Introduction to a Project, Management & its types and Project Management

The word Project is originally derived from the Latin word “projectum”. According to PMI (Project Management Institute, a professional association for project management professionals), it is defined as ‘Project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result’. 

The temporary nature of the project means that project has definite timing of beginning and end (closure). The end of the project is reached whenever the requirements/objectives of a project have been achieved. 

Characteristics of a Project:

A project has distinct attributes which make it different from ongoing business or daily life operations. Projects are always unique and temporary in nature which means they have starting and end time. The duration of projects can be of minutes to some years depending on the nature of the projects. 

Unlike projects, business operations are ongoing and repetitive operations that result in common (non-unique) products or services.

Following are characteristics or attributes of a project, on which basis you can justify whether you have a project in your hand or not:

1. Projects are always unique.
2. Projects are temporary in nature which means they have a start and end times.
3. Projects are completed whenever goals or objectives are achieved and meet the expectations of stakeholders or clients.

For example, a Tesla Car company which have a business of designing and assembling of new models of electric cars. Each model (Model 3, Model S, Model X & Model Y) that Tesla car company design is considered as a project which makes it different from other models of electric cars with respect to its different features and people with various needs. The designing and marketing of different models (such as Model A, Model B, and Model C) of Tesla electric cars are unique projects. But real assembling of those cars is considered as an operation which is a repetitive process undertaken for each model or makes.

3 Models of Electric cars by Tesla Company

Assembling of Tesla electric cars

What is a Management:

Management is the process of designing and maintaining an environment such that individuals work together in groups and accomplish aims or goals towards any operation or any project. This is always a role of management in every walk of life whether that may be performed by nature or humans. 

Types of Management:

Management techniques or tools have been used in every field of life in order to achieve the aims of objectives of related field operations. This resulted development of different types of management which are:

• Human Resource Management (HRM)
• Finance Management
• Project Management
• Quality Management
• Industrial Management
• Environmental Management
• Traffic Management
• & others

Among the above types of management, project management is discussed below.

Project Management:

As per PMI, Project Management is the application of knowledge, techniques, and skills to operations or activities of a project to achieve the requirements and objectives of a project.  Project Management requires the utilization of project management processes such as initiating, planning, executing, monitoring, and controlling, and finally closing.

History & Importance of a Project Management:

Humans have been undertaking projects since the beginning of history, as humans started to learn organized activities and management skills. Those projects have been completed with proper management tools or techniques which we can call as Project Management. 

Among those projects, some are mentioned below:

• Great Pyramids of Egypt
• Great Wall of China
• Apollo Project to send humans to the moon.
• Eiffel Tower of Paris
• Burj-Ul-Khalifa (Tallest building) in Dubai
• SpaceX mission to send humans to Mars in 2024
• Tesla Electric Car
• Tarbela Dam Project
• And others

Top Left: SpaceX mission to Mars, Top Right: Tarbella Dam, Bottom Left: Great Pyramids of Egypt & Bottom-Right: Great Wall of China

Without project management, it is impossible to complete a viable project in the required time while achieving the goals & objectives of the project. This may be resulting huge losses (whether time, cost, or manpower) in a project, and sometimes project may be terminated or canceled when the goals or objectives are not achieved by a project.