What is a Project?

●​ reduces risk and increases the

A project is a set of tasks that you do to chance of success.
reach a goal within a certain timeframe. It
usually has: Triple Constraints
●​ Clear goal (what you want to Often, a triangle, commonly called the "triple
achieve) constraint", is used to summarize project
●​ Start and end date management. The three most important
●​ Steps or tasks to follow factors:
●​ People, time, and resources needed ●​ time
to finish it ●​ cost
●​ scope
Definition of Project Management These form the vertices with quality as the
• Project Management is the practice of central theme.
leading the work of a team to achieve goals
and meet success criteria at a specified In words, the triple constraint has four core
time. elements:
• It is the process of planning, organizing, ●​ Projects must be within cost (how
and managing tasks to complete a specific much money you have?)
goal within a certain timeframe. ●​ Projects must be delivered on time
Project Management includes: (How long will it take?)
●​ Planning what needs to be done
●​ Setting a schedule and budget
●​ Organizing the team and resources
●​ Monitoring progress
●​ Solving problems
●​ Completing the project and
reviewing results

It involves the following key premises:

●​ It is no small task. ●​
●​ has a definite beginning and end. It's Projects must be within scope (What
not a continuous process. needs to be done?)
●​ uses various tools to measure ●​ Projects must meet customer
accomplishments and track project quality requirements
tasks. These include Work
Breakdown Structures, Gantt charts Project Management Diamond
and PERT charts. More recently, the project management
●​ Projects frequently need ad-hoc triangle has given way to a project
resources rather than dedicated, management diamond with cost, time,
full-time positions common in scope and quality as the four vertices and
organizations. customer expectations as a central theme
 Importance of Project Management
Good project management ensures that the
goals of projects closely align with the
strategic goals of the business. In
identifying a solid business case, and being
methodical about calculating ROI, project
management is important because it can
help ensure the right thing is delivered,
that’s going to deliver real value.

Skills needed in Project Management

Hard skills – technical skills; learned thru
No two customers have the same
training
expectations. You must ask, explicitly, about
Soft skills – interpersonal qualities and
each customer's expectations. If you don't
traits developed through experience and
know what those expectations are, you have
interaction
no hope of meeting them.

Phases of Project Management

Why It Matters in Projects:
●​ Quality should never be forgotten
●​ Prioritize what matters most based
on project goals and client
expectations.

What Does This Mean?

In project management, you can’t always
have everything perfect — so you have to
make trade-offs. The Project Management
Diamond (Scope, Time, Cost, Quality) helps
you see all the factors you need to balance.

It forces you to ask: 1. Project Initiation: Defining the goals,

●​ Can I deliver this within the deadline? objectives and critical success factors for
●​ Do I have enough budget? the project. Everything needed to set up the
●​ Can I meet high-quality standards? project before work can start. A project is
●​ Is the scope too big or too small? formally started, named, and defined at a
broad level during this phase. Project
The diamond shows you that you can’t sponsors and other important stakeholders
change one side without affecting the due diligently decide whether or not to
others. That’s the challenge — and that’s commit to a project. Depending on the
where the trade-offs come in nature of the project, feasibility studies are
conducted. Or, as it may require, in an IT
project requirement gathering and analysis Occurring at the same time as the execution
are performed in this phase. In the phase, this one mostly deals with
construction industry, a project charter is measuring the project performance and
completed in this phase. progression in accordance to the project
plan. Scope verification and control occur to
2. Project Planning: Detailed plans of how check and monitor for scope creep, and
the work will be carried out. A project change of control to track and manage
management plan is developed changes to project requirement. Calculating
comprehensively of individual plans for – key performance indicators for cost and
cost, scope, duration, quality, time are done to measure the degree of
communication, risk and resources. Some variation, if any, and in which case
of the important activities that mark this corrective measures are determined and
phase are making WBS, development of suggested to keep a project on track. To
schedule, milestone charts, GANTT charts, prevent project failure, consider why
estimating and reserving resources, projects are likely to fail and the ways to
planning dates, and modes of prevent failure.
communication with stakeholders based on
milestones, deadlines, and important 5. Project Closure: Formal acceptance of
deliveries. A plan for managing identified the deliverables and disbanding of all the
and unidentified risks is determined as this elements required to run the project. A
may affect aspects of a project later on. project is formally closed. It includes a
Risk management planning includes: series of important tasks such as delivering
●​ risk identification and analysis the product, relieving resources, rewarding
●​ risk mitigation approaches and; team members, and formal termination of
●​ risk response planning. contractors in case they were employed on
the project.
3. Project Execution: Doing the work to
deliver the product, service or desired Common Problems and Solution in Project
outcome. A project deliverable is developed Management
and completed, adhering to a mapped-out 1. Your Client Gives You Vague,
plan. A lot of tasks during this phase Ever-changing Requirements
capture project metrics through tasks like 2. Your Client is Slow with Communication
status meetings and project status updates, 3. The Project Doesn’t Start On Time
other status reports, human resource needs, 4. You Try to Manage Every Project the
and performance reports. This is an Same Way
important phase, as it will help you 5. The Client Doesn’t Like What You Created
understand whether your project will be a 6. Your Point of Contact Doesn’t Seem to
success or failure. Care About Your Project
7. Too Much Time is Spent Solving
4. Project Monitoring & Control: Ensuring Problems After Projects Are “Live”
that a project stays on track and taking
corrective action to ensure it does.
 Steps in Project management
Planning
– This is where you define the goal of the
project and list all the tasks needed to
achieve it
Setting a schedule and budget
– Determine how long each task will take
and how much the project might cost. Even
in student projects, you need timeframes
and resource planning.
Organizing the team and resources
– Assign roles and gather materials or tools
you’ll need
Monitoring Progress
– Keep track of what’s already done, what's
still pending and if the team is on schedule.
Solving Problems
– Projects rarely go perfectly. You must
handle delays, misunderstandings, or
incorrect data.
Completing the Project and Reviewing
Results
– Once all task are done, you deliver the
final output and evaluate how the project
went