives are educated, born with experience, not born. The
adaptation between published project management theory and personal experience when engaging in
the Fit for a Fiddle project is therefore clarified in this article.

Project management is not applicable to running a factory making sausage pies, but it will be

the right system when there is a requirement to relocate the factory, build an extension, or produce

a different product requiring new machinery, skills, staff training and even marketing techniques.

It is immediately apparent therefore that there is a fundamental difference between project

management and functional or line management where the purpose of management is to continue

the ongoing operation with as little disruption (or change) as possible. This is reflected in

the characteristics of the two types of managers. While the project manager thrives on and is

proactive to change, the line manager is reactive to change and hates disruption. In practice

this often creates friction and organizational problems when a change has to be introduced.
Successful project management has several significant characteristics. To

understand the value of project management, it is necessary to understand the

fundamental nature of a project; the core characteristics of project management

processes; how success is evaluated, the roles, responsibilities, and activities of a

project manager and the expertise required; and the context in which projects are

performed, conceptually illustrated by figure 1.1

The fundamental nature of a project is that it is a “temporary endeavor

undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.”2

Projects are

distinguished from operations and from programs.

What Is Project Management?

“Project management is the process of the application of knowledge, skills, tools,

and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements.”6

That is,

project management is an interrelated group of processes that enables the project

A project is temporary, unique, and the product of a multifaceted and

progressively elaborated process that produces a solution for a specific objective.

For the endeavor to be successful, the project must be accomplished on time,

within budget, and to the appropriate degree required to satisfy the objective. For

success to be achieved, the project manager must be skilled and operate in an

environment which enables a project team to function. Excellence in project

management should be viewed as the positive trend in the performance of

successful projects.

Project management is a critical practice that applies knowledge of process, skills, tools, deliverables,
and techniques to project activities to ensure a solid path to project success by meeting goals and
requirements.

We encounter projects in our everyday lives—in business and at home. Think about projects for a
minute: at work you might be building or contributing to a deliverable (like a report, a website, a tool or
product, or even a building), and at home you might be making a meal, planning a vacation, or even
working on upgrades to your home. These—and many other examples—are true projects that have a
defined start and end date, a goal, a scope, and resources. And, they all require some level of
management.

In business, which is where we’ll focus in this chapter, projects are typically unique operations that are
conducted to meet specific goals. Examples of projects might be the development of software to
increase employee productivity, the construction of a building to house community events, or the design
of a website to decrease call volume to a business. The list could go on and on. All of these types of
projects require a team of people who are responsible for different aspects of the delivery. For instance,
you’d likely see a designer, developer, and copywriter working on website design projects. In many
instances, a project manager is staffed to these projects to ensure that the team delivers the project on
time, under budget, and meeting its stated goals.

So, then, what is project management? It’s not a tool or a person, it’s a practice.
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What is project management?

Project management is a critical practice that applies knowledge of process, skills, tools, deliverables,
and techniques to project activities to ensure a solid path to project success by meeting goals and
requirements.

We encounter projects in our everyday lives—in business and at home. Think about projects for a
minute: at work you might be building or contributing to a deliverable (like a report, a website, a tool or
product, or even a building), and at home you might be making a meal, planning a vacation, or even
working on upgrades to your home. These—and many other examples—are true projects that have a
defined start and end date, a goal, a scope, and resources. And, they all require some level of
management.

In business, which is where we’ll focus in this chapter, projects are typically unique operations that are
conducted to meet specific goals. Examples of projects might be the development of software to
increase employee productivity, the construction of a building to house community events, or the design
of a website to decrease call volume to a business. The list could go on and on. All of these types of
projects require a team of people who are responsible for different aspects of the delivery. For instance,
you’d likely see a designer, developer, and copywriter working on website design projects. In many
instances, a project manager is staffed to these projects to ensure that the team delivers the project on
time, under budget, and meeting its stated goals.

So, then, what is project management? It’s not a tool or a person, it’s a practice.
Quick links

What does a project manager do?

