What is Project Management?

Growing Necessity of Project Management- Definition and importance

 

Undoubtedly, project management is one of the complex fields of work with which you can never get bored. Project management gets properly defined as the discipline, which includes “initialization, planning, execution, and controlling” the project towards the achievement of a specific goal. The desired goals could be the production or the development of unique services, products, or some other metric improvements. Activities get conducted with skill sets, various tools, methodologies, knowledge, and techniques with the help of project management.

 

Importance of project management

 

The main goal of project management is to ensure that the objectives of the project are achieved within the required constraints.

 

Clear and well-focused objectives: Project management ensures that there is a proper plan for executing a project as well as strategic goals. The project manager must drive the timely accomplishment of the scenario by breaking up a big project into different tasks.

Promote leadership: Project management helps in bringing leadership as well as direction to projects. A team can be like a ship without a rudder if they do not have project management. It provides motivation, vision, and leadership.

Quality control: Project management ensures the adequate quality of what is being delivered and hits the mark. Proper Project management requires gated phases in which teams can access the output for applicability and quality.

 

How to get the PMP Certification?

 

The globally recognized PMP Certification (Project Management Professional) tells the world that you know what you are doing in project management. The PMP applies to anyone who has helped in bringing a project to completion, even if they are not project managers. The PMP Certification recognizes your ability to manage different projects and your hard work as well. There are around 1, 000, 000 PMP Certification holders across the world. The PMP Certification delivers more value to your career. It is valuable to get PMP Certification because earning it is like a commitment. Before getting PMP Certification, it is essential to have real-world project management experience that helps you to get success.The main sets of PMP Certification requirements include:

• Four-year degree or a high school diploma
• Three years of the leading project
• An associate’s degree or global equivalent
• Around 35 hours of project management training or education

Therefore, if you do not have management experience in your project, then you are not eligible for appearing in the PMP Certification exam. You can take a Project management training, PMP Certification training helps you in advancing your career by opening new doors of success. It is a respected plus well-renowned certification. PMP Certification has an excellent scope; that is; its value is highly recognized in different industries.

 

How to become a project manager?

 

A project manager has many responsibilities to work on various projects. PM (project manager) is responsible for leading an entire project through discipline, including initialization, planning, execution, controlling, and completion. However, the question arises, how you can become a project manager. To delegate tasks or motivate other team members, it is critical to have an organizational and analytical set of skills. It means that you need to get some crucial qualifications for becoming a project manager.

 

One of the most popular project management degrees known is a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in the course project management. Other multiple degrees that offer project management include Business Management and Business Administration. In addition to it, some dedicated certifications involve project management qualifications. PMP (Project Management Professional), CAPM (Certified Associate in Project Management), and many other certifications help you to become a project manager.

 

There is no fast or hard rule when it comes to the degree required for becoming a project manager. However, the skill level, as well as the expertise of a person, plays a critical role in becoming a project manager. You need to strengthen up your Project Management skills and enhance your knowledge to become a project manager. Though, most of the companies hire a project manager based on their expertise level. Still, some companies prefer advanced education along with skillset. It means that you have to get specialized certifications or professional degree for becoming a project manager.

 

Techniques that help you to become an effective project manager:

 

 

• Work on efficient project management skills

 

By having a correct blend of project management skills and techniques, you will surely get a ticket to success. Expertise, advanced education, and a sprinkle of project management skills help you to become a successful project manager. There are some practical skills which help you to become a project manager and stand out over the crowd. You can become capable of making smarter decisions and get done within things in a short time by having a practical skillset.

 

• Use project manager software

 

The utility and popularity of project management software make it necessary for successful project closure. There are various project task management software that you can find online and help in becoming an efficient project manager.

 

• Focus on management skills for team

Having a great team is critical for achieving your project goals efficiently. However, if you cannot get your team to work correctly, then they are of no use. It is because the results come out with the work of your organization. Having an efficient team means you have a dynamic mix of brains plus diverse points of view. If you are not able to manage it properly, then it can disturb other opinions. As a result, it can clash the aura of a company’s culture. That is the reason, why becoming a project manager is to master the skills of managing a team.

