Meaning of Project Management

Project Management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities
in order to meet project requirements. Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing,
securing and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals
and objectives. It is sometimes conflated with program management.

Project management is a methodical approach to planning and guiding project processes from start to
finish. According to the Project Management Institute, the processes are guided through five stages:
initiation, planning, executing, controlling, and closing. Project management can be applied to almost
any type of project and is widely used to control the complex processes of software development
projects.

The systems development life cycle (SDLC) is one example of a methodology for guiding the project
management process from an initial feasibility study through maintenance of the completed
application

“In 1958, PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) was invented aspart of the Polaris
Missile Sub program.”PERT was later extended with a Work Breakdown Structure or WBS. This
process flow and structure of the military undertakings quickly spread into many private enterprises

Approaches to Project Management

Traditional Vs. Agile Methods 

Traditional Methods: identifies asequence of steps or events to be completed. 

Agile Methods: identifies small tasks rather than a complete process and imposes as little overhead as
possible in the form of “rationale, justification,documentation, reporting, meetings, and
permission”.Process BasedManagement Furthers the concept of project control The creation of a set
of defined processes detailing what the company actually does allows for consistency across project
teams and the project; when the process is defined, the abilityto track and monitor performance witha
view to improvement is far more successful 

Areas of Human Resources

Earlier areas: Staffing/Recruiting,Employee Relations, Compensation,Benefits, Payroll, Training,

Work Comp,HRIS, Paperwork 
Today: some of the above plus strategic planning, succession planning,workforce planning, process
re-engineering, outsourcing, mergers and acquisitions, change management, andHR services 

What’s Consistent in HR today?

Planning is everything -- and ongoing. On one thing all PM texts and authorities agree: The single
most important activity that project managers engage in in is planning – detailed, systematic, team-
involved plans are only the foundation for project success.And when real-world events conspire to
change the plan, project managers must make a new one to reflect the changes. So planning and
replanning must be a way of life for project managers.

Overall Benefits of Project Management in Human Resources

Facilitates improved client relationships leading to improved customer satisfaction scores Fosters a

common methodology and process across HR; uses same PM processes as client  Ensures an
alignment of HR efforts with client business needs Stimulates teamwork on priority HR
issues Knowledge transfer across professions Increase HR competency (people skills) in Project
Managers Increase PM competency in Human Resources professionals 

Considerations of Project Management (PM) Related to Human Resources (HR) 

Partnership with HR Organization PM role in IS/IT area dedicated to facilitate HR projects Internal
consulting relationship with HR Organization PM role within HR Organization External PM role
consulting with HR Organizations Benefits of a partnership with