table of Contents
First acquaintance with project and project management-1
I. Introduction
During my study and actual work, the author gradually developed some understanding of some basic concepts related to the project. This article will record my personal understanding of some basic concepts.
2. Project overview
1. Definition and characteristics
Looking through the dictionary, the term project refers to the "category into which things are divided", which is not the same as the meaning of the project we are engaged in in the common sense. The "project" that is often mentioned in companies was first proposed in the 1950s and refers to a one-time task completed with a clear goal under certain constraints .
It can be seen from this definition that the project has the following characteristics:
- Uniqueness: "Conditions" and "clear goals". The former has different conditions under different time conditions, such as policies, personnel, capital, thinking mode, technological development, etc., while the latter refers to different organizations and different conditions. Under the leadership and different models, the goals set are different. If everything is the same, it is tantamount to duplication of labor and ineffective output. No organization or individual is willing to waste precious resources on such things. Therefore, each project is inherently unique.
- Temporary: "One-time tasks" can be seen that the project is not a repetitive work, but after the end of the project (no matter how it is ended), the operation of the project itself ends. This is in stark contrast to operations (a continuous labor that produces repetitive results) as we normally understand. You may think that every project is the four major stages of "starting the project, starting and preparing, executing, and closing". It also looks like repetitive work, but due to the uniqueness of each project, each stage and each management The process is different. Even if it is the same "schedule management", various situations such as schedule overdue, lag, fit, and fluctuation will occur. Therefore, the labor in the actual operation process is also quite different.
What needs to be explained here is that uniqueness will bring uncertainty (which will be involved in subsequent risk management), which is why students who have read PMP will often see this sentence pattern "including but not limited to" and " "Applicable to most", "mostly, universally"...This is like some laws of human society that are "generally recognized, good practice, and most applicable", but it is a truth that they cannot cover all.
Temporality is often misunderstood as the project is short, and the deliverables produced by the project are short-lived. ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? In fact, the Three Gorges Dam and the South-to-North Water Diversion project can be a temporary and one-off project initiated due to specific needs under specific constraints, but its duration will be very long, and the deliverables (large Dam, reservoir, water resources balance) even if the project ends, it will still have a long-lasting impact.
2. The end of the project
As mentioned above, a project must have an end, but this end is not necessarily the perfect completion of the project. Generally speaking, there will be the following situations:
| Happening | Description |
|---|---|
| finished | The best result is to achieve the project goal |
| Can't finish | Fail to reach the predetermined project goal |
| No resources to do | Lack of funds for the project can no longer be supported; lack of manpower and material resources can not do it |
| No need to do | A project exists to achieve a certain goal or meet a certain demand. If the goal is no longer needed and the demand does not exist, the project naturally does not need to be done. |
| Don't let it do | Prohibited by laws and policies or caused by convenient factors. (Convenience factor refers to the harm to the public interest) |
3. Project output
What will be produced after the project ends?
Generally speaking, the output of a project is not simply "produced" and called "output". It must be a verifiable and unique product, result or service. This is usually called a " deliverable ", also called a deliverable.
The deliverables here can be tangible new functions of the APP, a high-rise building on the ground, or bringing real money, or intangible improvements in corporate reputation and the realization of public interests. Of course, it can also be tangible and intangible, such as developing new apps while increasing brand awareness.
The biggest role of the project is to drive change , that is , to change the product, service, organization, and environment from one state to another through the implementation of the project. For example, every change of WeChat can be seen as a small project, pushing WeChat to a new state in terms of user experience, underlying architecture, and functional design.
Three, project management
1. Definition
The “conditions” mentioned in the project definition “have clear goals”, then the role of project management is to manage relevant factors and balance the impact of these factors on the project under limited and restricted conditions, so as to meet the project’s requirements. Requirements to achieve project goals.
In short, project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and technology to project activities to meet project needs.
2. Management object
In actual work, we will see that PM only manages one project, some manage many, and there is another department called PMO (Project Management Office). The people in the PMO don't seem to actually participate in the project. What are they managing.
What I said above is actually the combination of projects, which can be divided into three categories:
| form | contain | Management focus |
|---|---|---|
| project | Mainly include sub-projects, work packages and basic project activities | The focus of management is to carry out the project in the right way, and pay attention to the dependence of the project’s own factors |
| Item set | It mainly includes sub-programs, projects, and program activities, which is a collection of interrelated and dependent projects and program sets | The focus of management is to balance the dependencies of the project set in a correct way to ensure the implementation of the project set. Focus on resource constraints and dependencies |
| Project portfolio | It mainly includes sub-project portfolio, project set, and project. No dependencies | The focus of management is to carry out the right projects. Focus on strategic goals, priorities, etc. |
Generally, PM manages projects and project sets, while PMO is more project portfolios. To briefly mention here, as the management of project management, PMO is divided into support type, control type, and instruction type according to the degree of intervention and support to the project. Support type is mainly used as a reference for templates and experience, and control is Provide reference support when guiding the project, and the instructional type is a major intervention in project management.
(To be continued...)