Project manager roles and responsibilities

Project management process

What are the benefits of project management?

Project management terms

Project management tools and resources

Define what project management means to you

So, then, what is project management? It’s not a tool or a person, it’s a practice.

What does a project manager do?

No matter where they work—construction, consulting agencies, marketing teams, manufacturing, HR

teams, software developers, and event planners—or the types of projects they manage, project
managers are the men and women on the front lines of projects, defending their teams, clients, and
projects from miscommunication, missed deadlines, scope creep, and any other failures. They champion
the well-being of the people involved in their projects and look to make or facilitate strategic decisions
that uphold the goals of their projects. That’s a hefty job description, and it requires a fine balance of
managing the administrative details of a project and its people. While PMs are often lumped in the
“behind the scenes” aspect of project, to be highly effective, they need to be a part of the bigger
strategic project conversations.

PMs are not robots. They are not on your team to just take notes and make sure you’re recording your
time properly. Yes, they do work in spreadsheets and follow-up on deadlines at a sometimes-annoying
rate. But the PM role is important on your team for several reasons.

There are so many intangible tasks and qualities of project managers that it’s not uncommon for people
to not fully understand just what a PM does, and if they need one or not. Here’s the thing: You always
need a PM, no matter what. That PM might be called a producer, account manager, designer, or even
developer.

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Project manager roles and responsibilities

As mentioned, the role and even the title may differ slightly from place to place, but the basics of what a
PM will do for a team are fairly consistent (though some may be less formal than others). The role of the
project manager involves many tasks and responsibilities including:

Traditional approaches

Agile methodologies

Change management methodologies

Process based methodologies

Planning and defining scope

Setting and managing expectations

Crafting process

Creating project plans

Managing tasks

Resource planning

Time/cost estimating

Analyzing and managing risks and issues

Monitoring and reporting project status

Team leadership

Strategic influencing

Facilitating communications and collaboration

Planning and facilitating meetings

That is a lot to include in one job description—one that does not actually hold any operational or
management responsibility for the team working on the projects. Often, you will find PMs in a tough
position of trying to make things happen, but without the authority to truly push an issue. In order for
that to happen, the PM has to gain the trust and respect of their teams and have the endorsement of
senior management.

Project management process

There is no single way to run all projects. You’ll find that most organizations spend a lot of time making
mistakes and adjusting their process in order to get it just right, only to find that when they thought it
was “just right” it needed to be tweaked again. Factors like changing business needs and goals, new or
different staff and expertise, evolving or new technology are often among reasons why processes have
to change. But what’s most important is that an organization or team has a basic framework for how
projects operate. As you research project management processes, you will find that most models
identify three basic phases (with varying names, tasks, and deliverables) to organize activities:

Research, discovery, and planning

Typically, an organization will perform some level of research to determine the validity of a project. This
could take the form of market research, user research, competitive analyses, among many other
activities. These are the critical steps in the project that help to define goals and requirements for what
needs to be designed or built. This is also when a project team can come together to define how they
will work together, and what their execution plan will be, taking all outside factors into consideration.

Executing

Once the project is planned, it’s time to execute. The execution can play out in several different ways,
using different processes like waterfall, agile, or variants therein. Essentially what you will find in this
phase is time for collaboration, creation, review, and iteration. Teams will partner with stakeholder
groups to present work, accept feedback, and complete deliverables that are mutually agreed upon,
leading up to a final deliverable. This happens to be the phase that is riddled with change, delays, and
sometimes even dispute. For that reason, it happens to be the phase where the PM is most active.

Testing, measuring, iterating

After a project has launched, it’s time to make sure it’s tracking well against its goals. In an agile project,
a minimum viable product (or MVP) will be launched to gain early feedback to iterate. On waterfall
projects, the feature-complete product will be launched and tested. In either case, test results will
reveal what is and is not working for users and stakeholders. Teams will take test results and alter—or
build on—the product to create something that is closer to those goals. This is natural for agile projects,
but not so much for waterfall projects, which would require a new or “Phase 2” project to be added on.

