Project Management is the new king of the world of business. It comes from the realization that, whether you make toys, develop software or are a space agency such as NASA, your operations can be divided into smaller, unique activities which can be defined by time (a clear beginning and end), budget, dedicated resources, and specific goals and objectives. These activities are called projects. Such projects are typically either directly related to customers (i.e. developing a new product or service, or working on a specific solution to a problem related to such products or services), or related to internal operations (i.e. a project dedicated to designing a new, inner-company businesses process). Each project is made out of a number of tasks and activities which must be coordinated and performed, some concurrently, as part of the project. These typically include: defining clear goals and objectives, defining the critical tasks which must be accomplished, assessing time required for each task and for the project as a whole, assessing risks related to the project, allocating resources, assigning tasks to the appropriate individuals, coordinating the work, measuring progress, solving problems, and many other activities all in the goal of completing the project successfully.

The need for better Project Management has resulted in the rise of three main "tools", which today are essential ingredients in project management: First is the Project Manager, which has now become a key figure in many industry sectors, and an increasingly popular career. This job requires some unique skills and abilities some of which are planning skills, people management skills, and the ability to weigh many variables and make decisions to appropriately allocate resources such as money and employees to optimize the results of the project.

A second tool, which has been slowly evolving and developing for several decades, and is still being shaped and reshaped today, is that of project methodologies, developed to optimize project management. These are bodies of knowledge, complete with detailed steps and recommendations on how to best accomplish each of the multiple steps that make a project (such as how to plan your resources, how to measure progress and milestones, and how to identify critical activities and give them the appropriate attention). Some project management methodologies have been recognized as fully fledged authorities in the field, and offer training and certifications in their respective methodologies. Project managers today are more and more expected to have such project management certifications as prerequisites to certain jobs.

To help project managers better manage and control their projects, a third tool was developed: project management software solutions (perhaps the most famous software package is Microsoft's, with its straight forward name: "Project"). These computer programs are developed to help Project Managers implement project management methodologies and control their projects. They allow project managers more ease, helping in such ways as enabling a visual display of progress of the various activities run within the project, help calculate budgets, and even help with seemingly simple matters yet critically important ones such as maintaining a contact list of all project participants, including a list of each individual's skill sets and experience, information which can then be used by the project manager to decide on who to choose for every task the project mandates.

For more detailed information, see the website of the Project Management Institute (PMI), one of the world's leading project management authorities: http://www.pmi.org/Pages/defau lt.aspx

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