Unique Ideas

Chapter 1:
History of Project Management:
Project management is considered a new critical career skill of modern time. It is a new career skill today, but it was defined in the 1950s, on the major cold war defense programs. Project management as a discipline grew up within the aerospace and defense industries, but in the 1990s project management broke out of its traditional boundaries. It was not easy to find project management classes offered during 1990s, but it was a required course in Master of Business Administration.

Understanding Project Management:
Learning the basics of project management is important not only for executive or managers, but for every one who participate in a project. Managers and executives who select and sponsor projects may spend only an hour or two a week directly involved in a project, but their ability to speak the language of project management will dramatically affect the team’s perception of management support. Managers who know and use the tools of project management make more effective decisions and enable their people to perform more efficiently.

Success Factors:
1- Agreement among the project team, customer, and management on the goals of the project
2- A plan that shows an overall path and clear responsibilities and will be used to measure progress during the project. Since every project is unique, the only way to understand and execute it efficiently is with a plan.
3- Constant, effective communication among everyone involved in the project.
4- A controlled scope. The successful project manager will ensure that everyone involved understands exactly what can be accomplished within a given time frame and budget.
5- Management support.

Chapter 2:
Essential Characteristics of a Project:
All projects have two essential characteristics. The first project characteristic is every project has a beginning and an end.
The second characteristic is every project produces a unique project. The outcome of a project can be tangible, such as a building or a software product, or intangible, such as new hiring guidelines.

Ongoing Operations vs. Projects
Ongoing operations have the opposite characteristics of projects in that they have no end and they produce similar, often identical products. A project produces a unique product. A project has a beginning and an end.

The Challenge of Managing Projects:
Some challenges that face project managers are:
Personnel: Every project has different personnel needs. The number of people needed and their different skill sets is different for each project.
Estimating: In order to evaluate potential projects, organizations need accurate estimates of costs and schedules.
Authority: Authority within a firm usually represents the ongoing operations of the firm, when projects cross organizational boundaries it is no longer clear who has authority for many decisions.
Controls: Normal accounting practices match operational budgets to operational costs on a quarterly or annual basis. Projects’ accounting should be under control.

References:
The Fast forward MBA in Project Management
By: Eric Verzuh