When compared to other engineering disciplines, software engineering has a relatively shorter history. But it’s been one of the most dynamic and rapidly evolving spaces with several project development approaches, models, and paradigms.
But no matter which development model is being used, every project undergoes a set of primary stages that restrict specific project-related tasks and activities.
Understanding these core components of project management is necessary in order for you to be able to plan project schedules and manage resources more efficiently. So, here’s a deep dive into the various phases and core components involved in a project.
What is project management?
Project management is a broad term that refers to the overall activities and implementation of the various methods, skills, expertise, and methods used to achieve the desired outcomes from a project. It defines how things get done and involves the various tasks and processes that allow a project plan to be executed efficiently. Project management aims to get the final deliverables ready on time and within budget as per the project plan.
What are the phases of project management?
Unlike generic management processes, project management is particularly tied to a specific project and its deliverables. It has a finite timescale that ought to start and end with the project completion. The following three parameters are often used as the basic building blocks of every project:
It also passes through some primary stages before it’s deemed complete or has achieved its goals.
Read on: Your guide to the project management workflow
5 Phases of project management
Here are the five common phases of project management:
- Conception and initiation
- Definition and planning
- Launch or execution
- Performance and control
- Project close
Comprehensive tool for project management phases
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems can significantly benefit the management and execution of projects, especially when integrated with dedicated project management tools. Let's delve into how an ERP can assist in each of the five traditional phases of project management.
1. Initiation
Feasibility analysis: An ERP can help gather historical data and insights from similar projects to determine the feasibility and viability of a new project.
Stakeholder identification: The system can identify key stakeholders based on roles, departments, or previous project engagements.
Resource allocation: Early-stage allocation of resources like budget, personnel, or equipment can be assessed based on the availability and utilization data in the ERP system.
2. Planning
Budgeting: An ERP can facilitate accurate budget forecasting based on historical cost data and current financial status.
Resource planning: Your system can identify and allocate resources (human, material, financial) for the project.
Timeline forecasting: Using historical project timelines, the ERP can help project managers estimate the duration of tasks.
Risk management: By analyzing data from past projects, the ERP system can highlight potential risks and help in devising mitigation strategies.
3. Execution
Real-time monitoring: An ERP can track the project's progress in terms of timeline, cost, and resources in real-time.
Communication: Communication will be enhanced among teams, departments, or even with external stakeholders through integrated collaboration tools.
Document management: You can store, retrieve, and manage all project-related documents.
Procurement: With an ERP, you can streamline purchasing and vendor management processes, ensuring timely availability of necessary resources.
4. Monitoring & controlling
Performance dashboards: An ERP provides dashboards that give an overview of project health, helping managers to identify bottlenecks or deviations.
Change management: If there's a need to change the project scope or resources, the ERP can assist in assessing the implications of these changes.
Expense tracking: Ensure that the project is within the budget by comparing actual expenses with budgeted amounts.
Quality management: You can monitor the quality of deliverables and processes based on predefined metrics and KPIs in the ERP system.
5. Closing
Project review: Use ERP data to conduct post-project reviews, identifying successes and areas for improvement.
Financial reconciliation: Ensure all project-related expenses are accounted for and paid.
Resource release: Efficiently release and reallocate project resources for other tasks or projects.
Knowledge management: Store project documentation, lessons learned, and other knowledge artifacts in the ERP for future reference.
While ERP systems can provide substantial support throughout the project management lifecycle, integrating them with dedicated project management tools can further enhance their effectiveness. This combination can deliver a holistic view and control over projects, ensuring that they are completed on time, within scope, and within budget.
Read on: How to select the right ERP system
What are the components of project management?
The components of project management refer to all the activities, processes, human resources, and everything else that’s required to run the project and ensure that the project scope is well accomplished. It could be anything from the project documents, schedules, resource calendars, dependencies, and more.
Core components of project management
While each project may have its specific components, almost every project will have some essential core components. These components are a mandatory part of project management as they help steer the project activities in the right direction and help track the project's progress at all times.
Goals
Goals define the very reason why the project came into existence. Without a solid plan, a project cannot justify the need for resources and time being spent on it. Every project must have its own goals that need to be achieved by the end of the project.
Milestones
Milestones mark the completion or achievement of necessary deliverables that specify considerable progress in the project. This establishes more fiend project requirements and helps with the accurate estimation of resources and time.
Complete rate
The complete rate of a project refers to the estimation given by the project manager as to how much progress the project has made and how much it’s progressing towards achieving its end goals. This parameter helps keep track of the project status and is updated every month or sprint cycle so that it reflects the real-world situation.
Work breakdown structure
A work breakdown structure is a productivity technique that helps break down project tasks into manageable chunks of work or activities that can be easily assigned, allocated, and kept track of. A bigger task may be broken down into several smaller tasks and will be deemed to have been completed when all the related tasks are marked as done.
Scope
The project's scope refers to the extent of the project’s outcomes and the desired outcomes, along with the associated deadlines, budget, and quality criteria. Establishing the project scope ensures that the project doesn’t drag on indefinitely and has focused results that should be achieved within a limited timescale and budget.
Deliverables
Deliverables are the various outputs and products realized via the project execution and form the accomplishment of the project's goals.
Schedule
The project schedule refers to the various timelines, time allocations, estimations, and deadlines fixed for the project.
Read on: How Gantt charts help in different areas of project management
Human resources plan
This involves all the activities and tasks related to identifying the necessary skill sets, talents, and expertise required for the project's success and utilizing them most effectively. The plan will chart out the organizational structure, staffing policies, work policies, staff acquisition criteria, release criteria and give deeper insight into the various processes involved with human resource management.
Communication
Communication and cooperation are key to the success of any project. The project management team is responsible for providing the various tools and communication policies that the project team can use to communicate with each other and share project-related files in a secure and legally compliant manner.
Read on: How technology improves project management
Budget
Every project needs a budget to be able to be brought into implementation. Without the necessary budget and resources, it’s impossible to make a project a successful venture. The budget of a project may or may not be revised. So, project management is supposed to make an accurate estimate and ensure the project expenses always fall within the set budget limits.
Assets
Assets refer to the various physical, software, and human resources that are assigned to a project. Every hardware, software license, knowledge repos, and human talent associated with the project can be called assets.
Team skill set
The team skill set is a critical element of a project that determines its overall success. Based on the project’s requirements, the project manager should identify the required skilled personnel, hire them into the team, and ensure knowledge management is done correctly in order to enhance the team’s skill set to maximize productivity and quality of the deliverables.
Risks
The various risks associated with a project must be identified and mitigated. Project management must be ready to implement the risk mitigation plans and ensure that the deliverables are within the required quality parameters.
How to choose your project management tool
Project management can be a complex process involving a considerable deal of resources and documentation. But with the help of the right tools, it can be made simpler and more efficient. You can derive much more out of your team's performance, improve productivity, and boost staff morale with the help of intelligent project management tools like Vault. Vault is a modular project management solution that allows you to run your projects efficiently without any added worries.
Read on: How to choose the right project management tool
