On a very basic level, project management includes the planning, initiation, execution, monitoring, and closing of a project. Many different types of project management methodologies and techniques exist, including traditional, waterfall, agile, and lean.
Generally speaking, the project management process includes the following stages: planning, initiation, execution, monitoring, and closing.
From start to finish, every project needs a plan that outlines how things will get off the ground, how they will be built, and how they will finish. The project manager puts it all together. Every project usually has a budget and a time frame. Project management keeps everything moving smoothly, on time, and on budget. That means when the planned time frame is coming to an end, the project manager may keep all the team members working on the project to finish on schedule.
Projects could be described as (1) large and complex; (2) smaller simpler projects and (3) rapid response projects. The video gives examples of each of these and the different management considerations in each case.
There are also some interesting models classifying projects and project managers – for example, Carsten Lund Pedersen and Thomas Ritter (2017) classify project managers as Prophets, Gamblers, Experts or Executors – maybe you can relate to each type…. Maybe you are one of them! Types of projects have also been described by Eddie Obeng (2016) as ‘Painting By Numbers’; ‘Movies’; ‘Quest’ and ‘Lost In The Fog’ projects – you may even recognise those descriptions from projects you have been involved in already!