Project Management Flashcards
Project Management
Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to meet the project requirements and achieve the desired outcome.
PMP Certification
Project Manager Professional certification. To apply to take the exam you need 35 hours of project management course training, and at least 36 months of project management experience if you have a four-year degree.
Project
A project, is a unique endeavor, and usually includes a set of unique deliverables. It’s also a temporary pursuit. It has a defined beginning and an end. To put it another way, a project is a series of tasks that need to be completed to reach a desired outcome.
Program Manager
A product manager is a project manager that manages multiple projects for specific products, teams, or programs.
Core aspects of project management
Planning and organizing,
managing tasks,
and budgeting and controlling costs.
Project Management day in a life
A project manager’s daily responsibilities always include some version of the following, planning and organizing. An example of that might be gathering requirements from teammates or customers. This means figuring out what exactly your project’s trying to accomplish. You might have a kickoff meeting or send a survey. From here you may also work on creating project plans. Creating project plans is a key part of project management. It helps set the tone of the project, keeps everyone on pace and aligned, and helps move tasks along. Which leads me to my second point, managing tasks. Once the project is underway, the project manager helps manage tasks for the team members and communicates key milestones to the larger team or customers. This helps keep team members, and customers updated on how the project is progressing. The third piece is budgeting and controlling costs and other factors. Managing the budget and controlling costs is a common responsibility that project managers have to understand to keep the project on track and within budget. This is a full-time job because the plan you’ve created and managed may change causing unexpected costs to come up. And that’s just to name a few. I could go on for days. But the most important thing to know about the day to day of a project manager is this: You’ll use different tools, techniques and methodologies every single day.
KPI
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are the critical (key) quantifiable indicators of progress toward an intended result. KPIs provide a focus for strategic and operational improvement, create an analytical basis for decision making and help focus attention on what matters most.
Managing with the use of KPIs includes setting targets (the desired level of performance) and tracking progress against those targets.
Managing with KPIs often means working to improve performance using leading indicators, which are precursors of future success, that will later drive desired impacts indicated with lagging measures.
AUM
Assets Under Management
Project Manager
Project managers shepherd projects from start to finish and serve as guides for their team, using their impeccable organizational and interpersonal skills every step of the way.
Project managers usually follow a process that involves responsibilities such as:
Planning and organizing product documentation, making use of productivity tools, creating schedules, managing tasks, budgeting, managing quality, and controlling costs so that the project can be completed within the approved timeframe.
Project managers add value to their teams and organizations in key ways that include prioritization, delegation, and effective communication.
Stakeholders
Stakeholders are people who are interested in and affected by the project’s completion and success, like the leader of an organization.
Prioritization
Project managers add value to their teams and organizations through effective prioritization of tasks required to complete a project.
Delegation
Project managers use delegation to add value to their teams and organizations by matching tasks to individuals who can best complete the work.
Effective communication
Project managers deliver value through effective communication, both with their team and with key stakeholders. This refers to being transparent, which means being up front with plans and ideas and making information readily available. Project managers keep in regular contact with their team about the progress of the work and help identify areas where a teammate may need support.
Project customer
In project management, “Customer” refers to a person or an
organization that defines the requirements of the project and sets important guidelines, such as
budget and deadlines. In projects, customers can be internal or external. Internal customers are
stakeholders within your organization, such as management, project team members, resource
managers, and other organizational departments. External customers are customers outside of your
organization, such as clients, contractors, suppliers, and consumers.
How does a project manager provide value?
By focusing on the customer, building a great project team, fostering relationships and communication, managing the project, and breaking down barriers, you can overcome obstacles and find solutions to succeed.
