Project Management

Week 1 Topics in Project Management

Sunday February 14, 2016

Marianne Hedderick

The project management knowledge areas are vital to the success of a project. There are several areas and all are required to help ensure a project does not fail. The areas include the following areas ( Project Communications Management: Essentials of Project Management Series, 2016):

1. Scope Management 
2. Time Management 
3. Cost Management
4. Human Resource Management 
5. Procurement Management
6. Risk Management
7. Quality Management
8. Integration Management & 
9. Communication Management 

Each knowledge area has its own place in the project lifecycle and they are all equally important from a project manager’s point of view. In practical experience one or more areas may have a greater impact on the outcome of the project, but nonetheless they are all important and play a vital role in the success or failure of a project. 

Based on the experience with those of my projects that were not successes or saw some large challenges I believe that Project Communication Management is the most important knowledge area. Lack of communication, mis- communication or delayed communication can derail a project at any stage of the cycle. Project Communication Management includes ( Project Communications Management: Essentials of Project Management Series, 2016):

1. Identify stakeholders - Identify all individuals, groups, and organizations that will potentially be impacted by the project and find relevant information about them.
2. Plan communication - Determine the information and communication needs of the project at hand and the communication approach to be used.
3. Distribute information - Make the needed information available to the project stakeholders in a timely fashion as planned.
4. Manage stakeholder expectations - Communicate and work with the stakeholders to understand and meet their needs, address the issues, and manage the expectations within the project scope and the project management plan.
5. Report performance - Collect and distribute performance information to the stakeholders to stay on the same page.

It is mandatory for the success of projects that the project information is compiled and distributed in a timely fashion and to all the stakeholders involved. Experienced managers would say communication is the most important aspect of a project and the most important skill a project manager must have ( Project Communications Management: Essentials of Project Management Series, 2016). Communication management is certainly a critical component of project management and a common thread that runs through the project lifecycle

Depending on the project and organizations involved, we would use more or less of the processes and tools, but most likely we would use all the knowledge areas in some way to help ensure project success. ( Project Communications Management: Essentials of Project Management Series, 2016)

Project Communications Management: Essentials of Project Management Series. (2016, February). Retrieved from www.projectmanagmentinstitute.com: http://marketplace.pmi.org/Pages/ProductDetail.aspx?GMProduct=00101458500