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• Work Breakdown Structure Was Shallow - Project Management Mistake # 7

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• Project Risk Management: Benefits and Obstacles

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• Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

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• Project Steering Committee Composition

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• Manage Project Risks

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• Cost Estimating in Program Management

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• SMART Requirements - Conclusion

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• 3 Main Benefits of Project Baselining

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• The Top Five Reasons Project Managers Fail

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Managing Project Management

July 9, 2008 | Author: admin | Filed under: Project Management Definitions, Project Management for Beginners

Managing Project Management (#1 in the series Project Management Big Picture)
By Joseph Phillips

Oooh - project management. Everyone talks about project management but what is it? Isn’t project management just organizing your little work to get the big work done? Isn’t project management really just a series of events to create some thing, by some point, way off in some hazy future? Not really.

To define what project management is we first need to define what projects are. A project, technically, is a short-term endeavor to create a unique product or service. A project, in practical terms, is an assignment or undertaking to create a deliverable that satisfies the mission of the project customers.

A project is a set of activities to create something that is outside of your day-to-day operations. A project creates a unique deliverable. For example, if your organization develops game software the actual creation and development of the code is a project. The manufacturing of the CDs, the Internet delivery, and the technical support you provide to your customers is part of maintenance and operations.

The difference is that one set of activities creates a unique deliverable while the other centers on organizational process, day-to-day business, and support of the organization’s mission. This is true in disciplines other than IT: consider designing a car versus manufacturing a car. Consider writing a book versus printing a book. Consider building a skyscraper versus maintaining a skyscraper.

Projects have budgets, deadlines, and an agreed set of requirements for the deliverable to be accepted by the customer.

Joseph Phillips is the author of five books on project management and is a, PMI Project Management Professional, a CompTIA certified Project Professional, and a Certified Technical Trainer. For more information about Project Management Training, please visit Project Seminars.

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• Managing the Thing: Acceptance Management
• Managing the Thing: Change Management
• Managing the Thing: Project Definition Part 1
• Managing the Thing: Project Definition Part 2

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