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=__What is Project Management:__=


 * Project management** is a carefully planned and organized effort to accomplish a successful project. A **project** is a one-time effort that produces a specific result, for example, a building or a major new computer system. This is in contrast to a **program**, which is 1) an ongoing process, such as a quality control program, or 2) an activity to manage a series of multiple projects together.

The primary challenge of project management is to achieve all of the project goals [|[4]] and objectives while honoring the preconceived constraints. [|[5]] Typical constraints are [|scope], time, and budget. [|[1]] The secondary—and more ambitious—challenge is to [|optimize] the [|allocation] and integrate the inputs necessary to meet pre-defined objectives.
 * Project management** is the discipline of planning, organizing, securing, and managing resources to achieve specific goals. A [|project] is a temporary endeavor with a defined beginning and end (usually time-constrained, and often constrained by funding or deliverables), [|[1]] undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives, [|[2]] typically to bring about beneficial change or added value. The temporary nature of projects stands in contrast with [|business as usual (or operations)], [|[3]] which are repetitive, permanent, or semi-permanent functional activities to produce products or services. In practice, the management of these two systems is often quite different, and as such requires the development of distinct technical skills and management strategies.

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= __Project Management Concepts:__ =

The traditional approach
A traditional phased approach identifies a sequence of steps to be completed. In the "traditional approach", five developmental components of a project can be distinguished (four stages plus control): Not all projects will visit every stage, as projects can be terminated before they reach completion. Some projects do not follow a structured planning and/or monitoring process. Some projects will go through steps 2, 3 and 4 multiple times. Many industries use variations of these project stages. For example, when working on a brick and mortar design and construction, projects will typically progress through stages like Pre-Planning, Conceptual Design, Schematic Design, Design Development, Construction Drawings (or Contract Documents), and Construction Administration. In [|software development], this approach is often known as the [|waterfall model] , [|[16]] i.e., one series of tasks after another in linear sequence. In software development many organizations have adapted the [|Rational Unified Process] (RUP) to fit this methodology, although RUP does not require or explicitly recommend this practice. Waterfall development works well for small, well defined projects, but often fails in larger projects of undefined and ambiguous nature. The [|Cone of Uncertainty] explains some of this as the planning made on the initial phase of the project suffers from a high degree of uncertainty. This becomes especially true as software development is often the realization of a new or novel product. In projects where [|requirements] have not been finalized and can change, [|requirements management] is used to develop an accurate and complete definition of the behavior of software that can serve as the basis for software development. [|[17]] While the terms may differ from industry to industry, the actual stages typically follow common steps to [|problem solving] —"defining the problem, weighing options, choosing a path, implementation and evaluation."
 * initiation;
 * [|planning] and design;
 * execution and construction;
 * monitoring and controlling systems;
 * completion.

Critical chain project management
[|Critical chain project management] (CCPM) is a method of planning and managing projects that puts more emphasis on the resources (physical and human) needed in order to execute project tasks. The most complex part involves engineering professionals of different fields (Civil, Electrical, Mechanical etc.) working together. It is an application of the [|Theory of Constraints] (TOC) to projects. The goal is to increase the rate of throughput (or completion rates) of projects in an organization. Applying the first three of the five focusing steps of TOC, the system constraint for all projects is identified as are the resources. To exploit the constraint, tasks on the critical chain are given priority over all other activities. Finally, projects are planned and managed to ensure that the resources are ready when the critical chain tasks must start, subordinating all other resources to the critical chain. Regardless of project type, the project plan should undergo [|Resource leveling], and the longest sequence of resource-constrained tasks should be identified as the critical chain. In multi-project environments, resource leveling should be performed across projects. However, it is often enough to identify (or simply select) a single "drum" resource—a resource that acts as a constraint across projects—and stagger projects based on the availability of that single resource.

Extreme project management
In critical studies of project management it has been noted that several [|PERT] based models are not well suited for the multi-project company environment of today.[// [|citation needed] //] Most of them are aimed at very large-scale, one-time, non-routine projects, and currently all kinds of management are expressed in terms of projects. Using complex models for "projects" (or rather "tasks") spanning a few weeks has been proven to cause unnecessary costs and low maneuverability in several cases[// [|citation needed] //]. Instead, project management experts try to identify different "lightweight" models, such as [|Agile Project Management] methods including [|Extreme Programming] for software development and [|Scrum] techniques. The generalization of Extreme Programming to other kinds of projects is [|extreme project management], which may be used in combination with the [|process modeling] and management principles of [|human interaction management].

