Tackling Challenging Activities in Project Management Like a Pro?
Project management is a complex beast. There are so many activities in project management that delivering a successful project and quality outcomes can become difficult.
That is why we have written this post to highlight the activities in project management to highlight what needs to get done and what to look out for.
Let’s get to it!
What are ‘Activities’ in Project Management?
Typically, an activity is a stage of the project management plan .
Each activity of your project includes one or more actions; it is upon the completion of these actions that your project will move on to the next project stage.
Each activity has a specified deadline or time period within which it needs to be completed. When you take each activity as a series, they will result in the final deliverable.
Defining the activities required to reach project completion is one of the key steps in project planning .
In its most basic form, a successful project is a combination of 5 major activities. These 5 activities involved in the project management lifecycle include:
In this post, we will go over each of these activities in turn.
What are the Different Activities in Project Management?
As we mentioned, there are 5 main activities in the project management lifecycle. Before we get on to discussing each one, it is important to understand what the project lifecycle is.
The project lifecycle is the series of steps or phases that any project needs to go through. The project lifecycle runs from the start of the project from the initiation of the project , all the way to the project’s closure.
What these stages are and what sequence they follow are determined by several different factors.
Your project lifecycle’s stages are affected by the needs of your organization, the nature of your project, as well as the area of the application of the project .
Moreover, you should note that the style of your project lifecycle can also change.
Project lifecycles can follow a plan-driven approach or are more change-driven .
Projects following a predictive lifecycle define the specifics at the beginning of the project and have pre-decided how to address changes to scope. Alternatively, adaptive lifecycles detailed scope is defined for specific iterations, since the project itself is developed over multiple iterations .
Typically, whichever type of project lifecycle your organization follows, your project lifecycle will include 5 main activities or stages.
Main Project Management Activities are:
The conception and initiation phase is the first phase within the project management lifecycle. This phase involves starting up a new project .
This phase involves identifying the reason or opportunity for the project. A project is developed to move forward with the opportunity presented.
Certain things go into the initiation phase of the project lifecycle so that your project can start efficiently and meet the expectations held of it.
One such thing that needs to be done before the project can begin is the creation of a business case.
A business case explains the reason for starting any particular project. The business case deals with the business concerns of the project rather than any technical aspects.
The key aspects highlighted in the business case need to be clear; logical, easy to understand, and relevant.
The structure of a typical business case should be as follows:
Apart from the Business Case, to properly initiate a project, you need to perform a feasibility study.
Once the business case has been approved you need to take a feasibility study .
A feasibility analysis is used to determine the viability of the project idea. This analysis ensures things such as that the project is legally and technically feasible as well as making sure that the project is economically justifiable.
There are 5 main areas that a feasibility study examines:
You also have to create a Project Charter .
A project charter outlines the purpose of your project as well as how it will be structured and executed. This helps identify the project vision and its objectives. It also defines the scope of the project and all its deliverables.
What is included in the project charter can depend on your organization’s culture; however, typical project charters consist of the following:
It is at this point in the initiation stage that the project is organized structurally, documenting the project plan and highlighting all risks, issues, and listing assumptions.
Once this documentation has been complete it is time to assemble your project team .
A project cannot be initiated without a team to work on the project. Therefore it is important to set out the job description for the people who will implement the project plan.
You should highlight each member’s objectives and responsibilities . This will ensure that your workflows smoothly throughout the project.
It can be beneficial to list the skills and experience required for each position. This indication makes it easier to fill the role you are looking to hire for.
Moreover, ensure that you highlight any qualifications required, as well as identifying performance criteria, salary, and working conditions.
Another part of the project initiation activity is to set up a project office if need be.
The project office will be the physical location you and your team will be located during the project. This may not be a necessary step if you already work at such a location.
However, such a location is necessary to house the communication infrastructure as well as any technical equipment that will be needed to complete the project.
First, you must decide on a location, and once that is done you will have to ensure that the infrastructure matches your project’s needs and requirements.
It is now time to move on to the next activity in the project management lifecycle.
Once the project has been initiated and the project team has been appointed, it is time for the project planning phase of the project lifecycle.
Project planning is important so that everyone involved knows where you are going with the project as well as how you are going to get there.
