Project Management, as defined by the Project Management Institute in the Project Management Body of Knowledge, is comprised of five ‘process groups’:
- Project Initiation
- Selection of the best project given resource limits
- Recognizing the benefits of the project
- Preparation of the documents to sanction the project
- Assigning of the project manager
- Project planning
- Definition of the work requirements
- Definition of the quality and quantity of work
- Definition of the resources needed
- Scheduling the activities
- Evaluation of the various risks
- Project execution
- Negotiation for the project team members
- Directing and managing the work
- Working with the team members to help them improve
- Project monitoring and control
- Tracking progress
- Comparing actual outcome to predicted outcome
- Analyzing variances and impacts
- Making adjustments
- Project closure
- Verifying that all of the work has been accomplished
- Contractual closure of the contract
- Financial closure of the charge numbers
- Administrative closure of the paperwork
Engineering project success can then be defined by the following project objectives:
- On time
- On budget
- At the desired performance level
- Has utilized the assigned resources effectively and efficiently
- Is acceptable to the owner or end user
