Project Management is delivery of an effort with specific start and end dates given fixed scope and budget.
Product management differs from project management in several ways. Product management represents the interests of the market and drives the long-term strategy for the product and is not restricted to a specific start or end date—the process and the evolution of the product are both continuous. Another way to look at the differences between these two management types is by considering those most responsible for them.
A product manager must understand the future of their business environment and must define the ways that value can be delivered to it. Externally, a product manager is responsible for all the digital products that make up the final customer offering, including being responsible for ongoing requirements and roadmaps. Internally, they are representatives of the business function that the product supports. On the other hand, a project manager is given a specific scope with a start and end time to implement that scope. They are involved with a product after it is ready for a specific project. They are responsible for many elements of the project, such as:
- Scheduling
- Resource allocation
- Budget management
- Scope management
Additionally, unlike project management, product management typically has no 'end' date; it continually evolves based on customer feedback and fluctuations within the market.
With Agile development, product and project management differ as well. Agile development can help either type of management because of its unique adaptability. Here are some of the key differences in how Agile might be used when it is product-based versus project-based:
- Product-based
- Stories and sprints are tied to a product in agile development
- Long-term approach focused on the product from beginning to end
- Takes place indefinitely over lifespan of the product
- Project-based
- Stories and sprints are tied to a product as well
- Clearly defined scope and end date
The significant difference between product-based and project-based Agile development is that project-based has a defined scope and an end date.
Similarly, project management and portfolio management—though closely related—serve distinct purposes within an organisation and cater to different levels of strategic planning.
As previously addressed, project management focuses on the detailed planning, coordination and execution of a single, specific project, and is about ensuring that individual projects are completed on time, within scope and within budget. Portfolio management, on the other hand, is a higher-level approach that involves overseeing a collection of projects (or programmes) as a cohesive portfolio.
The primary goal of portfolio management is to ensure that the entire portfolio aligns with the organisation's overall strategic objectives. This involves deciding which projects to initiate, continue or terminate based on strategic alignment, resource availability and potential return on investment. Portfolio management also considers risk and reward at the portfolio level, balancing efforts for optimal organisational impact.
The project management process consists of five steps or phases that all projects must go through.
- Business case
A business case justifies the need for the project, the project objectives and the return on investment. - Feasibility study
A feasibility study proves that the project can be executed and be executed within a reasonable time and cost for the company. - Project charter
A project charter illustrates what the project is going to deliver and how that will provide real value.
With this documentation, the project can be approved. Once that happens, project management is now responsible for gathering a team to execute the project and working out the details of how the project will unfold. This phase of project management ends when the project team meets together for a kickoff meeting.
- Project schedule
The project schedule defines a timeline for each of the tasks as well as resource allocation. - Project budget
A project budget is the collection of all the estimated project costs in one central location. - Scope management plan
A scope management plan explains how your project scope will be tracked for the duration of the project. - Risk management plan
The risk management plan explains the risks that might affect the project. A good plan also includes strategies to mitigate them. - Resource management plan
The resource management plan describes how your resources will be obtained, allocated and managed during the project. - Stakeholder management plan
The stakeholder management plan identifies all project stakeholders and the strategies to manage them. - Communication plan
A communication plan must be able to identify how essential information will be shared throughout the project, defining who will be receiving the communication, how those people will receive it and when (and how often) they can expect to receive it.
Project monitoring and control takes place concurrently with the execution phase of the project. This step involves monitoring the progress of the project execution activities to ensure the project team stays on schedule and within budget.
Adjustments may need to be made if challenges arise or circumstances change. Quality control procedures are applied to guarantee quality assurance during this phase.
The closure phase is when the project is completed and the final project deliverables are presented to the stakeholders. Once approved, resources are released, documentation is completed and everything is signed off on. Finally, a 'lessons learned document' is created by the team to record impressions, insights and learnings gained throughout the project, to be applied to future projects.
