- defining the reason why a project is necessary;
- capturing project requirements, specifying quality of the deliverables, estimating resources and timescales;
- preparing a business case to justify the investment;
- securing corporate agreement and funding;
Components of Project Management
What is project management?
Project management is the process of overseeing a project’s completion while adhering to predetermined standards and deadlines. Typically, the project manager collaborates with key players to establish the broad objectives and standards necessary for the project’s success.
They create a plan that ensures the projects are completed in accordance with the necessary deadlines and financial restrictions and assemble a team that can carry out tasks to support those goals. The project manager is in charge of coordinating the project effort between the project team and stakeholders and keeping track of its development.
10 components of project management
The essential elements of project management are represented in the list below, along with information on how to successfully navigate each one as a project manager:
Goals
When starting a project, you must identify your objectives. Establish the precise outcomes you hope to obtain from completing the project. A project team’s motivation and organization can also be improved by setting goals. Depending on your needs, these goals can cover various categories. Along with financial and performance goals to make sure the project stays within the project’s budget and meets quality standards, you might have business goals that support the overall organization.
Using the SMART method when creating goals is a good strategy. You can use the following steps to create SMART goals:
Scope
The project’s results are defined by the scope, including the final product’s appearance and functionality. Defining other project elements, such as objectives, quality standards, budgets, and timelines, may be necessary before defining the scope.
For instance, the project might seek to develop a wellness app for internal staff members. The project team may specify the app’s scope as saying it can be downloaded on all operating systems, needs a username and password, offers meditation exercises, and lets users keep track of their fitness goals. It defines the result that the team wants to accomplish.
In order to achieve that goal, you must also specify the tasks, deliverables, deadlines, and resources needed. This step enables you and your team to comprehend how much time and money will be required to complete the project. It also guarantees that everyone is aware of what is expected of them.
Team members stay on task and are more focused when they are aware of the assignments they have to complete or the deliverables they need to produce. You can avoid performing any tasks that do not advance the overall project goals by having a clearly defined scope.
Key achievements
The key deliverables or milestones that your project team will reach are something you, as the project manager, need to identify. Milestones are important accomplishments or objectives to reach, and major deliverables are the noteworthy products the team produces. Typically, milestone deadlines are included in your timeline plan to aid in monitoring project progress.
For instance, your project’s ultimate objective might be to develop a new learning platform for staff members. One of your main outputs might be a document outlining the platforms’ finalized design specifications. The platform may need to be built, tested for user accessibility, and then launched.
The project milestones and major deliverables differ from daily tasks. Nevertheless, you can divide a deliverable into more manageable deliverables and tasks by using the WBS, another project management tool. The key results and deliverables provide the team with more high-level, shared objectives to work toward. Team members feel successful as they reach significant milestones because they are getting closer to the end goal.
Timeline
The project team must decide on a deadline for finishing the project after defining its scope and objectives. You might collaborate with outside parties to establish deadlines that your project team must meet.
As a project manager, you are also accountable for monitoring the team’s progress to make sure the project is completed on schedule. This element complements the key accomplishments or milestones you identified because they can act as progress indicators for the project timeline.
You might also need to schedule the completion of particular tasks or smaller goals in addition to the overall timeline. You can make a spreadsheet that lists the beginning and anticipated end dates for each task, or you can use project management software.
To ensure task completion, timelines and schedules should be established and communicated to team members and stakeholders. Additionally, it makes it possible for everyone to keep track of the project’s development and hold responsible parties accountable for their duties.
Budget
A budget shows how much money has been allocated for the project. It is your duty as a project manager to allot and monitor financial resources. You might need to solicit advice from management or other pertinent parties, though. Keep an eye on the project to make sure you stick to the budget or adjust it as necessary.
The cost of completing particular tasks, paying vendors or employees, or the price of any materials used during the project may all be included in the budget, which can vary. This element might be connected to other project components like the scope, schedule, and human resources plan.
Work breakdown structure
The project is divided into smaller tasks using a work breakdown structure (WBS). These duties assist in achieving the project’s specified milestones and deliverables. As the project manager, you can specify the team members who will complete the tasks in what order.
You can create a chart or document listing each task and the people assigned to complete it in order to keep track of the work breakdown structure. This element promotes team accountability and keeps the project on schedule.
Human resources plan
Plans for human resources are used by project management to specify the projects staffing. This plan specifies who will work on a project team and how much time they will devote to it. As the project manager, you may need to contact the team members and their managers to find out when they are available. You must incorporate the following components in your human resources plan:
Communications
To monitor the success of a project and track its progress, effective communication is essential. You can develop a plan as a project manager that specifies your expectations for communication with team members and stakeholders. You could assign yourself the duty of informing stakeholders about the project on a regular basis.
You could assign team members specific communications tasks as part of your strategy, like producing progress reports. A communications strategy ensures that everyone is aware of the project and helps everyone stay informed.
Project communications use a variety of communication channels, including written, virtual, and in-person. Your team will probably communicate daily, keeping each other informed of any concerns or progress on the project.
Additionally, you must maintain regular contact with your team in order to hold them accountable for their duties and offer assistance as required. To communicate this information to stakeholders, the team must also conduct more official communications, such as reports or meetings.
Risk management
You must be aware of any risks or difficulties you might encounter because not every project goes as planned. You can identify risks and develop handling techniques by creating a risk management plan or risk register as a project manager. To create the risk management plan, you can collaborate with your team members, the project sponsors, and stakeholders.
The likelihood of them occurring and the potential effects they could have on your project are the two factors you must take into account when identifying risk. You use these factors to prioritize risks and develop strategies.
Normally, you would concentrate on the risks that have a higher likelihood of occurring. Then, in your risk management strategy, describe the actions your team will take to prevent them. For instance, you could assess the danger of not finishing a task by the due date. Team members may decide to provide daily updates on their task progress to reduce that risk.
You must also specify the actions that the team must take when a risk materializes. For instance, you might develop backup plans in the event that the client modifies their project requirements or if you run out of money.
Quality standards
Additionally, you must establish high standards for the project’s final product. As a project manager, you can work with pertinent clients or stakeholders to determine the quality requirements your team must satisfy.
For instance, if your team is creating an app for the business, you might establish quality criteria for the app’s visual appeal, usability, and performance. Quality standards make sure that your team is aware of the task expectations and produces work that satisfies the demands of the stakeholders.
Determine the team’s strategies for upholding quality standards and how to evaluate the caliber of their work as a project manager. Additionally, you can specify the procedures the team must follow in order to complete particular tasks in a high-quality manner. For instance, the team might have to give several presentations for a project. To guarantee the consistency and quality of the deliverables, you can give them all a template to follow.
FAQ
What are the 4 components of project management?
- Resources: People, equipment, hardware/software.
- Time: Task durations, schedule management, critical path.
- Money: Costs, contingencies, profit.
- Scope: Project size, goals, requirements.
What are the five components of a project?
- Executive Summary: Describes the nature of the project deliverables produced to meet the needs of the organization and the project.
- Policy and Procedures.
- Schedules.
- Timeline plans.
- Budgets.
What are the 9 elements of project management?
Scope, cost, and time are the three components of the project management triangle, which determine the project’s quality. The triangle shows how these three variables are interconnected; if one is changed, the other two must also be changed to maintain the triangle’s connection.
