My Top 10 Project Management Concepts

Summary

This video script outlines the top 10 concepts in project management, starting with project definition as the foundation. It covers the balance of time, cost, quality, and scope, emphasizing value delivery, governance, stakeholder engagement, and planning. Resource management, project controls, risk management, and the monitor and control cycle are highlighted as crucial for successful project execution, with a focus on iterative and agile practices.

Takeaways

• 📝 Project Definition: Establishing a clear understanding of the project's goals, objectives, and scope is crucial.
• 🔺 Triple Constraint: Projects must balance time, cost, and quality (or scope) to address challenges effectively.
• 💰 Value: Ensuring the benefits of the project outweigh its costs is essential for its justification and success.
• 📊 Governance: Proper governance involves setting direction, making decisions, and overseeing the project to keep it on track.
• 👥 Stakeholders: Engaging stakeholders productively and respectfully is vital as they can affect or be affected by the project.
• 🗺️ Planning: Effective planning is necessary to deploy resources properly and prevent poor performance.
• 🔧 Resources: Managing resources, including people, equipment, and budget, is key to project success.
• 📈 Control: Implementing project controls, like risk management and change control, helps keep the project aligned with its plan.
• ⚠️ Risk Management: Identifying and managing uncertainties that can impact the project is a core discipline.
• 🔄 Monitor and Control: Continuously monitoring and intervening as necessary ensures the project stays on track and problems are addressed early.

Q & A

What is the first important concept in project management mentioned in the video?

The first important concept in project management is project definition, which involves clearly defining what the project is and what it is not, along with a clear statement of the project's goal, objectives, and scope.

What is the 'triangle of balance' or 'triple constraint' in project management?

The 'triangle of balance' or 'triple constraint' in project management refers to the relationship between time, cost, and quality (or scope). Any project management question can be resolved by considering compromises among these three constraints.

Why is the concept of value important in project management?

The concept of value is important because it represents the balance between the cost of a project and the benefits it delivers. A project is considered worthwhile if the benefits outweigh the costs by a significant margin.

What is governance in project management and why is it vital?

Governance in project management involves steering the project in the right direction, making decisions, and overseeing the project to ensure it retains the right direction and does things correctly. It is vital for setting direction, making decisions, and ensuring the project's success.

What are stakeholders in a project, and what is a project manager's role in engaging with them?

Stakeholders are individuals who have a stake in the project, are affected by it, or can affect it. A project manager's role is to engage with stakeholders respectfully and productively, consulting their advice, learning from them, and influencing them.

Why is planning considered a key concept in project management?

Planning is crucial because it involves understanding how, when, and where resources will be deployed. Proper planning prevents poor performance by ensuring the project is prepared and set up for success.

What is the significance of resources in project management?

Resources are significant because they include people, assets, equipment, tools, materials, and money. A project manager's job is to gather, allocate, and control these resources to ensure the project's success.

What are project controls, and why are they essential?

Project controls are methods, processes, and procedures used to keep a project on plan or bring it back on plan if it drifts away. They are essential for maintaining control and handling deviations from the plan, ensuring project success.

How does risk management fit into project management?

Risk management is crucial because projects are inherently uncertain and risky. It involves identifying uncertainties that could impact outcomes, assessing their likelihood and impact, and managing them to mitigate potential negative effects on the project.

What is the monitor and control cycle in project management?

The monitor and control cycle involves continuously monitoring project progress and intervening when deviations from the plan occur. The faster this cycle is executed, the more control the project manager has, allowing for minor interventions to correct small issues before they become major problems.

Outlines

00:00

📋 Project Definition and the Triple Constraint

The video introduces the fundamental concepts of project management, starting with project definition as the groundwork for planning, akin to the foundation of a building. It emphasizes the importance of clearly understanding the project's scope, objectives, and goals. This is followed by the 'triple constraint' or 'quadruple constraint', which involves balancing time, cost, quality, and scope. The presenter clarifies that any project management challenge can be addressed by considering these constraints, suggesting that solutions may involve extending time, increasing budget, adjusting quality, or reducing scope.

05:01

💰 Value, Governance, and Stakeholder Engagement

The second part of the video discusses the concept of value in project management, which is the balance between cost and benefit. It asserts that projects should only be undertaken if the benefits outweigh the costs. The role of governance in guiding the project in the right direction is highlighted, with a focus on setting direction, making decisions, and overseeing the project. The presenter also introduces the idea of stage gates as a key element of governance, particularly in traditional predictive projects. Additionally, the importance of engaging with stakeholders, who can be affected by or influence the project, is underscored, emphasizing the need for respectful and productive interaction with them.

10:01

🗓️ Planning, Resources, and Project Controls

This section of the video script delves into the necessity of planning in project management, regardless of the project style, and the adage that proper planning prevents poor performance. It highlights the importance of understanding resource allocation and deployment, including people, assets, materials, and budgeting. The seventh key concept discussed is control, with project controls being the mechanisms to keep the project on track or to bring it back on plan if it deviates. Examples of project controls include monitoring and control cycles, risk management, version control, configuration management, and reporting. The video also touches on agile practices as forms of project controls, such as sprints, retrospectives, and burndown charts.

