by Need for Project Management (Objectives)
project management objectives are the successful development of the project’s procedures of initiation, planning, execution, regulation and closure as well as the guidance of the project team’s operations towards achieving all the agreed upon goals within the set scope, time, quality and budget standards.
Projects are temporary and, in a sense, unique endeavors. Temporary because they only happen once and have a specific duration and unique in that they are not routine enterprises, but a set of procedures intended to produce a singular product, outcome, service or result.
At the core of all projects lies the element of collaboration and communication, with all stakeholders, the clients, the project team, the organization or even the wider community. To this end, project management is where all processes meet, the central focal point from which all procedures derive, are specifically defined, scheduled and organized, following which they are communicated and assigned and subsequently followed up on and evaluated.
The successful development and implementation of all project’s procedures. A project, regardless of its size, generally involves five distinctive phases of equal importance: Initiation, Planning and Design, Construction and Execution, Monitoring and Control, Completion. The smooth and uninterrupted development and execution of all the above phases ensures the success of a project.
Productive guidance, efficient communication and apt supervision of the project’s team. Always keep in mind that the success or failure of a project is highly dependent on teamwork, thus, the key to success is always in collaboration. To this end, the establishment of good communication is of major importance. On one hand, information needs to be articulated in a clear, unambiguous and complete way, so everything is comprehended fully by everyone and on the other hand, is the ability to be able listen and receive constructive feedback.
The achievement of the project’s main goal within the given constraints. The most important constraints are, Scope in that the main goal of the project is completed within the estimated Time, while being of the expected Quality and within the estimated Budget. Staying within the agreed limitations always feeds back into the measurement of a project’s performance and success.
Optimization of the allocated necessary inputs and their application to meeting the project’s pre-defined objectives, is a matter where is always space for improvement. All processes and procedures can be reformed and upgraded to enhance the sustainability of a project and to lead the team through the strategic change process.
Production of a complete project which follows the client’s exclusive needs and objectives. This might mean that you need to shape and reform the client’s vision or to negotiate with them as regards the project’s objectives, to modify them into feasible goals. Once the client’s aims are clearly defined they usually impact on all decisions made by the project’s stakeholders. Meeting the client’s expectations and keeping them happy not only leads to a successful collaboration which might help to eliminate surprises during project execution, but also ensures the sustainability of your professional status in the future.
Project management is a flourishing field that keeps growing in knowledge and interest at a considerable rate. Understanding project management objectives in-depth is the first step to success, as you will fully realize what it takes to be efficient, effective and competitive in a shifting, complex and at times unpredictable environment. Due to the nature of project management, which differs from typical management by the innovative, unique and multidisciplinary character of most projects, it is generally agreed that it requires its own tools and techniques. Keep in mind that these tools and techniques do not apply to all projects, so make sure you choose wisely and adjust accordingly.
History of Project Management
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). In the 1950s organizations started to systematically apply project-management tools and techniques to complex engineering projects.
As a discipline, project management developed from several fields of application including civil construction, engineering, and heavy defense activity. Two forefathers of project management are Henry Gantt, called the father of planning and control techniques, who is famous for his use of the Gantt chart as a project management tool (alternatively Harmonogram first proposed by Karol Adamiecki); and Henri Fayol for his creation of the five management functions that form the foundation of the body of knowledge associated with project and program management. Both Gantt and Fayol were students of Frederick Winslow Taylor’s theories of scientific management. His work is the forerunner to modern project management tools including work breakdown structure (WBS) and resource allocation.
The 1950s marked the beginning of the modern project management era where core engineering fields come together to work as one. Project management became recognized as a distinct discipline arising from the management discipline with engineering model. In the United States, prior to the 1950s, projects were managed on an ad-hoc basis, using mostly Gantt charts and informal techniques and tools. At that time, two mathematical project-scheduling models were developed. The “Critical path method” (CPM) was developed as a joint venture between DuPont Corporation and Remington Rand Corporation for managing plant maintenance projects. The “Program evaluation and review technique” (PERT), was developed by the U.S. Navy Special Projects Office in conjunction with the Lockheed Corporation and Booz Allen Hamilton as part of the Polaris missile submarine program.
PERT and CPM are very similar in their approach but still present some differences. CPM is used for projects that assume deterministic activity times; the times at which each activity will be carried out are known. PERT, on the other hand, allows for stochastic activity times; the times at which each activity will be carried out are uncertain or varied. Because of this core difference, CPM and PERT are used in different contexts. These mathematical techniques quickly spread into many private enterprises.
At the same time, as project-scheduling models were being developed, technology for project cost estimating, cost management and engineering economics was evolving, with pioneering work by Hans Lang and others. In 1956, the American Association of Cost Engineers (now AACE International; the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering) was formed by early practitioners of project management and the associated specialties of planning and scheduling, cost estimating, and cost/schedule control (project control). AACE continued its pioneering work and in 2006 released the first integrated process for portfolio, program and project management (total cost management framework).
In 1969, the Project Management Institute (PMI) was formed in the USA. PMI publishes the original version of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) in 1996 with William Duncan as its primary author, which describes project management practices that are common to “Most projects, most of the time.”
