I have spent quite a good amount of time for the past few years learning and engaging in project and product management. Recently completed, the Google Project Management Certificate - a rigorous hands-on program that covers traditional and Agile project management approaches throughout the life cycle of a project.
With all the learning and experience in hand, I planned to write a series of articles related to project management so that it can become an easy reference for anyone who intends to understand and use various concepts and tools related to project management in real life.
Project management concepts and ideas are so vast in nature that they can be used and employed not only in professional life but also in personal life like managing an event, marriage ceremony, annual get-together, and others. I will discuss the various phases of project management and link related articles to it so readers or users can easily navigate and study it in more detail.
The first part is to
Understand project management
Here, we discussed the following aspects of the basics of project management;
What is project management?
Project management job categories and typical roles
Value of a Project Manager
Project Manager's Impact on Organizations
Key project manager roles and responsibilities
Responsibilities that utilize interpersonal skills
Core Skills of a project manager
Common misconception about project managers
Project management is the practice of planning, organizing, and executing a set of activities to achieve specific goals within a defined timeframe and budget.
Project Phases
From ideation till the completion of the project, there are four major phases of project management, and is almost the same in all industries across the globe. They are -
Project Initiation
Project Planning
Project Execution
Project Closure
Project management starts with an idea and the reasoning behind it - the 'Why' of doing it. Once the management and business team finalizes what needs to be accomplished be it a new product, a new feature, or an increment in operational efficiency, the project is initiated.
Project Initiation
The first phase of project management is 'Project Initiation'. Here we study and conduct market research on the feasibility of the project. Further we;
Determine the project details
Set project goals
Identify and define the project scope
Analyze costs and benefits
Develop project documentation
Understand and leverage stakeholders
To further understand more about it, I have conducted a detailed discussion on the project initiation with the following two articles;
Project Initiaiton: Part 1
Content consists of the following attributes;
Key Components of Project Initiation
Cost Benefit Analysis
Project Charter
SMART Goals
OKRs
Project Scope
Triple constraint model
Launch & Landing
Success Criteria
Measuring progress
Project Initiaiton: Part 2
Content consists of the following attributes;
The Team
Skills of the Team
Team & Diversity
Project Roles
Stakeholder Analysis & Visualization
Generating stakeholder buy-in
RACI Chart
Project Failure - Initiation Missteps
Documentation
Document Types
Tools for Project Management
Types of tools
Digital Tools for PM
Project Planning
The next phase of project management is 'Project Planning'. This is the part where we develop the project plan in sync with the final requirements and acceptance from the stakeholders. The project plan document is a living artifact that is updated and referred to throughout the project lifecycle. Salient points in this phase are;
Get to know your team
Identify milestones and tasks
Estimate task duration
Develop project documentation
To further understand more about it, I have conducted a detailed discussion on the project planning with the following two articles;
Project Planning: Part 1
Content consists of the following attributes;
Importance of project planning
Kickoff Meeting
Tasks and Milestones
How to set Milestone
WBS - Work Breakdown structure
Project Plan
Time Estimation
The planning fallacy and optimism bias
Critical Path
Soft skills
Project Plan Best Practices
Gantt Chart
Kanban boards
Project Planning: Part 2
Content consists of the following attributes;
Project Budget
Project budgeting best practices
Types of costs
Maintain the Budget
Budgeting Terms
Understanding the procurement
Agile procurement management
Procurement Documentation
Ethics in Procurement
Risk Management
Brainstorming the risks
Fishbone Diagram
Types of Risks
Risk Mitigation Strategies
Type of Dependencies
Risk Management Plan
Effective Communication Plan
Documentation
Project Execution
This is the third phase of the project where work is done and the plan is set into motion. Here, we look at all the aspects of running a successful project;
Communication
Maintaining project quality
Choosing a project management approach
Implementing scrum
Project Execution: Part 1
Content consists of the following attributes;
Tracking and Measurement
Popular Tracking Methods
Project status reports
Risk & ROAM Analysis
Escalation
Quality Management
Soft Skills
User Testing and Feedback
Continuous and Process improvement
Retrospective
Value of Data
Data ethics
Data Analysis
Effective presentation
Project Execution: Part 2
Content consists of the following attributes;
Leadership and Influencing Skills
Bruce Tuckman's five stages of team development
Ethical and Inclusive Leadership
Effective influencing
Communicating
Project Closure
Impact Reporting
Project Closure
The last and final lap of the project management. Here is the stage where you close the project - correctly. The essential parts that need to be understood in this phase are;
Why closing matters
Retrospectives
Demonstrate your impact
Celebrations
For a brief discussion on project closure, you can refer to this article and jump to the sections of retrospective, communication, project closure, and Impact reporting.
Agile Project Management
The following article contains all about agile project management and SCRUM 101.
It contains the following important aspects;
4 values of the Agile Manifesto
SCRUM
Kanban
XP
Lean
SCRUM 101
Product Backlog
User Stories
Backlog Refinement
Scrum's Working
Best Practices of Scrum
Scrum Tools
Maximizing Value-Driven Delivery
Roadmaps
Influence and Coaching
Agile Challenges
DevOps and Business Agility
Scaling Agile
This is the end of my series of articles on project management. Hope you have a useful reading, will be happy to know your views on it. Always ready for an active discussion.
Thank You!