Project Management Series: 001-Project Management Overview; an Introduction to Management

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What is the first thing that crosses your mind when you hear “Project Management“? My early introduction to the term “Project Management” was during the beginning of my studies at the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Planning, Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS) Surabaya. That time all I had in mind were an array of tools that have something to do with construction work; schedules, materials, status reports, etc. As time goes by, I discovered that project management is actually more than just a set of instruments; it is the application of skills, knowledge, instruments, and methods to achieve what stakeholders expect from a project.

In the posts to follow, we will explore project management further, starting with a brief introduction to management, getting to know what projects are all about, followed by an introduction to project management and its elements, its implementation, and its role in urban planning and development. I will also try to provide some case studies to enrich the series.

Let’s begin! The term “Project Management” comprises of two words, “Project” and “Management” so, perhaps it would be best to kick-start the series with an understanding of what those two words are, and what they mean when they are put together.

Management: in the words of Mary Parker Follet (1868-1933), “management is the art of getting things done through people” thus, management involves a person or a group of people to plan, arrange, and carry-out activities targeted toward a designated objective. Management is also perceived as a humane activity; to facilitate the production of positive results from a system.

Peter Drucker (1909-2005) states that management is the coordination of activities within an organization/enterprise that is oriented towards certain policies and objectives, with the following tasks: marketing and innovation.

Management consists of inter-connected functions and processes. Among these processes are: planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling.

Management can also be described as someone, or a group of people that manage something; the board of directors and managers that wield the power and responsibility to make important decisions within an organization/enterprise. Management sizes vary from a single officer in a firm, to thousands of managers in a multi-national corporation. It can also be discussed functionally to regularly measure quantity; to measure and organization’s performance, adjusting plans, or as the action(s) taken to achieve a goal.

The Functions of Management: Henri Fayol describes the seven functions of management as follows:

1. Planning : planning can be viewed from different perspectives; organizational and psychological. In an organizational manner, planning is the process of compiling a plan. Psychologically speaking, however, planning is an act of visualizing steps to be taken to achieve an objective. From whichever point of view, the end product is the same: a vision of a realistic objective;
2. Organizing : defined as an act of arranging elements according to a set of rules/more, or to position items in a logical manner so that they can be easily found (indexing);
3. Leading : one’s ability to influence others socially, to gain support and aid to achieve a goal/complete a task;
4. Coordinating : various people with various motivations and backgrounds within an organization; coordination is required to harmonize each and every element/individual so that they can work together to achieve a single goal;
5. Controlling : performance monitoring at an alloted time. Performance is determined according to a set of standards within a project to ensure positive development and satisfactory performance;
6. Staffing : often referred to as “recruitment”, putting the right man in the right place;
7. Motivating : encourage target-oriented behavior.

Coming up next: An Introduction to Projects!

Related Articles

• The Top Ten Benefits of Project Management (brighthub.com)
• Project Management Explained in Brief (business-project-management.suite101.com)
• Project Management Case Studies by Terry Hall (slideshare.net)
• Top Ten Management on Controlling: An Overview of The Function of Management That Ties It All Together (bizcovering.com)

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