Page 7 - DMGT302_FUNDAMENTALS_OF_PROJECT_MANAGEMENT

Fundamentals of Project Management
Notes
2 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY
Every project has a set of activities that are unique, which means it is the first time that an
organization handles that type of activity. These activities do not repeat in the project under
similar circumstances i.e., there will be something different in every activity or even if the
activity is repeated, the variables influencing it change every time.
1.1 Project Management
The successful project management is all about structure, control, sufficient attention to detail
and continuously driving action. The role of the project manager is to understand enough
project management to apply its structure and ensure that project is successfully completed
within the time and cost required. The things you must do as a project manager are:
1. Ensure there is a clear understanding why a project is being done, and what it will produce?
2. Plan the project – to understand how long it will take and how much it will cost?
3. Manage the project – to ensure that as the project progresses, it achieves the objectives you
have defined within the time and cost specified.
4. Complete the project properly – to make sure everything produced by the project is of the
quality expected and works as required.
Project management has emerged because the characteristics of our turn-of-the-century society
demand the development of the new methods of management. Of the many forces involved,
three are paramount:
1. the exponential expansion of the human knowledge;
2. the growing demand for a broad range of complex, sophistical, customized goods and
services;
3. the evolution of worldwide competitive markets for the production and consumption of
goods and services.
All three forces combine to mandate the use of terms to solve problems that used to be solvable
by individuals. These three forces combine to increase greatly the complexity of goods and
services produced plus the complexity of the process used to produced them and all this in turn
leads to the need for more sophisticated systems to control both outcomes and processes.
As the techniques of project management were developed, the use of project organization began
to spread. Private construction firms found that project organization was helpful on smaller
projects, such as the building of a warehouse or an apartment complex. Automotive companies
used project organization to develop new automobile models. Both General Electric and Pratt &
Whitney used project organization to develop new jet aircraft engines for airlines, as well as the
Air Force. Project management has even been used to develop new models of shoes and ships.
More recently, the use of project management by international organizations, and especially
organizations producing services rather than products, has grown rapidly. Advertising
campaigns, global mergers, and capital acquisitions are often handled as projects, and the methods
have spread to the non-profit sector. Functions, weddings, fund drives, election campaigns,
parties, recitals etc., all make use of the principles of project management. Most striking has
been the widespread adoption of project management techniques for the development of computer
software.
!
Caution Ensure there is a clear understanding why a project is being done, and what it will
produce.