An introduction to the basics of project management

Your project manager is the key person in the chain between upper management and the people developing new projects for the company. Any time a new product, process or organizational idea has to be rolled out, the team looks to the manager for guidance and encouragement, and the management does the same for updates and feedback on how it’s going. 

It goes without saying that your project managers have to be exceptional employees. It takes intelligence, focus and dedication to do the job well. For even the smallest project, there are going to be several areas of special concern that only a good project manager can handle. Some elements appear in every project, while a few crop up in specific settings, such as digital project management or a new workflow for sales. Typical elements of a successful project include: 

• Scope: The scope presents an overview of the project, and it’s an agreement between all stakeholders involved. The stakeholders agree to the problem associated with the project in addition to objectives agreed to complete it. They also need to state the importance of the project and why it’s essential to proceed with it. 
• Objectives: The objective is where they set goals and deliverables necessary for completion. All objectives should have a rough timeline for completion, so they must check in with stakeholders to confirm their requirements for a particular project. 
• Resources: The resources relate to the materials they’re using to finish the project, along with the finances and employee output. In other words, they’re displaying the physical products and space needed to complete a project. Also, they need to account for costs such as labor, resources and the space being used.  
• Risks: Risks call for project managers to list the factors and variables that can delay the project. They should list the circumstances where it may be necessary to employ risk management strategies to solve a problem linked to the project’s scope. 
• Schedules: Schedules involve specific milestones and the finalized time it should take to finish the project. Schedules should account for risks and be listed on a spreadsheet to be easily accessed and shared with other staff members. 
• Evaluation: The evaluation process is the final stage of the project. This stage shows the required metrics to call this project a success. A project manager should keep their schedule close to them, so they can track if deadlines can be met as well as be within budget. A progress report is a notable place to store all project information. 

Read more: Employee Evaluation Form

The least you should know about project management basics

Project managers have a lot to think about. To keep things straight, an experienced project manager should have a framework in mind that can be applied to any project they take on. These basics operate a lot like principles, or like general orders do in a military setting, to guide the project manager’s thinking when a novel issue inevitably arises.

Basics for your project manager to keep in view, and for you to evaluate when you’re reviewing their performance, include: 

• The value of project management: New projects mean the world to the companies that pay for them. You wouldn’t be doing it it it wasn’t important, and the manager you choose to run the development cycle needs to be aware of what’s riding on success. This is broadly true for large companies and government agencies, but it’s specifically true of medium and small businesses, where a successful rollout could double the company’s market cap. Pick project managers who know what the stakes are and who are devoted to success above all else. 
• The importance of communication and schedules: Nothing gets done in a vacuum, and a project manager has to communicate like a pro with people of all different backgrounds. On a daily basis, they’ll be talking directly with the teams, vendors, suppliers, legal, technical, upper management and even outside forces, such as regulators, to ensure the project is staying well within scope. Schedules are part of a successful communication strategy, since they put actionable promises down on paper and commit the management to a definite set of deliverables. A clear schedule can be checked against actual progress at a glance, which is worth a thousand words for both management and the workforce combined. 
• The effect project results have on your team and clients: Your organization chose to start this project for a reason, and it’s bound top be an important one. The person you choose to lead a project has to be conscious of the impact their work will have on all of the stakeholders, and they should keep an eye out for “mission creep,” or the loss of focus as project goals expand and the team starts to lose focus. It is up to your project manager to keep the ship’s crew disciplined and on track, keep the project milestones coming on schedule and to manage the budget well.  

Further reading for the new project manager

It is a commonplace bit of wisdom that there’s no such thing as too much knowledge. Project managers feel this every day, since there always seems to be a new challenge that tests their knowledge and skills to the limit. A good project manager should have an active and curious mind, and they should be eager to learn more about their role in the company every day. To that end, it helps to do a bit of homework on the concept of smart project management, and to keep up to speed on the latest ideas in the field.

Books you can recommend to your new (or experienced!) project managers to help them with this include:

• Making Things Happen: Mastering Project Management
• The Lazy Project Manager: How to Be Twice As Productive and Still Leave the Office Early 
• The Plugged-In Manager: Get in Tune with Your People, Technology and Organization to Thrive
• A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge

Making Things Happen: Mastering Project Management

This novel gives a project manager inspiration for how to develop ideas and convert them into projects. It emphasizes the power of asking how to produce and implement ideas to make your projects come off well. 

The Lazy Project Manager: How to Be Twice As Productive and Still Leave the Office Early 

The somewhat tongue-in-cheek title of this book refers to the 80/20 rule. This is the principle that about 80% of the results a team gets come from roughly 20% of the effort put into the project. Reading this book helps more linear-thinking project managers appreciate a counterintuitive aspect of how projects in the real world actually work. 

The Plugged-In Manager: Get in Tune with Your People, Technology and Organization to Thrive

This book provides a project manager with the tools to remain engaged with people, technology and processes that surround them. The author makes the point that these factors play an influential role in being efficient in the workplace. 

A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge

This novel keeps project managers updated on project management vocabulary and concepts. It also serves as a professional development book that positions them to earn their next certification. 

Project management FAQs

What makes a good project manager?

There’s a lot that goes into being a good project manager, and it takes a special person to do it well. As a rule, your most successful project managers will be experienced and smart, with a good head for judgment and for keeping cool in a crisis. They should be open and honest team players, ideally with a mix of independence to handle small stuff on their own, and a willingness to ask for help from both management above and team members below when the needs of the project call for it.

How closely should you monitor a project manager?

The ideal project manager is a fire-and-forget tool, someone you can load up with project specifications and then hear back from when it’s all done and delivered. This isn’t realistic, and some project managers need closer support than others. As a rule, you should keep a closer eye on new project managers than more experienced ones, offer more support for technical projects than less demanding ones, and always be available when they need you in a pinch.

Should you ever change project managers while the project is in progress?

The decision to replace a project manager is not casual, and you should only do it when absolutely necessary. To avoid losing a project manager mid-stream, try to only choose managers you think will stick around and not quit or go on leave before the project is wrapped up. In the event you have to reassign or terminate a project manager, weigh the decision to wait until after the project is done, rather than face delays caused by onboarding someone new.