Event chain methodology
[|Event chain methodology] is another method that complements [|critical path method] and [|critical chain] project management methodologies. Event chain methodology is an uncertainty modeling and schedule network analysis technique that is focused on identifying and managing events and event chains that affect project schedules. Event chain methodology helps to mitigate the negative impact of psychological heuristics and biases, as well as to allow for easy modeling of uncertainties in the project schedules. Event chain methodology is based on the following principles.
 * **Probabilistic moment of risk:** An activity (task) in most real-life processes is not a continuous uniform process. Tasks are affected by external events, which can occur at some point in the middle of the task.
 * **Event chains:** Events can cause other events, which will create event chains. These event chains can significantly affect the course of the project. Quantitative analysis is used to determine a cumulative effect of these event chains on the project schedule.
 * **Critical events or event chains:** The single events or the event chains that have the most potential to affect the projects are the “critical events” or “critical chains of events.” They can be determined by the analysis.
 * **Project tracking with events:** Even if a project is partially completed and data about the project duration, cost, and events occurred is available, it is still possible to refine information about future potential events and helps to forecast future project performance.
 * **Event chain visualization:** Events and event chains can be visualized using [|event chain diagrams] on a [|Gantt chart].

Process-based management
Also furthering the concept of project control is the incorporation of [|process-based management]. This area has been driven by the use of Maturity models such as the [|CMMI] (capability maturity model integration; see of a predecessor) and [|ISO/IEC15504] (SPICE – software process improvement and capability estimation).

Agile project management
[|Agile project management] approaches based on the principles of [|human interaction management] are founded on a process view of human collaboration. This contrasts sharply with the traditional approach. In the [|agile software development] or [|flexible product development] approach, the project is seen as a series of relatively small tasks conceived and executed as the situation demands in an adaptive manner, rather than as a completely pre-planned process.

= __How Do You Apply Project Management In Educational/Training Fields:__ =

Project management in education: Schools and universities are under considerable pressure to manage projects to successful completion—both on time and within budget. This requires solid planning, deft execution, ongoing resource management, and regular progress tracking. The odds of success improve significantly when decision-makers are able to track project costs and status in real time and to share vital information with all departments and individuals involved. Through powerful tools for scheduling, tracking, and updating projects, the Microsoft Office Enterprise Project Management (EPM) solution can help you optimize resources, minimize costs, manage scope, and deliver on time. Using this solution, you can manage projects—from building new facilities to implementing new learning standards or upgrading IT systems—to maximize value and to help ensure that administrators, school boards, contractors, faculty, and other stakeholders receive clear and accurate progress reports on a regular basis. = __Project Management Best Practices:__ =

Applying client centered approach being able to customize the project flow and application to the needs of the customer be it a traditional model or a waterfall approach. Beginning the initiating process with the creation of a **Stakeholder Based Shared Vision** to establish a foundational **Project Concept and Charter**. This ensures an agreed upon project foundation leading to the systematic work breakdown structure and planning phase. The development of the **9-Point Project Plan**, consisting of Integration, Scope, Time, Quality, Human Resources, Communications, Risk, and Procurement supporting management plans is intended to be the initial iteration of planning. Systematically revisiting the planning process to maintain its relevancy and to provide the most value as requirements are further delineated. Scoped into the plan are a series of **LEAN process improvement events** consisting of value stream analysis, rapid improvement events, Kaizen activities, and 5S events. This function drives to further engineer a higher level of efficiency and effectiveness into the product prior to release, raising quality, and mitigate the need to rework the project following implementation. Factored in to the cascade approach are a series of **Agile iterations** reviewing the product with the client at key stages to further flesh out additional requirements and fine tune the operational plan. Throughout the lifecycle of the project, progress is reported via earned value, schedule performance and cost performance indexes on an A-3 status report. In the cradle to grave philosophy all projects close out with a full lessons learned and **comprehensive closeout report**.

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= __Project Management Resources:__ =

Project Management Institute

Project Management.com

Project Management Wiki

Project Management in Education

Project Management for Educational Success

Project Management for Instructional Design

Project Management Best Practices

[|SCRUM Org]

Agile SCRUM

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