Project management is a highly beneficial piece of an organisation. In fact, project managers perform so many intangible tasks that it is not uncommon for people to not fully understand their worth. There are many benefits that come from fully utilising project management:
- More efficient teams
A project manager ensures that there is someone responsible for making sure every aspect of the project is done on time. Having a dedicated person to take that responsibility helps make teams more efficient. - Happier teams and clients
When projects are done on time and within budget, everyone is happier. Project managers help make that happen for the teams and clients. - Better organisation
Project managers are the ones who oversee how, when and why something should happen. They keep everything organised, which keeps projects on track. - Team growth and development
When there is a project manager overseeing a project, the individuals on the teams have opportunities to grow and work on their skills—instead of having to also manage the stress of tracking a project. - More flexibility
A project manager is someone who can solely focus on helping the team shift and adapt when changes happen. That provides the project team with more flexibility. - Better quality
When a team member is solely focused on their craft, the quality goes up. A project manager makes it possible for every team member to have that, increasing the quality of the project. - Higher output
When a company removes the burden of project management from the entire team and instead has one person dedicated to it, it frees up the team's time to take on more projects and produce more work. - More transparency and accountability
Project management requires regular reporting, which then increases how everything is tracked and managed.
While individual organisations may adopt different variations on common methodologies, most approaches to project management fall into one of the following categories:
Project planning is a foundational stage in the project management lifecycle. It involves outlining the project's objectives, defining the scope, determining required resources and establishing timelines. Through comprehensive planning, project managers aim to provide clear direction, set expectations and mitigate potential risks. An effective project plan serves as a blueprint, guiding all stakeholders from inception to completion and ensuring alignment with overarching organisational goals.
With waterfall management, each task that is a part of the project needs to be completed before the next one can begin. Steps in the project are all linear and flow in one direction toward the next step: like a waterfall. Timelines are crucial with waterfall management because every step must be done on time to keep the entire project on schedule.
Agile project management comes from the computer software industry. Originally, there were the 12 core principles of the Agile Manifesto, but now agile project management is an iterative process focused on the continuous monitoring and improvement of deliverables. At their core, high-quality deliverables are a result of providing customer value.
Agile project management does not follow a sequential stage-by-stage approach like the waterfall approach does. Instead, project phases are completed in parallel by various team members in an organisation. This approach can find and rectify errors without having to restart the entire procedure.
The lean methodology is all about avoiding wasting time and resources. The main idea with this strategy is to create more value for customers while using fewer resources. The only resources used on the project are those that directly contribute to its successful completion.
Scrum project management is a technique that prioritises iterative and incremental product delivery. That happens through constant feedback and collaborative decision-making. Scrum fixes time and costs to control requirements using collaborative ceremonies, time boxes, frequent feedback cycles and a prioritised product backlog.
The Kanban method is a framework used in software development where work items are visually represented to help ensure real-time communication and transparency. Kanban boards help teams and project managers keep track of everything involved in the project and who is responsible for it. Kanban's focus is on flow, and every task is marked as incomplete, in progress or completed to manage that.
Six Sigma is a set of methodologies and tools used to improve business processes by reducing defects and errors. The focus of this methodology is accuracy and reduction of variation. It provides a systematic framework to identify and eliminate variations that can impact project performance.
The Critical Path Method (CPM) is a methodology focused on finding the project's critical path or the longest sequence of tasks that must be finished for the entire project to be complete. Mapping out the tasks and their timelines helps to illustrate the critical path or timeline, budget and scope of the entire project.
Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) is a methodology where each task in the project is put into a chain with buffers to be used when needed. It values these buffers. The monitoring and controlling of the project primarily focus on the utilisation of the buffers.
PRINCE2 stands for Projects IN Controlled Environments. This method focuses on managing resources and risks by dividing projects into smaller stages, defining clear roles and responsibilities and using seven defined principles to manage the project life cycle.
Additionally, a combination of approaches may be appropriate in certain circumstances. Hybrid project management is one such approach. With hybrid management, the company is taking two (or more) different project management methodologies and bringing them together to create an entirely new method that meets the project's needs.
Project management can look different in the age of digital disruption and the projects to products framework is designed to counter that. With this model, team members are dedicated and fully allocated on a particular product.. There is no end date of teams or responsibilities that come with a product.
Project management will always have triple constraints, also called the project management triangle. Every project will always be constrained by:
- Time
- Project scope
- Cost
Project management is the practice of balancing these properly. Projects need to be done to the full scope using the least amount of time and at the lowest cost. That balance can be tricky, which is why project management tools are so important.
For successful project management, it is important to use the right tools. These are some of the most common project management tools.
The Critical Path Method is a time-management technique utilised primarily in project planning. This method focuses on the sequence and duration of tasks, determining the longest path of planned activities to the end of the project. By identifying this "critical path", project managers can ascertain the shortest possible duration for the project and highlight tasks that directly influence the project's completion date. CPM assists in understanding task dependencies, allocating resources efficiently and mitigating potential delays.
