Project Management Basics Revealed in 5 Easy Steps

In the project management basics post, we’ll elaborate what a project is, how we define a project, what’s the difference between a project and an operation. You can learn more in the project management category.

Define Project Management Basics

A project is a sequence of tasks with a beginning and an end that is bounded by time, resources, and desired results. This means that a project has a specific, desired outcome; a deadline or target date when the project must be done; and a budget that limits the amount of people, supplies, and money that can be used to complete the project.

Project management basics are also very nicely defined and detailed by PMI as well.

Project is a One Time Work

A project is the work performed by an organization one time to produce a unique outcome. That means the work has a definite start & end, and “unique” means the result is different in one or more ways from anything the organization has produced before.

Project is Temporary with a Start and an End

Projects are planned, executed and controlled to attain objectives and terminate. They’re temporary with specific start and end points and produce a unique output as a product, service or result. These concepts are the core of the project management basics.

Define Project Management

Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to achieve project requirements.

Application of Project Management Skills

Project management is accomplished through the application and integration of the project management processes of initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing.

First Rule of Project Management

The first rule of project management is that the people who must do the work should help plan it. A project manager should facilitate planning. Otherwise, project manager will get no buy-in from the team and the plan will fail.

What is operational Work?

The operational work is the ongoing, repetitive set of activities that sustain the organization; for example, processing customer orders, managing accounts, and daily manufacturing activities.

Which Organizations are Successful?

Successful organizations create projects that produce desired results in established time frames with assigned resources. As a result, businesses are increasingly driven to find individuals who can excel in this project oriented environment.

If you want to check your knowledge of the above topic and concepts then here is a fun and short quiz about project management. Go ahead and give it a try and relearn the concepts which you didn’t understand.

Project Management Basics Infographics