What is project management? Project definition and project management

What exactly is "Project Management"?

That's right, it means "managing" a project. So, what exactly is a project and what does management mean?

Let's take a look at the general definitions and the PMBOK to find out what a project is, what project management is, and what a project manager is.

What is a project?

What do you think of when you hear the word "project"? It seems to be something very big and heavy, something that cannot be easily controlled.

Dictionary definition of "project"

Let's look at the dictionary definition of project here.

A project. A planned project. A research and development plan.

If you think of a project as a plan, it may seem a little different from what you have in mind, but if you think of a project as the planning and execution of a plan to realize a new project, then that may be what you think of as a "project".

PMBOK definition of "project

So how does the PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge), the project management body of knowledge guide, define it?

Fixed-term work undertaken to create a unique product, service, or output.

The "project" you hear about in dramas and movies sounds exactly like this. It could be interpreted as "work done to create a new product or service with an end in sight.

You use the word "fixed-term. It means that the work performed in a project, or a set of work, has a definite "beginning" and "end.

A project can be a stand-alone activity, or it can be a series of interlocking projects, or it can be part of an organization's or company's overall strategic activities.

Projects and Routine Operations

Routine tasks are defined as "tasks that are always the same, unchanging, and performed on a daily basis" and are used as a counterpart to projects in the PMBOK. So, is it wrong to call routine work a project?

It is advisable to discuss and define this carefully from the perspective of how the team approaches its work, rather than just accepting the definition of the word as it is.

Will the team tackle the daily work as a flowing process, or will it continue to look back and make improvements, continuously improving the efficiency of the work and visualizing issues? By including these efforts, routine work becomes manageable as a project.

What is Project Management?

We have seen what a "project" is. Then, what exactly is "project management" that manages projects?

The PMBOK definition of "project management

Here again, let's look at the PMBOK definition.

The application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities in order to meet project requirements.

So, project requirements are the things or things that are desired as the goal of the project. In other words, it could be read as the application of knowledge, skills, and tools to guide the work for the project in order to achieve the project goals.

When you hear the word "project" management, you may get the impression that you are somehow managing the status of something as mysterious as the project, such as deadlines, costs, risks, etc. However, this is not the purpose of the project itself. Project management is about guiding the team toward the "goal" of the project and achieving results.

Approaches to Project Management

A wide range of approaches can be employed to help project teams achieve results, including predictive, adaptive, or a hybrid of the two.

Predictive Approaches

The predictive approach is effective when the goals of the project are clear at the start of the project and information can be gathered and analyzed in advance. It is also called the waterfall approach.

It is an approach that predicts the overall schedule from the beginning of the project to the end, and then proceeds toward the goal based on that schedule.

First, all the work for the project is broken down and sequenced. Then, we estimate the dependencies of each task, how long it will take, and how much manpower will be required. Adjustments are repeated until a schedule is agreed upon. In this way, an overall schedule is created from the beginning of the project to the end, and the work proceeds.

For example, in the case of product development, it is like identifying all the functions and building them all at once from the beginning to the end of the project.

Adaptive Approach

The adaptive approach is useful when the goals of the project are unclear and requirements are likely to change throughout the life of the project.

The entire project is divided into multiple cycles, and each cycle gradually realizes work that is valuable to the project. For example, in the case of product development, several features are added in one cycle. This is also called the agile type.

Hybrid Approach

A hybrid approach is a combination of predictive and adaptive. It is useful when project requirements are uncertain. For example, a project that has two project deliverables, one to be developed by creating a predictive approach and one to be developed using an adaptive approach.

What is a project manager?

We have looked at the definitions of project and project management. So what exactly is a project manager?

PMBOK definition of "project manager".

A person appointed by the parent organization to lead a project team and be responsible for achieving project goals.

Since project management was "leading the project to the goal," we could say that the project manager is "the person who leads the project to the goal. It is defined in strong terms as a person appointed by a company or organization and responsible for

It is the person who defines and drives the work of the project team and performs a variety of duties, such as managing each process to reach the goal.

"What is Project Management?" Summary

We have looked at "what is project management" from the definitions of project, project management, and project manager. We hope that you are now beginning to feel that the mysterious "project" is something tangible and controllable.

It is the "people" who carry out the project. The project manager is also a "person. As long as people carry out the work, it is uncertain and unpredictable. Project management is to work on the premise that "it is normal for a project not to go as planned," and to work to move the work forward even so.