Gantt Charts are visual representations of a project's timeline, displaying tasks and their respective durations against a calendar. Each task is represented as a bar, the length of which corresponds to the task's duration. By arranging tasks chronologically, Gantt Charts provide clarity on project progression, highlight dependencies and aid in the effective coordination of resources. This tool can play a pivotal role for both planning and monitoring—offering a clear snapshot of a project's status at any given point.
Kanban boards are a project management tool rooted in visual cues and incremental workflow improvements. They allow teams to visualise tasks, monitor their progress and optimise workflow efficiency. Traditional boards are split into columns and each one signifies a stage in the workflow. As tasks move through the workflow, they are shifted from one column to the next. This can be done with real paper (such as by using sticky notes) but is more often visualised with using digital tools. A digital visual system promotes transparency, facilitates collaboration and aids in identifying bottlenecks or inefficiencies in real-time.
A status report is a regular communication tool that provides stakeholders with an update on a project's current position. This document typically encompasses information regarding task completion, budget adherence, potential challenges and any deviations from the initial plan. By offering a snapshot of the project's health and progress, status reports foster transparency, facilitate informed decision-making and ensure that all parties remain aligned on project objectives and deliverables.
Another valuable tool is resource planning. Knowing what resources are needed for a project and how they'll be used is important to the success of the project, as well as the budget. Resource planning includes three key components:
- Optimising resource allocation
- Balancing the workload
- Managing resource constraints
Using resource planning, project managers can ensure they have what is needed for a project to succeed.
Similarly, financial planning is the same tool except used for finances for the project. It consists of:
- Managing budgeting
- Controlling costs
- Assessing the project's financial performance
- Planning/managing risks and other issues
Project management is not something only a project manager works on. There are often many roles within a project management team that are crucial to successful projects. These are some of the most common project management roles:
- Project Manager
The project manager is responsible for the knowledge areas throughout the project. They typically lead the project. - Project Sponsor
The sponsor is the customer of the project. Depending on the organisation, there can be different levels of project sponsors. - Project Team Members
Team members are skilled professionals who work to contribute to the process of producing deliverables and achieving project goals. There can be a variable number of these team members, depending on the project. - Project Stakeholders
This is a person or a group who has a vested interest or "stake" in the project. Typically, a project manager will need to communicate with any stakeholders throughout the project. - Project Portfolio Manager
Project portfolio managers work to optimise their project portfolios, balance capacity against demand and connect plans and resources to project execution. They may also gather together all the processes and strategies used by the project manager. - Clients
This is a group or a person for whom the project or a key component of the project is delivered.
There are many project management certifications available to improve skills and to gain necessary qualifications. These are some of the common project management certifications:
Google Project Management Certificate This certification programme teaches the basics of project management. · PMI Certifications There are multiple levels of certification and most project managers obtain the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, which is an industry standard.
- Google Project Management Certificate
This certification programme teaches the basics of project management. - PMI Certifications
There are multiple levels of certification and most project managers obtain the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, which is an industry standard. - Agile Certifications
There are multiple certifications available and these are a requirement for project managers using agile or scrum methodologies. - PRINCE2 Certifications
Most companies require a level of PRINCE2 certification to work on a PRINCE2 project. It is most often used in the UK, Australia and Europe. - ServiceNow Certification
This certification is the application of methods, tools and techniques to achieve new capabilities, meet demands, respond to organisational changes or realise a new opportunity. It is particularly useful for project portfolio managers.
Project management is an important piece of a company, so it is important to have the tools that enable your teams to perform at their best. At ServiceNow, we believe that comes through Strategic Portfolio Management (SPM).
We define that as empowering leaders to translate strategy into outcomes that drive business value. It allows organisations to prioritise and fund what matters most, build a roadmap to guide investments, communicate plans and track progress. Generate detailed status reports instantly and automatically. And through it all, bring every project management tool together in one centralised platform, so project managers can see their projects, resources, financials and other relevant data—all built on a single source of truth and coordinated throughout the organisation. SPM empowers teams to plan and execute work in any method while consolidating and centralising business demand. Thanks to ServiceNow, today's enterprise businesses finally have a modern solution to project management.
Whether it's Agile delivery, hybrid or SAFe, ServiceNow provides the tools you need to take resource allocation, budgeting and essentially every aspect of project management further.
Learn more about Strategic Portfolio Management from ServiceNow and transform your project management processes.