Studies show that over 85% of projects have a value below $100,000. These are projects where the bulk of the work happens within only a few weeks to a month. Because of their short duration, these types of projects have their own unique set of circumstances that warrant a slight adaptation of project management methodologies. Googling project management search terms … [Read more...]
Like many things in life, project management is an art form as well as a science. But fortunately also like most things in life, a strong knowledge of the science helps you practice the art form with considerably more skill. Some people are naturally good at the art side of things, and if that's you then excellent. But even it's not I believe that most people can become … [Read more...]
If there's one part of project management that's bigger than all the rest, it's project scheduling. Since a project is defined as a temporary endeavor with a distinct beginning and end, defining when that end takes place and making sure it finishes on time are, by definition, extremely important to any project, large or small. Professional project managers look at … [Read more...]
Project Management is a unique field in that people generally don't choose it as an initial career path. They enter via the back door through a technical field, or they want to learn project management theory with the goal of advancing into the role. For this reason, many people who practice project management are not well equipped with project management … [Read more...]
The foundation for project management theory is called process groups. But although it sounds complicated, process groups are simply phases that each project goes through. The five process groups are: Project Initiation Project Planning Project Execution Monitoring & Controlling Project Closing They all occur in chronological order except one. … [Read more...]
In the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) the process groups are the chronological phases that the project goes through, and the knowledge areas occur throughout any time during the process groups. The process groups are horizontal, and the knowledge areas are vertical. They are the core technical subject matter of the project management profession, … [Read more...]
Many people become project managers simply by receiving additional responsibility or via promotion into the role. As such, project management fundamentals are often unknown to the very people who manage projects. The Project Management Institute's Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) is a very structured, analytical outline of a somewhat abstract topic. Although … [Read more...]
The project charter and scope statement can seem like one and the same sometimes. They are both usually contained early in the project management plan, and they both itemize the scope of the project to some extent. So what's the difference? Well, they have a slight difference in purpose. The project charter should contain the rationale for the project, the … [Read more...]
The thing that amazes me about project management in the engineering business is how little it gets used. We engineers are in control of the largest projects in the world, but most engineers have little more than a passing knowledge of project management processes. In this article, I will talk about the following items as they relate to engineering project … [Read more...]