It is during the planning phase that the project plans are documented. You also define the project deliverables and requirements, as well as set out the project schedule .
It is during this phase that you create a set of plans that will help guide you and your team from the project implementation to the project close.
The purpose of the project planning activity is to establish business requirements, highlight cost, schedule, the project’s deliverables, as well as their delivery dates.
Moreover, this planning helps you control staff and external suppliers to make sure that the delivery of your project is on time and within budget.
The basic processes of project planning include the following:
During the planning phase, the project’s objectives, which are gathered during the initiation phase, are refined.
You need to plan the steps necessary to meet the project’s objectives by identifying the specific tasks and resources required to bring the project to completion .
You must set out quantitative criteria so you can determine project satisfaction and successful project completion.
You also need to ensure that you obtain management approval for the planning you have done so that you can move on to the next project activity.
At this stage, things are tentative in your project.
This phase involves carrying out the details you highlighted in your project charter that are required to deliver the service or product to your client or your stakeholders.
This is the activity of implementing your ideas and plan.
Usually, this activity involves three main components. These are:
During the planning activity, you would have most likely come up with systems and procedures to get your project to completion within your organization’s requirements.
Sticking to these processes can ensure that your project runs efficiently. However, it is important to keep in mind that plans are a guide and factors may affect the ability to follow them. Sticking to your plan when a change is warranted can risk your project’s successful completion.
Moreover, making sure that your resources are also following the plan that was created is important. Make sure that you ensure your plan is followed while also encouraging, motivating, and cheering your team on.
Following your communication plan and keeping channels of communication open is an important way to ensure everything runs smoothly.
Furthermore, ensure you involve your stakeholders and clients throughout the execution phase of the project lifecycle.
This again involves following the communication plan you created.
Such involvement can prevent costly misunderstandings and delays. Therefore, you should encourage open communication and transparency along with the most extensive phase of the project lifecycle.
One way to ease the execution phase is through the use of a project management tool .
PRO TIP: UDN Task Manager is one such tool and can allow you to manage your resources through task management features. You can easily create and assign tasks to team members where they can view what they are responsible for and what is a priority. Furthermore, UDN Task Manager ’s communication and collaboration features can ensure that your team stays connected and is on top of the work they are doing throughout the project. You can also use the meeting management tools to ensure you hold regular check-ins to discuss progress and keep the clients and stakeholders in the loop.
The project activity of monitoring and controlling occurs in tandem with the execution of the project.
Monitoring your project involves reviewing the status of your project while it is in process, evaluating any hurdles, and implementing any changes accordingly.
During this activity, you need to ensure that you stay within the schedule , keep within budget, avoid scope creep, and manage any risks that arise.
It is often valuable to use visual tools that can identify which deliverables have been completed, and thus provide you an overview of whether your project is running according to plan.
Certain such tools can include Gantt Charts and Kanban Boards . These tools are often available in project management platforms.
UDN Task Manager , for example, offers Gantt charts where you can view the progress of your entire project while also giving the ability to monitor and track tasks that are assigned to team members.
Moreover, UDN Task Manager is also releasing its Kanban Board which can be used to get a clear overview of your project and improve the efficiency of your workflow.
Other than such visual tools your project can be tracked through key performance indicators .
These indicators allow project managers to track whether the project is on track and running according to plan.
There are five main key performance indicators, which project managers usually pick 2 to determine the progress of their project.
These indicators are:
During this activity, you need to ensure that the project schedule and resources are adjusted. This makes sure that the project runs on track as per the requirements determined at the start.
Once the project’s requirements have been achieved it is time to hand over the complete outcome and closeout the project.
Once this closeout occurs, it is time to evaluate the entire project. During this evaluation, you will highlight everything that went favorable as well as any mistakes that were made during the project.
This allows you and your team to follow what went well and adjust to avoid mistakes that occurred, to improve the next project you work on.
During the project close you will also:
Conclusion
Project management is a challenging process.
There are many ups and downs throughout the activities in project management. However, we help that the information highlighted in this article will help make the process a lot easier.
Remember, with the right resources, planning, tools, as well as the right methodology in place a project can go from impossible to soaring to success. It’s just a matter of time!
Especially now that you understand the activities in project management, we hope you meet many successful and gratifying project management experiences in your future.
