Project Management Definition
Project management is a set of activities, tools, and methodologies that allow a project manager to achieve specific objectives.
Yes, that sounds nice… and then what?
As a project management software provider, JOUROFF aims to answer this question based on the experiences of its various clients.
More concretely, depending on the business context, project objectives are measured differently…
For an IT project, the keyword is “deadline”… It is clear that project management applies across several fields of activity.
In this context, it is difficult to define without being vague.
Often, the result of a project is measured by client satisfaction… This satisfaction can be based on one or multiple criteria at the same time, such as: the result aligned with the specifications, deadlines met, or simply… regardless of the deadline, was the budget respected?
These are all criteria that may conflict depending on the activity context.
This leads us to establish two main axes in project management.
(1) On one side, project management focused on task delegation and meeting deadlines.
(2) On the other side, workload management… that is, managing resource plans, time spent per project, and budget tracking.
The latter aspect is most often relevant to project directors (oversight).
Ultimately, what does it mean to manage a project?
Deadlines?
Workload?
Budget tracking?
Deadlines: estimation, milestones, task status, progress, delivery date, or deadline…
Workload: resource plan or planned workload, reporting time spent or consumed, remaining work…
Budget tracking: billing rate or daily rate, labor rate, projected budget, actual cost, budget variance, revenue, margin.
For example, stating that delivery is in 15 days determines the deadline… But whether the team works every day, or every other day, determines the workload on the project.
Therefore, in terms of project management, the methodology is not the same.
Ultimately, behind the term Project Management, the possibilities are very broad, and it depends on several factors:
The company’s business sector.
The role of the project manager, since a financial director does not expect to produce the same indicators as an IT project manager.
The nature of the client contract, since some projects are billed based on time spent, without necessarily worrying about deadlines.
Which Indicators for Project Progress Tracking?
1) Task Organization
One of the essential steps in project management is task allocation.
Simply put, we will not immediately focus on the people who will carry out the tasks. The project manager first analyzes the project specifications and then engages in a Q&A phase with management or the final client.
The goal is to clarify certain ambiguities.
This step allows the project manager to analyze the functional scope, assess strengths and weaknesses, evaluate estimations, and finally define and allocate tasks.
It is strongly recommended to involve the team members (future project participants) in pre-launch discussions… team members, often experts in their field, can contribute to estimations and even detect inconsistencies to ensure the smooth execution of the project.
Each task carries crucial information about the health of the project. It is important to highlight:
the start and end dates
the dependencies on other tasks
the assigned resource
the task status (not started, in progress, completed) For this type of activity, you can use a Gantt chart tool or set up a project planning and management board.
2) Workload
Managing workload is perhaps the most complex concept to grasp because it sits at the intersection of multiple concerns.
Depending on the case, the project manager may prioritize the approach:
Work Time Management
Through project management, some companies must track employees’ work time.
In this context, the time charged to projects must highlight HR indicators such as weekly working hours, leave, recovery days, etc.
If you need to manage this type of requirement alongside project management, you will likely need a time-tracking solution to manage work hours and activities.
Time Reporting by Project or Client
This aspect of time per project requires implementing project tracking indicators such as:
♦ Estimated workload
♦ Consumed
♦ Remaining work
♦ Progress rate
To materialize discrepancies, you can use an additional indicator for re-evaluating the remaining work.
For example:
Estimated workload = 100 days
Consumed = 80 days
Remaining work/theoretical = 20 days
Remaining work/re-evaluated = 0 => shows a 20-day advance on the project.
Conversely, the remaining work can be re-evaluated upwards to indicate a delay.
Resource Plan
The resource plan involves defining the forecasted workload allocated to each resource.
Depending on the case, this may involve creating a workload allocation chart by project, by team member, or by cross-referencing both (project/resource).
Capacity Planning
Also called capacity management… Capacity Planning highlights the ability to handle a workload relative to available resources.
3) Project Budget Tracking
Often, project management is closely linked to budget tracking… It involves measuring the actual cost of the project, especially since 30% of projects do not meet deadlines, which inevitably affects project costs.
The smallest unit of a project is the task. In the context of project budget tracking, each person performing a task must report the time spent.
At the same time, the employee’s salary rate should be defined to correlate with time spent.
Some projects have complex structures and require more advanced budget tracking indicators, such as: forecasted budget, remaining budget, invoicing by time spent or fixed price.
In this context, it is recommended to use an appropriate tool, such as project management software with integrated budget tracking.
