Because all projects will always have impediments and unforeseen events, Project Management was created. Originally stemming from the building and public works sector, this discipline has been adopted (and adapted) for a lot of different fields: IT, Marketing, Defence,…
Project Management aims to organize and manage resources to deliver all the work required to complete a project on time, as per the original requirements and within the budget allocated. These 3 factors (Time, Scope and Cost) form what we call the Project Management Triangle, where each side represents a constraint. One side of the triangle cannot be changed without impacting the others:
- The first one refers to the amount of time available to achieve the objectives.
- The second refers to what has to be done to achieve the objectives.
- The third refers to the budgeted amount available to achieve the objectives.
Each of these three constraints often competes against the others. For instance, reducing the time planned originally to do the project can have a negative impact on the original scope (e.g. we won’t be able to produce what was originally expected). Conversely, expanding the timeframe will involve extra cost, or a tight budget could mean increased time and reduced scope…
There are several approaches that can be taken to managing project activities including agile, interactive, incremental, and phased approaches. Regardless of the approach employed, it will always imply the same major stages:
- The discovery phase (in which the project is defined, designed and planned).
- The execution phase (in which the project is realized and qualified).
- The closing/maintenance phase (in which the project is finalized and its result put in production and analyzed).
