What Is Project Management?

Project Management, or PM for short, developed as a discipline primarily in the 1960s. Its principles were developed out of necessity for managing both construction projects as well as US Military projects. Today, PM skills come in handy in any discipline where large projects are the norm. Such projects involve numerous employees and contractors, suppliers, and resources. As such, Project Management is a lucrative career choice. Senior PM consultants (called PMs or Project Managers) often earn $100/hr and up, and Assistant PMs earning $75/hr and up.

PM skills include managing both human and materials resources, plotting out sub-tasks and timelines, as well as determining any “critical path” sub-tasks that may cause project bottlenecks. A Project Manager is essentially responsible for overseeing the smooth running of a project. Besides plotting timelines and determining milestones, often the most important task of a PM is making sure that project members are meeting their milestones, and that budget is being maintained. PMs who handle more than one project are called Portfolio Managers (also designated PM).

While formal Project Management skills are not a necessity for most small projects, a disciplined approach is necessary for projects that are long-term and/or involve many partipants and resources. Officially, you may not call yourself a Project Manager without accreditation. PM program accreditation in North America is done by the PMI (Project Management Institute). PMI approves the curricula of any offered PM program and gives their stamp of approval, as well as dispensing codes of conduct.

Basic PM skills, typically taught in the first 2-3 courses of the standard curriculum, are usually all that is needed to manage most small projects. To actually receive a PM designation, you must complete an approved curriculum and achieve satisfactory standing in any examinations. Less than 10 years ago, only a tiny handful of universities and colleges in Canada and the US offered PM accreditation study programs on this continent. Now, there are many more participating institutions, online self-study options, and even degree programs.

Most PMs use software such as Microsoft Project to manage task and milestone reporting. More recently, there are also free OpenSource packages such as Open WorkBench and Gantt Project.

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