What Are Project Activities In Project Management
There is no point in oversimplifying project management. It’s rarely simple and straightforward. There are so many factors and activities involved that it often becomes impossible for the manager and the team to deliver quality performance and outcome.
In this particular post, we’re going to dig deep into various fundamentals and activities that are a great deal of consideration for everyone during the project management life cycle.
Let’s start with the basics.
What defines a project?
Wikipedia defines a project as “any undertaking, carried out individually or collaboratively and possibly involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a particular aim.”
Now, in project management, projects are defined as a temporary endeavor (rather than permanent) that are carefully planned, researched, executed, monitored, and delivered over a fixed period and within a certain cost — and with the help of the right project management software solution. Projects can range from simple to complex and can be managed by an individual or a whole team of collaborative professionals.
What are the five major project fundamentals?
Mentioned below are the 5 major project fundamentals, which are, in our opinion, the most important aspects of managing and completing projects.
Fundamental #1: Clarify project goals and scope
Before a project begins, the overall objective and scope of the project must be clearly defined (and agreed). Also, make sure that every aspect of the project is carefully considered in the discussion and everyone associated with the project are agreeing to the defined objective and scope.
Fundamental #2: Develop a work breakdown structure
Creating a (WBS) Work Breakdown Structure is an important part of the project management process. This process demands team efforts and multiple perspectives for the given project. Project teams often use low-key tools like a whiteboard, note cards, or sticky note pads to develop a work breakdown structure. But if you’re hoping to get a clear understanding of major deliverables, and sub-deliverables, you should consider using a dedicated work management software or a kanban tool.
Fundamental #3: Produce a realistic schedule
This is probably one of the most common mistakes managers and teams make during project management. They become overly optimistic and ambitious about when a project can be delivered. As a result? They get themselves and the given project into trouble. Now, what seems like a realistic timeframe for many project teams often turn out to be unreasonable and unattainable. The best way to go in this case is visualizing every aspect of the project together in one place. Luckily, in ProofHub, you have a dedicated tool just for that. We’re talking about the in-build Gantt chart software that lets you visualize your project timeline, estimate how long each task/subtask/milestone would take, create a realistic schedule, and get everything done.
Fundamental #4: Create a project risk plan
Once you’ve created a comprehensive list of tasks, subtasks, and milestones involved in the given project, it’s time to determine all the possible and potential risks involved. You have to think about what risk could impact your project and how much. Try to do this during the initial stage of the project. And when you’re done compiling all this information, you have to create a risk management plan that will be followed until the successful completion of the project.
Fundamental #5: Manage change requests
Be a professional ‘change manager’ if you seriously want to get success in nearly all projects. A project, by definition, is something that doesn’t stay as usual and is subject to achieve a degree of change. Whether it is a change in workflow or workforce. Whatever the change is, it should involve a clear understanding of what the impact of the change will be and how you can ensure that it is managed smoothly and quickly.
What does project management activities include?
This is probably the most familiar part of the story. A successful project is a combination of 5 major activities/steps. Following them not necessarily guarantees successful project management, but it assures you and your team that you are on the right track. With that being said, here are the 5 major activities involved in the project management life cycle.
Activity #1: Initiating
The first activity in project management is to settle on the idea, a good one. During this phase, you and your team scratch out an initial concept and agree on whether it is feasible or not. You’ll do a little research to see how it would be completed, then pitch it for examination and approval in front of team members, stakeholders, and clients.
Activity #2: Planning
The second project management activity is planning. Once your project’s been given the go-ahead, it’s important that everyone involved in the project stamp out the scope, schedule, and cost of a project. This is usually done by visualizing the scope, budget, schedule, and resources needed for the given project. Also, it’s worth noting that every aspect of the project is subject to change during the execution phase. Deliverables could be delayed, unexpected problems could arise, resources could be drained, so when making plans you need to give some flexibility and predict the most likely area for change.
Activity #3: Executing
The next activity in the project management life cycle is the project launch and execution phase. This is where things kick into overdrive. As the name would suggest, this is where the actual project work begins. A project is a collection of tasks and deliverables that must be completed before you and your team mark the project a SUCCESS. First, you should have all the tasks and deliverables of the project set — you need to have a clear understanding of what needs to be completed, how it should be completed, who needs to work on it, and when it has to be completed by. Once you’re sure that you have all the data collected and approved, project execution starts.
Activity #4: Controlling
The performance and control activity of project management occurs throughout the project — from the project initiation to its completion. This activity serves as a medium for managers and teams to measure and compare the status of the project with their original plan and make sure that everything is progressing as planned. Most project management professionals think that this activity requires relatively less effort on their part. However, that is not the case. This is one of the most stressful aspects of the whole project management process, especially when you want everything to run smoothly.
Activity #5: Closing
The final activity involved in project management is project closure. This is where, the project has been completed by all intents and purpose — and the desired outcome has been approved. A key part of this activity is to ensure that the project has met the expected standards. For that, the expected outcome of the project is to be compared with the actual outcome concerning quality, accuracy, time, and cost. A successful project closure would be the one where the project delivered outcome ahead of schedule, within budget, to a high quality, and with minimum problems.
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Conclusion
Project management is a tricky process. In projects, big and small, many factors need to be considered when you’re trying to manage a project smoothly and successful. There will be struggles, of course. But with the help of the insights we’ve shared in this post, your life, as a manager and team member, would be a lot easier.
Remember, with the right team, the right project management software and the right project management methodology in place, achieving the expected outcomes are more manageable and attainable than ever. Now that you have a clear understanding of project management fundamentals and activities, you can expect many successful and enjoyable project management experiences soon.
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