Many businesses run on a stable and predictable way. Similar tasks are repeated on a daily, monthly and annual basis. These businesses may use projects on an occasional basis - to introduce a new system or to change the way that the business operates - but generally use ongoing line-management to manage the organisation. Some industries are predominantly project driven. These include engineering, construction and information technology (IT) businesses.

Projects differ from normal mundane work in that each project has a definite start and end date. Often, the activities in a particular project are to some extent unique to that project. The project deadline or expected completion date is often a driving force behind the project.

Managing a project involves identifying the various tasks that are required for project completion, developing a project plan, allocating resources to the plan, identifying the critical path and managing the entire process of the project to ensure that the various activities and milestones are accomplished in the expected time frame and within the allocated budget.

One of the key problems in project management lies in the ability to estimate with some degree of accuracy the time and cost required for successful completion. This seems to be worst in IT projects where the various tasks are somehow less predictable than in the construction and engineering industries. IT projects are particularly prone to the phenomenon of "scope-creep". The scope of the project is defined at project commencement, but a range of additional requirements are identified throughout the life of the project.

Estimating time and materials at the start of the project is achieved by breaking the project down into small tasks. The smaller the task, the easier it becomes to estimate with any degree of accuracy.

There are cases where the implementation date is dictated by the client or executive for political or other reasons. This date becomes a non-negotiable deadline around which the project manager has to plan and manage resources. Non-negotiable deadlines have been the cause of many disastrous IT projects where the rush to get everything completed on-time has meant that under-tested systems have moved into the production environment prematurely.

A project may consist of a number of streams that are developed simultaneously. A major project management task is to monitor the progress of these activity streams, identify problems and potential delays and take timely corrective action.

One of the major problems encountered in the project management environment is that people working in a project environment often hide lack of progress and problems encountered. They hope that lost time will be made-up later and that they will still be able to deliver on-time. To counter this, the project manager must be able to build a trusting and open relationship with the project operatives.

Project management involves the effective monitoring of all tasks throughout the project. Delays and potential problems should be detected as early as possible in the process so that alternative plans and perhaps additional resources may be deployed.

Throughout the project regular reports to management and the client must take place.

Projects are complex, and the task of managing a project environment is equally complex. The project manager should be a strong character able to report problems and issues to management and prevent the pitfalls of being bullied into agreeing to unrealistic expectations or deadlines. An important part of the job is to manage the client's expectations and to keep these reality based.

Learn more about this author, Barry Marcus.
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