🔍 Risk Management and the Monitor and Control Cycle

The final part of the script addresses risk management as a core discipline for project managers, defining risk as uncertainty that can impact project outcomes. It stresses the inherent uncertainty and risk in projects due to their novel nature and the constraints of time and resources. The video concludes with the monitor and control cycle, which is the continuous process of monitoring project progress and intervening when necessary to keep the project aligned with the plan. The presenter advises that the faster this cycle is executed, the better control a project manager will have over the project, and the importance of frequent monitoring to identify and address small problems before they escalate.

Keywords

💡Project Definition

Project definition involves establishing the groundwork for a project by clearly defining its goal, objectives, and scope. It is akin to laying the foundation of a building, ensuring all subsequent planning and execution are based on a solid understanding of what the project aims to achieve and what it entails.

💡Triple Constraint

The triple constraint, also known as the triangle of balance, refers to the three primary factors that impact every project: time, cost, and quality (or scope). Managing these constraints involves making trade-offs among them to achieve project objectives. For example, increasing the scope may require more time or budget.

💡Value

Value in project management is the balance between the costs incurred and the benefits delivered by the project. A project is considered worthwhile if its benefits significantly outweigh its costs. The project manager's role includes ensuring that the resources used produce the promised benefits, thereby delivering value to stakeholders.

💡Governance

Governance refers to the structures and processes used to steer and control a project, ensuring it stays on track and meets its objectives. Key aspects include setting direction, making decisions, and overseeing project progress. Effective governance often involves stage gates where critical go/no-go decisions are made.

💡Stakeholder

A stakeholder is anyone who has an interest in or is affected by the project. Stakeholders can influence the project's outcome, and managing stakeholder relationships involves engaging with them to gather input, address concerns, and ensure their support. Effective stakeholder management is crucial for project success.

💡Planning

Planning involves outlining how a project will be executed, including scheduling tasks, allocating resources, and preparing for potential risks. Proper planning is essential to prevent poor performance and ensure that resources are used effectively to meet project objectives.

💡Resources

Resources in project management include people, equipment, materials, and budget needed to complete the project. Managing resources involves acquiring, allocating, and controlling them to ensure the project progresses as planned. Efficient resource management is critical to avoid delays and budget overruns.

💡Control

Control mechanisms are processes and procedures used to keep the project on track. They include monitoring progress, managing changes, and correcting deviations from the plan. Control ensures that the project stays aligned with its goals and can adapt to any unforeseen challenges.

💡Risk

Risk refers to the uncertainty in project outcomes that can impact objectives. Risk management involves identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks to minimize their negative effects. Understanding and managing risks are fundamental to ensuring project success, given the inherent uncertainties in any project.

💡Monitor and Control Cycle

The monitor and control cycle is a continuous process of tracking project performance and making adjustments as needed. By regularly checking progress and implementing controls, project managers can quickly address issues before they escalate, ensuring the project remains on course.

Highlights

Project definition is the foundation of project planning, crucial for understanding the project's scope and objectives.

The triple constraint (or quadruple, including scope) involves balancing time, cost, quality, and scope in project management.

Value in project management is determined by the balance between cost and benefit, emphasizing the importance of delivering promised benefits.

Project governance involves steering the project in the right direction through setting direction, making decisions, and overseeing the project.

Stage gates are critical breakpoints in traditional predictive projects for making go/no-go decisions.

Stakeholders are individuals or groups with an interest or influence in the project, requiring engagement for successful outcomes.

Planning is essential in all project management styles, ensuring resources are deployed effectively and efficiently.

Resources management involves gathering, allocating, and controlling various types of resources, including people, assets, and budget.

Project controls are mechanisms to keep the project on track, including monitoring, risk management, version control, and reporting.

Risk management is central to project management due to the inherent uncertainty and potential impact on project outcomes.

The monitor and control cycle is vital for ongoing project delivery, allowing for quick identification and resolution of issues.

Agile methodologies also incorporate project controls, such as sprints, retrospectives, and burndown charts, despite differing from traditional approaches.

The importance of monitoring frequently in the project management process to identify and address small issues before they escalate.

Project management concepts are iterative and often overlap, requiring a holistic understanding to effectively manage projects.

The video aims to provide a simplified yet comprehensive view of the top 10 project management concepts for better organizational and execution.

Engagement with stakeholders is key for gathering diverse opinions, advice, and influence, contributing to the project's success.

Budgeting is an integral part of resource management, highlighting the need to manage financial resources effectively.

Change control is a critical aspect of project controls, helping to manage deviations from the original plan.

