Project Management
Project management is the application of processes, methods, knowledge, skills and experience to achieve a defined objective or objectives.
A project is a unique, time bound endeavour, undertaken to achieve planned objectives, which could be defined in terms of outputs, outcomes or benefits. A project is usually deemed to be a success if it achieves the objectives according to their acceptance criteria, within an agreed timescale and budget.
A key factor that distinguishes project management from just 'management' is that it has this final deliverable and a finite timespan, unlike management which is an ongoing process. Because of this a project manager needs a wide range of skills; often technical skills, and certainly people management skills and good business awareness.
The core activities of project management are:
Defining the reason why a project is necessary;
• Capturing project requirements, specifying quality of the deliverables, estimating resources and timescales;
• Preparing a business case to justify the investment;
• Securing senior level agreement and funding;
• Developing and implementing a management plan for the project;
• Leading and motivating the project delivery team;
• Managing the risks, issues and changes on the project;
• Monitoring progress against plan;
• Maintaining communications with stakeholders and the project organisation;
• Closing the project in a controlled fashion when appropriate.
• Learning lessons from the delivery of the project.
These activities are often defined in process which may be based on a methodology such as AGILE or PRINCE2. This site provides guidance on a general project management lifecycle irrespective of methodology. It also provides some tools and templates that can be used in applying the lifecycle. The site also provides guidance on developing yourself as a project manager. Please click on the links below for further information.
If you have any questions or feedback regarding this site, please email: UoM-sco@manchester.ac.uk
Project Framework
Read about the Project Framework
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Project Manager Development
View the skills needed and resources available to develop as a project manager.
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Project Governance and Roles
Read more about roles and governance of project management.
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Project management courses
We have a range of project management courses for staff with different requirements:
This course will outline the grounding principles, people, phases and terminology involved in Project Management with a clear focus on the essentials needed to manage projects effectively.
This course will equip delegates with a clear and effective project management methodology and a comprehensive set of flexible management tools and techniques to run successful projects from beginning to end.
Aimed at a Researcher cohort, this course aims to give researchers the opportunity to apply established Project Management methodologies to the research environment.