What is project management?

‘At its most fundamental, project management is about people getting things done,’ Dr Martin Barnes, APM President.

What is a project?
Project management is the way of managing change. Everything from the Olympics to organising a wedding can be considered a project. It describes the activities that meet specific objectives and can be used to introduce or improve new or existing products and services.

The APM definition of a project identifies two of the key features:

Uniqueness
Projects are separate to business-as-usual activities, requiring people to come together temporarily to focus on specific project objectives. As a result, effective teamwork is central to successful projects.

Transience
A project has a specific start and end point and is set up to meet specific objectives, to create a specified result, product or service.

Scope - time, cost and quality
Projects need to be controlled to meet their objectives and deliver benefits. Objectives are defined in terms of expectations of time, cost and quality.

Time, cost and quality are called objectives or constraints. For example:

• The project must be completed by January 2013 (time).
• The project must not spend more than £500,000 (cost).
• The project should create a searchable and informative website (quality).

All the work that has to be done to achieve the time, cost and quality objectives defines the project scope. The scope can change over time, and it is the project manager’s responsibility to ensure the project will still deliver its defined benefits.
A project manager must maintain focus on the relative priorities of time, cost and quality.

What is project management?
Project management focuses on controlling the introduction of the desired change. This involves:

• Understanding the needs of stakeholders.
• Planning what needs to be done, when, by whom, and to what standards.
• Building and motivating the team.
• Coordinating the work of different people.
• Monitoring work being done.
• Managing any changes to the plan.
• Delivering successful results.

For further information on project management see Starting Out in Project Management and the APM Body of Knowledge. The APM Glossary is a good source of definitions, and regular events are held that specialise in a wide range of project management topics.

If you are looking for information on APM's pan-sector standard please visit the
APM Registered Project Professional (RPP) webpage.