There is no right or wrong way to roll out a process. What’s most important is that the process matches
the values and talent of the organization. It will become quite evident if the process is not a right fit for a
team, because people will be unhappy and work will not get done without issues. The best thing you can
do when it comes to process is sit down with your team to discuss what will work best and why.
Document decisions, roll out a process, and be open to discussing it and changing it when needed. Keep
the 3 steps above in the back of your mind for an overall framework to operate by, and do what feels
right for your project and your team.

What are the benefits of project management?

There are so many intangible tasks and qualities of project managers that it’s not uncommon for people
to not fully understand their worth. The benefits of any role seem to come down to perception, but a
bulk of a PM’s work is “behind the scenes,” so how can you demonstrate the benefits? First, it starts
with the individual. Each and every PM should know their role and their worth and follow-through on
being a good PM for their teams. Second, it comes down to the organization. A PM will not thrive in an
organization that does not value the role and see the benefits of it. And, lastly, the benefit of having a
PM on a team is realized by the people who work with them. If they are not bought in, the PM will have
a hard time helping.

Some people see the benefits of having a PM on a team, and others don’t. And that is okay—sometimes
just having someone on a smaller team to handle logistics and communications is enough. That’s right,
you don’t always need a PM, but you do need someone who will handle PM tasks. If simply stating that
managing tasks and communications can provide more time to team members to collaborate and create
isn’t enough to sell you on the value of PM, read on for more direct benefits.

More efficient teams

Having a PM on your team means that you’ve got a person dedicated to making sure that work is done
on time and at the right time. That person is also looking to make sure that the team’s practices are
running smoothly, and if they are not, they will be corrected through discussion. This is the kind of thing
that makes teams happier, because they can focus on working hard and producing successful products.
Happiness

Everyone—clients and teams—walks away from projects that are done on time and within budget with
a smile on their faces. They’re also happy when they’re communicating well. Guess who helps to make
all of that happen?

Organization

Teams with project managers benefit from the fact that someone is paying attention to how, when, and
why something should happen. Great PMs utilize tools like project plans and RACI matrices to help suss
out the details. When you have a dedicated PM, there is time to organize and use the right tools to help
a team.

Team growth and development

When you’re trying to work on a task and manage it along with everyone and everything else, it can be
tough. That means that you don’t have the time to focus on your work product, or developing strategies
or methodologies to do it better. When a PM is involved, that stress is peeled away and the team gets to
collaborate and grow by trying new approaches to deliverables. There’s something to be said for letting
experts focus solely on their craft (even when that expert is a PM).

Flexibility

Great PMs know that projects change, and they are always on the lookout for it. And when that change
becomes a real factor, they immediately find ways to adapt the project’s path. Having a PM on your
team means that you’ll always know when a risk, issue, or change is on the horizon, and you’ll be able to
plan for them.

Quality

When your team is focused on their craft, the quality of work goes up because they have all the time
they need (well, within scope) to do that job. And, a good PM will always have quality of work on their
minds as they help to deliver work to stakeholders. It’s common for a PM to contribute to internal
reviews, proofread content, and make sure that work is flawless before it goes out the door.

Quantity
This one is important for business owners. When you remove the burden of PM from your team and
place it on one person, you free up their time to take on more projects and produce more work. Sounds
like a win-win.

There are surely many more benefits to project management, like the hard facts and details you get out
of typical PM reports and deliverables: transparency on budget and timeline, accountability for tasks,
and so on. Those tend to be the things people think about when they hear “project management,” and
they are absolutely great benefits. But as you see, those benefits create other benefits that affect not
only the bottom line, but the people and the process.

Project management tools and resources

In order to be a great project manager, you have to educate yourself and stay current with what is
happening in your industry. New articles, books, courses, blogs, newsletters, templates and resources
are made available to PMs and PM enthusiasts every day. But how do you keep up with it all? It’s not
easy to wade through it all and know what will work best for you, and we get that. That’s why, over the
past few years, TeamGantt has produced a lot of great content to help you be a better project manager.