Transcripts

what's project management all about in

this video I want to illustrate the

answer to that question by looking at

the 10 most important concepts in

project management these 10 concepts are

not in priority order in a simple way

I've tried to organize them roughly in

the order in which they occur in the

project management lifecycle but as

you'll know projects iterative lots of

things go on throughout the project so

this is a simplification but it's a way

for me to organize my top 10 concepts

and the first of my top 10 project

management concepts is project

definition I like to think of project

planning as being like the framework of

a building project definition is like

the foundations the groundwork upon

which it rests and therefore it is

absolutely vital to understand the role

of defining your project clearly being

sure what your project is and what your

project is not

and having a clear statement the goal

objectives and this scope

and that leads to the second of my top

ten concepts which is the triangle of

balance or the triple constraint

and I like to think of the triple

constraint as being between time cost

and quality if that is to say that you

can resolve any project management

question by reverting to their question

of whether the solution is in

compromising time compromising cost

compromising quality or indeed

compromising scope because in the u.s.

the triangle of balance is often

articulated as time cost scope

which is right with the real answer is

that the triangle of balance isn't a

triangle at all it has four constraints

it's a quadruple constraint if you like

between time cost quality and scope

but whatever the challenge you have in

your project you can always resolve it

either by taking more time

by acquiring more resources more budget

juicing the quality to make things

easier to do or reducing their scope so

that you've got less to do

the triple or the quadruple constraint

is never gonna answer any of your

questions but it will make your choices

still clear

at number three is value and value is

the combination of cost on one hand and

benefit on the other and projects which

do not produce benefits are not worth

doing

and their measure of whether your

benefits are sufficiently worthwhile is

whether your benefits outweigh your

costs

if your benefits outweigh your costs by

a big enough margin then the project on

its own terms is worthwhile and your job

then becomes one of making sure that in

spending your budget and in using up

your resources you deliver the benefits

you promised so that your benefits do

indeed outweigh your costs you delivered

value your sponsor your client boss for

your organization at number four is

governance and governance is about

steering your project so that it goes in

the right direction it retains that

right direction and you do things right

the three key rows of governance are

setting direction making decisions and

overseeing your project

setting up the right governance

structures is vital to the successful

delivery of any project under any

methodology or approach be agile be a

predictive be it any form of hybrid and

one of the key elements to good

governance and something that I almost

gave a place in itself on my list of top

10 concepts is the idea of stage gates

particularly for a traditional

predictive project putting in

breakpoints in your project where clear

decisions are made to go or to not go

forward is a vital part of project

governance

the 5th of my 10 vital concept is the

concept of a stakeholder someone who has

a stake in your project someone who is

affected by or can affect your project

they have a connection to your project

in any way shape or form and your job as

a project manager and therefore becomes

one of engaging with those stakeholders

in a respectful and productive manner to

hear their opinions to consult their

advice to learn from them and to

influence them

at number six whatever style of project

you're doing a key concept is that of

planning even if you're not delivering a

traditional predictive planned style of

project management there will always be

some planning to do proper prior

planning prevents poor performance this

is about understanding how and when and

where you will deploy your resources if

you don't know the answer to that

question then you haven't planned you

are not prepared and therefore you are

setting yourself up to fail and my

seventh key concept is resources your

job as a project manager is to gather

your resources to allocate those

resources and to control the deployment

of those resources and it's important to

understand that those resources come in

many shapes and sizes yes they're people

there are also assets real estate huge

pieces of equipment there's also smaller

pieces of equipment tools there's

materials there are components and of

course the master resource which can be

trade it for all of those resources with

which you can buy those resources is

money

therefore budgeting is part of your

resource management I've used the word a

number of times already in this video so

my eighth key concept is control and

project controls project controls are

the things that keep us on plan or if

for any reason we drift away from our

plan it's controls that we use to bring

us back on plan and there are many types

of project control from the monitor and

control cycle risk management version

control configuration management and

reporting those are all great examples

of project controls but the idea that we

have methods processes procedures

to stay in control of our project and to

stick to plan and to handle things if we

drift away from plan such as change

control that is core to our

understanding of good project management

and of course if you come from an agile

background and you say well a lot of

those things aren't relevant to us as

agile practitioners that may be so but

think about sprints think about

retrospectives think about drawing down

and use of burndown charts as you

deliver stuff all of those other project

controls that are relevant to agile so

whether you are a traditional or an

agile project manager project controls

are still

therefore the last two of my top 10

project management concepts are both

project controls and number 9 it's risk

the concept that projects are uncertain

and that uncertainty leads to

consequences a risk is an uncertainty

that can have an impact upon outcomes

understanding that is central to

understanding risk because once you

understand that a risk is uncertainty

that has an impact we immediately see

that risk is principally characterized

by the level of uncertainty the

likelihood that it'll happen and the

impact that it will have if it does

because projects are novel because they

need to do things within a fixed time

scale and we need to use only the

resources that are available to us

projects are inherently uncertain they

are inherently risky consequently risk

management is a core discipline for any

project manager and at number 10 the

last of my vital core concepts for

project management is the monitor and

control cycle or the monitor and control

loop during delivery of your project the

most important thing you can be doing is

to be monitoring what's happening and

when the project starts to shift away

from your plan

intervening to control the project

then you get on with delivery monitor

what's going on and make more controls

and the faster you go around that cycle

the more control you will have over your

project if you wait too long to monitor

it then things will have gone wrong in a

substantial way and the problems will

multiply if you check up frequently

you'll spot problems when they're small

the interventions you need to bring your

project back under control will be minor

and you can quickly check whether

they've been successful I hope you've

enjoyed this rundown of my top 10

project management concepts if you have

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