 

What is the average salary of a project manager?

 

Project managers plan and execute projects within a company and ensure that they are on-track through every stage of the process. Such a job may require daily evaluations of employees plus motivation and leadership for achieving desired goals. The project manager must ensure that employees have some set goals and shared vision goals for projects. The project managers oversee the plans until they get finished. In addition to it, the project manager must evaluate projects and changes required within the project for the future. Reported salaries of the project manager vary in-between Rs. 1, 553, 000 to Rs. 1, 793, 000. Some companies pay on the lower end of the scale, but no one can deny the value and reputation gained by becoming a project manager. 

 

Details about PMP exam

 

Project Management Professional (PMP) exam is of two types, namely, paper-based and computer-based. Generally, computer-based is highly accessible because you get the result immediately after you finish your exam. The fee of computer-based is quite higher as compared with the paper-based PMP exam.

 

If you pass the PMP exam, then it in forms you that you will get PMP Certification. Once you pass the exam, you can use the title “PMP” immediately. PMP Certification is a globally recognized standard for professionals looking for Project Management positions. Some of the practical benefits of getting PMP Certification:

 

• With the PMP exam clearance, you have better chances of being considered for a job in the project management field.

• It always shows you with the best practices, along with a cost-benefit analysis of the project.

• The continued PMP Certification rule helps you in remaining in touch with the project management profession.

• You can handle your job correctly after you become part of the elite group of PMP Certification holders.

 

How to do preparation for the PMP exam?

 

PMP is the advanced level certification for professionals with significant experience in leading or directing the projects appropriately. Before you apply for the PMP Certification exam, you need to take the formal professional training with a great education provider. There is no doubt that the PMP exam is tougher, which requires extensive preparation for many months. There is much material to absorb in the area of project management so that you can clear the PMP Certification exam.However, you can master the PMP exam with the right combination of dedication, efforts, and guidance. You need to go through with the systematic approach which helps you in tacking the PMP exam:

 

Survey: You need to survey the material before starting your study session. It would help if you went through with all the charts, headings, and graphs in the PMBOK guide and your prep book. PMBOK Guide is the Project Management Body of Knowledge, which can make you familiar with the crucial topics. You can arrange all the required information in a systematic plus sensible order in your mind quickly.

 

Research: Before you start learning, you should make a list of questions that you need to answer. It will surely transform you from a passive reader into a dedicated researcher.

 

Motivation: You need to find your motivation and find out what you want to learn from the collected material. If you have recap questions or study goals as preparation material, then you need to figure out what you want to accomplish.

 

PMP exam prep book: The exam of PMP Certification is loaded with tricky questions. So, it would help if you got an efficient PMP textbook with which you can prepare for the PMP exam. You can also go through with PMP sample questions that boost up your ability to learn in challenging real-life scenarios. That is why; collecting the excellent preparation material helps you to know the ease and difficulty level of the PMP Certification exam.

 

Try the online PMP Certification exam workshops: Various PMP exam prep courses are available online. Along with it, in addition to your formal PMP training (35 hours) do take such an online seminar as well as they are less expensive as compared with the in-person workshops. You need to choose the best option which suits best for your lifestyle. It is beneficial to seek expert advice from your trainer before you go for your PMP exam.

 

What is the fee required for the PMP exam?

 

PMP Certification is one of the values as well as crucial certification for the project management profession. It is an industry-recognized certificate for professionals who are working in the project management field. Achieving PMP Certification helps you in providing more salary as compared with those who do not have PMP Certification. Due to the increased demand for skilled project managers, the fee of the PMP Certification exam is also high. Generally, the fee of the PMP Certification exam varies, and its variation depends on the following conditions:

 

When you have completed your PMP Certification application, then you will be eligible to sit for the PMP exam only if PMI approves your application. The eligibility for a one-year PMP exam period begins once the PMP application gets approved. Within this time, you can take the PMP Certification exam up to three times if you are not able to pass it in the first attempt. You will surely get a discounted PMP exam fee rate in second plus third attempts.

