A project is temporary in that it has a defined beginning and end in time, and therefore defined scope and resources. A project is unique in that it is not a routine operation, but a specific set of operations designed to accomplish a singular goal. So a project team often includes people who don’t usually work together—sometimes from different organizations and across multiple geographies. The development of software for an improved business process, the construction of a building or bridge, the relief effort after a natural disaster, the expansion of sales into a new geographic market, the development of new products, the research to increase our knowledge in a specific scientific field—all are projects. And all must be expertly managed to deliver the on-time, on-budget results, learning and integration that organizations need.
Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements. It has always been practiced informally, but began to emerge as a distinct profession in the mid-20th century. PMI’s A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) identifies its recurring elements: Project management processes fall into five groups:
* Reproduced from: https://www.pmi.org/about/learn-about-pmi/what-is-project-management
Many methodologies or approaches have been developed as a guiding processes to manage projects. The PMI’s broad definition of project management methodology is helpful – ‘A methodology is a system of practices, techniques, procedures and rules used by those who work in a discipline’. Many different methods have been developed to manage & deliver projects. These methods/approaches are applied to different principles, themes, frameworks, processes and standards to help provide structure to the way a project is managed and delivered. Some of the terms used to define the various project management approaches are: Waterfall, Agile, Scrum, Iterative, CPM (Critical Path Method), PMBOK, Six Sigma, etc. Each methods have their strengths and weaknesses, depending on the type of projects that you are doing.
