Introduction to Project Management
The lifecycle, the triple constraint and planning tools — on one real project
Every team runs projects, whether it calls them that or not: launching a product, moving an office, rolling out a new process. This course walks you through the basics on one example — a small team launching a new website in eight weeks — so that by the end you can plan a project, keep it on track and close it properly.
What makes a project a project
— How a project differs from day-to-day work
Routine work repeats: the same reports every Monday, the same support queue every day. A project is different. It has a start and an end, it creates something that did not exist before, and it is measured against a clear goal. That is why a project needs its own plan, its own team and someone who owns the result.
Temporary
A project has a defined start and finish date. When the goal is reached, the project ends.
Unique
It creates a new result: a website, an event, a process. No two projects are exactly alike.
Goal-driven
Success is measured against agreed goals — scope, deadline, budget and quality.
Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.
The project lifecycle
— Five phases every project goes through
1
Initiation
Agree on why the project exists, who the sponsor is and what success looks like.
2
Planning
Break the work into tasks, estimate them, set milestones, a budget and a risk list.
3
Execution
The team does the work: designs, builds, writes, tests.
4
Monitoring
Compare progress with the plan every week and fix deviations early.
5
Closure
Hand over the result, get sign-off and record lessons learned.
The triple constraint
— Scope, time and budget pull against each other
Any project lives inside three limits: what you deliver, by when and for how much. Change one and the others move. If the client wants more pages on the same deadline, you need more people or more money — or you accept lower quality. Click the markers to see what each side means for the website launch.
