Oyebola Olugbemi - Understanding Project Management Basics

1. Oyebola Olugbemi - Understanding Project Management Basics Project Management is easy. Especially when you know what elements are important, and when you see that all elements of project management are complementary to each other. When it comes to training and study on project management there is a lot that can be found, and all with there own insight on how to use project management to it's full potential. I for one think that to use project management is like to use common sense about how you can most effectively get a good project result. But using common sense is not enough if you don't know the basics of project management! So I would like to give you an overview of what project management is, and how it all comes together. First you need to know if you really have a project, and check for all the elements that define a project like a defined start and end, a budget, a goal and a certain complexity. If you have a project you should get all the information that you need from your client to be able to make a good project plan so you can manage the process. This project plan is in fact the heart of your management and consist of all the elements you need to control. As a manager you need to form a good, supportive and complementary team to start working on the plans and the actual realisation of the project. The project plan that you make is the contract between you (and your team) and the client.

2. Basically it contains the following: - the project definition and the goal(s) - the structure and phasing of the project (like a work breakdown structure and raci model) - time schedule - budget description - quality definition - information matrix - risk analysis If you make the plan well, it all comes together. First you start describing the goals and make an overview in the WBS (work breakdown structure) Then you transform the input of the WBS into a RACI model. This RACI model can the be your input to make your time-planning. Budget and quality come together because the quality determines what is needed financially. The information matrix gives you a view of who is important in and around the project. And finally the risk analysis lets you think over the whole project on risks (and chances) With all this information you should have an idea of what project management is all about.