Wednesday, October 5, 2011

What is Project Management

Project Management is a set of principles,methods, and tehniques to plan and control project work.
Project Management principles and techiques help complete projects on schedule ,within budget and scope.
It is a sturctured approach to managing projects.



I have outline the main Project Management definitions here:


ACTUAL COST (AC) – the cost incurred to complete the work that was actually performed in a given time period. Also called actual cost of work performed (ACWP).
                                   
BUDGET AT COMPLETION ( BAC) – the estimated total cost of the project when completed.

CLIENT – the person or group that requests a project.

DURATION – the number of work periods (such as hours, days, or weeks) required to complete an activity. Does not include holidays or other non-working periods. Not the same as effort.

EARNED VALUE (EV) – the planned cost of work actually performed in a given time period. Also called budgeted cost of work performed (BCWP).

FLOAT – the time an activity can slip without delaying the project finish date. It is equal to the difference between the early start and late start (or the difference between the early finish and late finish). Also known as slack, total float and path float. See also free float.

GANTT CHART – a bar chart of schedule information, typically with dates across the horizontal axis, activities listed down the vertical axis, and activity durations shown as horizontal bars under the appropriate dates.

INTERNAL RATE OF RETURN – a profitability measure that represents an average rate of return for the project, expressed as a percentage.

LAG – the time delay between the start or finish of one activity and the start or finish of another activity. When expressed as a negative number, lag indicates an overlap in the activities and is also called lead.

MILESTONE – an activity that defines the completion of a major deliverable or group of activities. A milestone has no duration, cost, or resource requirements.
OPPORTUNITY COST – the cost of choosing one alternative (project) and, therefore, giving up the potential benefits of another alternative (project).

PLANNED VALUE (PV) – the planned cost of work scheduled to be done in a given time period. Also called budgeted cost of work scheduled (BCWS).

QUALITY ASSURANCE – the process of evaluating project performance to ensure compliance with quality standards.

RESOURCE – funds, personnel, equipment, facilities, or materials needed to complete an activity or a project.

SCOPE – a description of the features and functions of the end products or services to be provided by the project.

WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE – a hierarchical breakdown of activities and end products that organizes and defines all work to be completed in a project.