My Top 10 Project Management Concepts
Summary
TLDRThis 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
📋 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.
💰 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.
🗓️ 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.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Project Definition
💡Triple Constraint
💡Value
💡Governance
💡Stakeholder
💡Planning
💡Resources
💡Control
💡Risk
💡Monitor and Control Cycle
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
please like this video and why not
subscribe to our channel for loads more
great project management content and to
hear about it as soon as it drops hit
the notification bell and I'll look
forward to seeing you in the next video
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)