Crucial project management tools

For a project manager, ignoring efficient project management tools could cost high. For a project to get delivered effectively, it becomes necessary to adopt benchmarked quality assurance. In addition to it, you can focus on quality management systems while learning project management. Controlling quality and monitoring ensures that processes and projects are on the right track. To perform quality control,various techniques, as well as tools, get used. The primary purpose of then project management tools is to examine the project, product, and service with quantitative standards.

 

• Cause and effect diagram: It refers to such diagrams which define the inputs to a process to identify the potential causes of defects. Generally, these get used to determine what has caused a defect. Such diagrams are helpful when you need to analyze the root causing a problem. Once you determine the root cause, it becomes easy to handle it with the appropriate solution. It helps the project manager to save some costs during the future phases of the project.
• Control charts: It is a graphical display of the data against control limits and over time. It helps in detecting the trend of the plotted values towards either control limits quickly. These refer to the way which helps in visualizing how processes are doing. It measures the results and displays then result in the form of a graph. You can see whether the process variance is in control or out of control.
• Flowcharts: This is an diagram format, including inputs, processes, actions, and outputs of one or more processes within a system. It helps in showing how methods work visually. You can use a flowchart to highlight how the tasks within a project are interrelated and factors on which they depend. Even they help in showing decision-making processes. These are efficient to analyze where in the project the problem can occur.
• Project management templates: Project managers can use various tools to perform efficient project management processes efficiently. To achieve it, there is a high need for such techniques and appliances within the project management area. Many organizations try to create their knowledge systems through graphical representations and historical records. In addition to it, some companies develop templates as well as guidelines to use them effectively. Such models help the management teams to create the project efficiently. The project team gets a bright idea and can easily focus on the content generation with project management templates.

 

The necessity of Agile Project Management

 

Agile project management helps in breaking down projects into small tasks that get completed in work sessions. It is an attractive approach that includes planning as well as guiding project processes. The section in which Agile Project Management gets completed refers to as iterations. The main advantage of APM is its ability to respond to specific issues as they get arise throughout the project. Making effective changes to a project at the correct time can save many resources. Even it helps in delivering a successful project within budget and on time as well.

The correct Agile methodology enables the project manager and team to release useful segments when they get completed. The continuous release schedule allows organizations to demonstrate that these segments are successful. It helps in reducing the chance of large scale failures due to the constant improvement throughout the project management and process lifecycle.

 

Significant software project management

 

Project management software helps teams of project managers to collaborate plus meet desired goals on time. Along with it, software project management helps in managing cost as well as resources efficiently. The crucial functions may include time tracking, task distribution, budgeting, team collaboration, resource planning, and many more. Some people refer to project management software as PPM (Project Portfolio Management).

Various business professionals rely on an efficient project management system that helps them to oversee multiple endeavors. Today companies can mitigate risk by identifying failing aspects of a project by using time tracking software that forecasts the management of the project. Some of the efficient software project management includes:

• Bug Tracking Software
• Agile Project Management Software
• Enterprise Project Management Software
• Project Portfolio Management Software
• Marketing Project Management Software
• Visual Project Management Software
• Time Tracking Project Management Software

Things to consider while selecting Project Management software

• Identify the technical requirements of business: The capabilities of the project management software must meet the business requirements. It is not beneficial if you are focusing on the tabular information of products, but the company demands graphics. For selecting the best project management software, you need to look at the reliability and speed of the software.
• Capitalizenon functionality: Project managers should have a great idea about the selection of project management software if they conduct tool selection effectively. Sometimes, project managers are not able to utilize their knowledge, and they purchase ineffective project management software. A lack of integrated activity between software project management and its requirement can lead to time plus money wastage.
• Focus on information not on data: It is common to find such projects in which project management software is getting used in a non-added way. Generating numerous reports which create only data, not the information, is the most common mistake while selecting software. The project management has to realize that data has no meaning until there is some practical information related to it. If then project managers fail to capitalize on information functionality, then it can confuse other team members as well.

 

Conclusion

 

One can run projects effectively with excellent project management. Planning, as well as an organization, is a significant part of project management. It helps to guide all aspects of the project plan execution by highlighting the path from starting to finish.