Introduction to Project Management Flashcards
What is project management?
Project management is the process of leading a team to achieve project goals within given constraints, especially scope, time, and budget. It involves planning, organising, leading, and controlling resources to meet objectives.
How does project management differ from general management?
Project management focuses on one-time, unique deliverables while general management oversees continuous, repetitive operations. Projects have informal hierarchies and dynamic tasks that may cross organisational boundaries.
What are the key features of a project?
A project has a defined start and end, a lifecycle with distinct phases, a budget and cashflow, unique non-repetitive activities, resources that need coordinating, a single point of responsibility, and evolving team roles and relationships.
What are the main project management knowledge areas?
The main project management knowledge areas are scope, time, cost, quality, human resources, communications, procurement, risk and integration management.
What transferable skills are important for project managers?
Key transferable project management skills include communication, organisation, planning, coordination, controlling, leadership, delegation, negotiation, motivation, initiative and judgement.
What unique aspects do construction projects have compared to other types of projects?
Compared to other projects, construction projects have site-specific locations requiring logistics management, expensive indivisible deliverables, bulky inputs, high quality and durability requirements without testing, and extensive health, safety and environmental regulations.
What key industry reports highlighted the need to improve construction project management?
The Latham Report “Constructing the Team” (1994) and Egan Report “Rethinking Construction” (1998) highlighted client dissatisfaction and the need for the construction industry to improve performance, innovate procurement methods, and integrate processes.
