Project management is a vital part of any business. A business will not run smoothly if it doesn't have good project management. In addition, having a good project manager is one of the determinants of whether project management in a company goes well or not.
In the process of running a company or business, several goals have been set from the start. To achieve these goals, there are a lot of things to be done including managing projects. Project management includes the entire process from planning, and execution, to finishing a project.
We'll cover the definition of project management, why it is important, the phases of project management, and how to make it run easier. Now let's take a look at the definition of project management!
What is project management?
According to PMI, project management is the practice of a variety of specialised knowledge, skills, tools, and methods to produce something of value to people. Or in simple words, project management is the foundation for leading your team to success.
A project cannot function without effective project management practices, much like a car without fuel. Projects are carried out to accomplish the specified objectives and deliver the desired outcomes or benefits. Time and budget are the essential foundation of a project. Therefore, project management functions to manage time and budget to execute a project in order to achieve the company's goals.
Why is project management important?
This is an interesting question. Many businesses and companies are still not aware of the importance of project management. They think that project management is only a waste of money and an unneeded tax.
The truth is running projects without effective project management is a bad investment. It's commonly regarded as a needless expense, and there's no denying that it can be costly.
Effective project management is not only talking about delivering on schedule, under budget, and aligning with the project's scope. Also, it brings together clients and team, sets a vision for a successful project, and gets things on the track to success.
Now, let's see the importance of project management!
Improving team communication
Sometimes it can be difficult to collaborate. With effective project management, you can increase team collaboration, ensure transparency, and maintain accountability. Therefore, working across teams or departments can be well-performed.
Save time and budget
You can make sure that your job is delivered on schedule and on budget by making the proper preparations. By using project management practices, you can plan the course of your project from the beginning, and know in advance when the deadlines are and what are the obstructions. This allows you to more effectively deploy your resources, preventing delays and overspent budget.
Better business judgement
With clearer records of your projects, you can better understand where your resources are being used, what needs to be prioritised and when, or whether you're at risk of deviating from your original plan. Effective project management helps you to anticipate problems before they arise, avoid bottlenecks, and make informed decisions.
Quality Assurance
Effective project management ensures that the outcome is qualified at every level as well as the project has the time and resources to complete.
Gated stages are necessary for good project management so that teams may evaluate the outcome for quality, applicability, and ROI. Project management is crucial for giving teams time to review and verify their outputs at each stage of the process.
Learning from failure and success
Project management is crucial because it draws lessons from prior successes and mistakes. Project management may help you overcome negative habits, and it's vital to prevent repeating errors while executing projects.
This results in a useful collection of documentation that serves as a list of future "dos and don'ts." Teams will frequently repeat making the same mistakes over and over again without this learning.
5 Phases of Project Management
sources: monday.com
We will briefly discuss the phases or stages of project management. If you want to know more about a deeper approach to the stages of project management, we break it down here.
1. Initiating
Project initiation aims to provide a general definition of the project. A business case or project charter is often the first step in this approach. You should finish any required research or feasibility testing at this period.
To determine if the project can be performed, significant parties will exercise due diligence. If the project is approved, you must draft a project charter or project initiation document (PID) outlining its goals and specifications.
2. Planning
The planning phase, which is essential to effective project management, concentrates on creating a team's road map. Project managers should assemble their teams, set up collaboration tools, and set goals during the planning stage. There are two well-known methods for setting goals, namely S.M.A.R.T. and C.L.E.A.R. method.
S.M.A.R.T. stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. This method helps teams to ensure that the goals have been carefully examined. Additionally, it gives a way of properly understanding the effects of the goal-setting procedure.
While C.L.E.A.R. stands for Collaborative, Limited, Emotional, Appreciable, and Refinable. It is the newest method used by modern and fast-paced businesses to set up goals.
3. Executing
The team creates and completes outputs throughout the project execution phase. This phase starts with several actions such as kick-off meetings, status reports, status updates, and the shifting into performance monitoring as the project advances.
Tasks that are needed to perform in this phase:
- Team development
- Resources assignment
- Project plan execution
- Procurement management (if needed)
- Project managers lead the project execution
- Setting up tracking systems
- Task assignments
- Project schedule updates
- Project plan modification (if needed)
4. Monitoring / Controlling
Project monitoring or controlling is vital in order to ensure that the project outcomes meet the management plan. Project managers may use key performance indicators (KPIs) to evaluate the project's progress. To keep the project on track at this period, PMs might need to modify resources and timelines.
5. Closing
The group must formally close a project after it is finished. In order to assess accomplishments and shortcomings, project managers typically call a post-mortem meeting. A team can identify both areas for improvement and things that went well once the project is finished.
PMs still have a few things to do when the project is over. They will need to collaborate with the team to finish the items on a project punch list that weren't completed throughout the project. Prepare a final project report and final project budget. In the end, they need to store all project documentation and outcomes in one single place.
How VirtualSpace Runs Your Project Management Easier
VirtualSpace transcends beyond project management software. Not only does it allow teams to manage all projects in a single place, but also it enhances team communication. It gives your remote teams effective collaboration within this state-of-art tool.
What your remote teams can do with VirtualSpace:
- Enhanced project tracking
- Staying on top of schedules and deadlines
- Effective and efficient team collaboration
- Seamless team communication
- Centralised project documentations
Dive in right away and give your team the best experience of having a cutting-edge tool in their hands!
