• What is project management?
• Methodologies for project management
• Stages of project management
• Benefits of project management
• Importance of project management

We explain what project management is and the methodologies it uses. Also, what are its stages, benefits and importance.

In the business world the approach from project management is extremely frequent.

What is project management?

Project management is a discipline of the management from Business, whose object of study includes the planning, organization, motivation and control of the resources necessary to achieve a predetermined purpose, that is, to meet an objective.

In this sense, a “project” is defined as an enterprise endowed with a specific beginning and end, whose objective is to produce a single product, service or result, that is, endowed with unique objectives and that, when met, will add value to the production chain or achieve some type of positive change.

Thus, the management of projects can be understood as a set of specific actions that guarantee the fulfillment of an objective within specific periods of time, during which resources, tools and talents are used. This type of study allows evaluating, managing and controlling processes of a very diverse nature, applying for this methodologies, reasonings and concepts.

In today's business world, the approach from project management is extremely frequent, regardless of the dimensions or objectives of a organization, since practically all its operations can be understood as Projects: from the elaboration of an important product or service, or the fulfillment of secondary objectives, to the improvement of the internal processes of the same productive organization.

Methodologies for project management

The Gantt chart details the tasks and activities for each project.

There are three main project management methodologies, which use various material and conceptual tools, and they are:

• The Gantt chart. This methodology has been used for almost 70 years and is probably the most and best known of all project management methods, due to its relative simplicity. It's about a diagram of two axes, in which the tasks and activities of each project are detailed, associating them to a schedule that details its start, duration and closure. Right there, the different phases of the project should be included, organizing it sequentially over time, in order to obtain a sort of “script” or procedure to adhere to during the execution of the project.
• Pert / CPM. These are two complementary approaches, often applied together. CPM is known as the Road to the Critical Path, and it is about the design of an optimal trajectory that, if followed to the letter, would allow the smooth execution of the activities that make up a project. To find it, you must simplify the project as much as possible and make a count of priorities and dependencies, as well as distribution of workloads. However, like this method does not consider uncertainty, it is usually combined with Pert, a methodology that applies a probabilistic function to calculate the total time of project execution, based on the activities that comprise it. With its results, a network of nodes is composed that allows analyzing the critical path and predicting its standard deviation. For this they are usually used programs from computing.
• Critical chain method. The most recent of the three methodologies, but one of the most celebrated by specialists, it is very suitable for complex projects that require a simplifying perspective. It consists of finding, among all the activities that make up the project, which are the "critical" ones, that is, those that determine its maximum duration, and then reduce the estimated time for each one by incorporating "time buffers" in places. key code. These buffers diversify the work, allowing to gain time and effectiveness on the given task.

Stages of project management

The stages or phases of project management are as follows:

• Feasibility analysis. The initial step is to determine how viable or convenient the project is, that is, what it means to carry it forward in financial, logistical and profitability terms. If the investment in a project far exceeds your cost effectiveness, there must be other compelling reasons to carry it out.
• Work planning. Then we proceed to list and detail the different tasks that carry out the project will involve, that is, the steps that will have to be followed, without losing sight of the resources that each step will require and the estimates of cost, effort and time necessary.
• Project execution. In this stage the planned tasks are carried out and a report is drawn up of how they occur, that is, what obstacles they find, what results they produce and all the information necessary to feed the control stage. This is the stage in which everything planned unfolds.
• Monitoring and control. In this step, it is necessary to monitor that the process is yielding the expected results, and the conclusions relevant from the information collected during execution. Based on these conclusions, they may be modified strategies, take corrections and direct the process towards an ideal result.
• Project closure. The completion of a project is also very important, since at this stage the entire process is evaluated retrospectively, taking note of failures, accidents, unforeseen events and drawing up a report that is useful for planning and executing future projects. This is the stage of learning. If the projects are successful, this is where the backup or endorsement of what has been achieved.

Benefits of project management

Efficient project management guarantees higher learning margins.

The benefits of efficient project management are not few:

• Efficient use of resources and time. Avoiding waste, shortages and other setbacks that would reduce the profitability of the project.
• Greater control over the destiny of the organization. Since you can visualize and organize (prioritize, prioritize, for example) the projects to be undertaken.
• Greater guarantee of success. Since unplanned projects are at the mercy of what can go wrong, without awareness of what they imply or simply occur in a disorganized way.
• Greater learning margins. Since project management finally yields reports valuable regarding the conduct of the organization and its virtues and disadvantages in project execution.

Importance of project management

The formalization of the field of project management gives it the rigor of a scientific discipline, meticulousness and the ability to generate information, experience and learning. In this sense, it is a vital knowledge for business administration and for organizational planning, which is currently carried out through various tools of software to take advantage of the technological advantages of the time. Without project management, a standardization of this type of business information would not be possible.