Men have been planning and managing projects since the beginning of

civilization. Our ancestors have left behind great monuments ( the

Pyramids, the Great Wall of china, the Taj Mahal, etc.) which are all the
results of well planned & well executed. All this projects were
implemented without the help of modern management, tools and
technique
Gradually , people recognized that techniques like cost control.
scheduling of activities . Resource procurement and risk management
are relevant for the succcess of a variety of projects, whether building
dams, laying roads,, or organizing events. This led to the evolution of a
set of unique management tools, techniques and methodologies,
which constitute the present day Project management
DEFINITION OF PROJECT;
A project is a group of unique, inter-related activities that are planned
and executed in a certain sequence to create a unique product and/or
service, within a specific time frame, budget and ckients specifications.
According to the Project Management Institutes PMI publication
Body of knowledge (PMBOK) a project is defined as , a temporary endeavor
undertaken to create a unique product or service
Some examples of the product initiatives include;
redesigning or relocating a production facility
implementing a management information system
developing a new alloy required for a space vehicle
constructing national highways
Organizing the Olympics
constructing a dam for better irrigation facilities
PROJECT CHARACTERISTICS:
Organization structures and processes are custom made to produce a specific
product and/or service. Sometimes organizations have to take up new tasks
that they are not equipped to handle. These tasks are new to the organizations
as they are not performed earlier or they may not be repeated in the future
again. To perform such unique tasks, organizations adopt the project
approach. The project approach is adopted when the existing system in the
parent organization are not equipped to handle the new task. Some of the
characteristics of the tasks that qualify to be project are:
unique activities
attainment of aspecific goal
sequence of activities
specified time
interrelated activities
Unique Activities;
Every project has a set of activities that are unique, which means it is the first
time that an organization handles that type of activity. These activities do not
repeat in the project under similar circumstancesi.e., there will be something
different in every activity or even if the activity is repeated , the variables
influencing it change every time. For example, consider a ship building yard
that builds ships for international clients. Even though the organization builds
many ships , each time there will be a difference in some variable such as the
vessels design, time allowed for construction etc.
Attainment of a Specific Goal;
organizations take up projects to perform a particular task or attain a specific
goal. These tasks differ from project to project. The project in an organization
could be constructing a new facility, compiterizing the accounts department
or studying the demand for a new project that the organization plans to
launch in the market. These projects have a specific goal or result to
attain and hence we can say that every project is goal oriented.
Sequence of Activities;
A project consists of various activities that are to be performed in a
particular sequence to deliver the end-product. This sequence depends
on the technical requirements and interdependency of each of each of
the activities.
Specified Time;
Every pro ject has a specified start date and completion date. This time
limit is either self-imposed or it is specified by the client. The life-span of
a project can run from a few hours to few years. A project comes to a
close when it delivers a product and/or service as per the clients
requirements or when it is confirmed that it is no longer possible for
the project to deliver the final product and/or service or required by the
client
Interrelated Activities; projects consist of various technically related
activities . These activities are cosidered interrelated as the deliverable
( output) of one activity becomes the input for another activity
of the project. Consider a project of building a multistoried luxury hotel.
The project consists of various activities such as making a building plan,
landscaping, costructing the building, designing the interiors, furnishing
the rooms etc.. All these activities are interrelated and are equally
important for the completion of the project
I PROJECT PARAMETERS;
The primary aim of a project is to deliver a product and/ or service to a
client within a specified time-frame and a budget ( resources & cost),
and according to the quality and performance specifications. The
success of a project depends on the project managers ability to strike a
balance between these interrelated variables or constraints. Some
common constraints that influence a project are:
scope
quality
time
cost
resources
Scope ; is the brief and accurate decription of the end products or
deliverables to be expected from the project that meet the
requirements. Scope describes all the activities that are to be
performed , resources that will be consumed, and the end-products
from the successful completion of the project., including the quality
standards. The scope also includes the target outcomes. Prospective
customers , outputs, work,financial, and human resources required to
complete the project the various issues related to scope of the project
will be discussed later.
Quality; every project has to satisfy the quality requirements at two-
levels --- product quality and process quality. The first quality
requirement relates to products resulting from the project and the
second relates to the management processes that have to be in place
to implement the project . A comprehensive quality management
system ensures effective utilization of scace resources to achieve the
project deliverables products and/or services to the clients
satisfaction. The various tools and techniques that are needed to ensure
quality will be discussed later

Time; is one of the important resources available to a project manager.
at the same time , it is one of the major constraints within which a
project has to be completed, the client or the sposor of the project
specifies the time limit for the completion of the project. Therefore cost
of the project increases as time available for its completion decreases.
Since time can not be stored as inventory, it is the duty of the project
manager to manage time by carefully scheduling the various activities
on time
Cost; plays a major role in the various stages of a project life cycle.
Project costs include the monetsry resources required to complete the
activities mentioned in the scope of the project. Project costs are costs
associated with all the activities in the planning and implementation
phases. The client or sponsor of the project prepares a budget based on
the estimated costs of various project activities within which the project
manager has to deliver the product
Resources; include the people, finances, and the physical and
information resources required to perform the project activities
CLASSIFICATION OF PROJECTS; Projects can be classified based on their
characteristics such as business value, risk level, time span, complexity
Of tasks, and the monetary value of the project. Projects can be
classified after studying them carefully. Once the project is classified , it
becomes easy for the management to select the project management
style that best suits the class of the project
Characteristics of the Various Classes of the Project;

Project cost
Project
characteristi
cs
Class I Class II Class III Class IV

Time span 18 months
or more
Between 9--
-18 months
Between 3
9 months
3 months or
less
Level of Risk High Medium Low Very Low
Level of
Complexity
High Medium Low Very Low
Technology Breakthroug
h
Contempora
ry
Best Practical
Probability
of problems
100% (
certain)
50% ( likely) 10% ( low) No Risk
Project management
Project management is a system of procedures, practices,
technologies, and know-how that enables the planning, organizing,
staffing, directing, and controlling necessary to successfully manage a
project
According to PMI , Project Management is the application of
knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities in order to
meet or exceed the stakeholder needs and expectations
Project management is a carefully planned and organised effort to
accomplish a specific ( and usually) one-time effort, for example,
constructing a residential complex or implementing a new computerized
banking system. Project management includes developing a project
plan that includes defining project goals, specifying how the goals will
be accomplished, what resources are needed , and relating budgets and
time for completion. It also includes implementing the project plan ,
along with careful controls to ensure that the project is managed
according to the plan.project management usually follows five major
phases --- feasibility, study, project planning, implementation, evalu
ation , and closing