These are the most important project management tasks

1. What are the goals of project management?
2. In which areas is project management used?
3. What are the central tasks of project management?
4. What are the tasks of a project manager?
5. What are the tasks of a project manager?
6. Which tools help with project management tasks?
7. Conclusion - project management tasks

A large proportion of Germany's economic output is generated on a project basis, which means that products and services are developed as part of a one-off project. Time, costs, deadlines, milestones and scope cannot be compared with projects.

In order to achieve the project goals, project management is required to control and steer the projects so that they can be completed efficiently, effectively and on time.

There is a standard for project management, DIN 69901, in which project management is defined. According to the standard, project management is defined as the "entirety of management tasks, organization, techniques and resources for the initiation, definition, planning, control and completion of projects".

The standard also defines five phases: initialization, definition (rough planning), planning (detailed planning), implementation/control and completion.

Depending on the phase, different tasks are required, which are based on the content of the respective phase.

It is therefore a systematic approach to planning, organizing, monitoring and controlling as well as an orderly project completion for the implementation of project management. This includes, in particular, the organization of cooperation between the various stakeholders and interest groups, be it management, suppliers and customers as well as the project team itself and other business partners.

Project managers are therefore responsible for the overall coordination and monitoring of all aspects of a project.

What are the goals of project management?

1. Maximizing effectiveness

The effectiveness of the project should be maximized, which equates to maximum achievement of the objectives. The primary objectives of project management therefore relate to the fulfillment of previously defined goals.

2. Maximization of efficiency

The objectives should not only be achieved, but should also be achieved with an optimal use of resources. In particular, this also involves avoiding overfulfillment of the objectives, which, for example, results in increased costs if the quality characteristics are overfulfilled.

3. Minimization of risks

All potential risks that arise during a project must be managed in order to minimize the impact on the project and the project objectives. This begins with the identification of all potential risks and continues with preventive risk management through to active risk management during a project. All risks must be assessed in terms of the extent of damage and probability of occurrence. This is followed by the development of measures to reduce the probability of occurrence and/or the extent of damage in order to minimize the impact of the risk.

4. Optimization of quality

With the help of project management, the quality requirements and standards are met while at the same time taking into account the minimum required quality. This means that the quality standards must at least be met, but overfulfillment should be avoided.

These are only parts of project management and the associated tasks. Overall, project management aims to satisfy the needs of stakeholders - especially customers - in addition to the effective, efficient and timely fulfillment of project goals.

In which areas is project management used?

Project management is used in all areas that work on a project basis. This means that project management can be found in all areas outside of line production and general day-to-day business. Here are a few examples of where project management is used - and, above all, how:

Marketing

Marketing usually works on an order or campaign basis. These orders and campaigns from different clients differ significantly in terms of deadlines, time, budget, content and more, which is why each order is a new project. The planning and coordination as well as the content are different each time - and are therefore carried out on a project basis. Project management is used to plan, implement and control the tasks and bring the campaign to a conclusion.

IT

Project work is the rule in the IT sector. Programs and codes are developed for individual scopes and tasks. However, there is a special feature in IT: requirements are constantly being changed, new functions added or previously developed scopes removed or replaced. Project management is particularly important here, as it has to react quickly - and above all efficiently - to changes. This is why so-called agile project management methods have become established in the IT sector. Examples of this are Scrum, Kanban or XP (Extreme Programming).

Development

In the development sector, especially in the product development sector, project management is used to plan the development of new products and to carry out development on time and on budget.

As an example, you can imagine the development of a car, which is redeveloped each time (with each series / facelift). However, identical development projects are not common in business.

Construction

Imagine a new road or bridge being built. Again, it is logical that these are project-based contracts - there are no identical roads or bridges, as the circumstances are different each time. The same applies to a large extent to housing construction.

Event management

Concerts, trade fairs or other events such as conferences are planned, organized and implemented using event management. The word event is only a placeholder for project. Here too, the circumstances of each event differ from the others and it is always a project.

What are the central tasks of project management?

Planning: Project planning can be divided into two areas, rough planning and detailed planning. It is a crucial step in project management to draw up the various plans, first in rough and then in detailed form. A network plan is used to create the time schedule, with durations and buffers for each work package. An accompanying milestone plan can be drawn up on top of this - or at the same time - to schedule the most important milestones.

Building on plans relating to time, cost and resource plans are developed in order to estimate which resources are required when and which costs will be incurred at what time. This is intended to ensure that resource or cost gaps can be closed preventively and a shortfall can thus be avoided. At the same time - especially if resources (such as employees) are deployed in several projects at the same time - excess cover can be eliminated.

Monitoring: In addition to planning, which usually requires a one-off creation and then continuous adjustment, monitoring the project is a continuous and never-ending task until the project is completed. The status quo should be ascertained by means of seamless and continuous monitoring of the project and all associated components in order to be able to present the current status in comparison to the target to be achieved. Using progress analysis methods, the current point in time can be evaluated, but forecasts can also be made. In this way, measures can be taken if, for example, it is determined that the project is behind schedule. This makes it possible to achieve goals effectively and efficiently.

Risk management: As mentioned above, risk management can be divided into two areas: preventive and concomitant risk management. You can deal with potential risks even before the start of a project. These are assessed in order to be able to estimate the impact of a potential risk. By determining the probability of occurrence and estimating the amount of damage, a risk can be compared with others.

The product of these two key figures is the so-called risk index. According to individual limits, the various risks can be divided into differently weighted risk classes - for example, A, B and C risks. These can then be processed step by step in descending order of priority and assigned measures. The measures are always aimed at reducing either the level of damage or the probability of occurrence. Measures generally incur costs. These costs must always be considered in relation to the reduction of the risk and should only be taken if the costs of minimizing the risk are lower than the costs of the risk when it occurs. In project management, it is therefore important to assess which risks should be considered and ideally prevented and which risks the project team (consciously) accepts.

Stakeholder management: The first step in stakeholder management is to identify all stakeholders and stakeholder groups. As in risk management, these are evaluated. However, not according to probability of occurrence and level of damage, but usually using a matrix according to influence and interest. In this way, you create four different quadrants ranging from low interest and no power to high interest and high power.

Depending on the constellation, there are standard strategies for dealing with and managing these stakeholders. Known stakeholder groups are customers, suppliers, your own project team, management levels and other interest groups. Good stakeholder management can ensure that the most important needs and expectations of the project are met.

Budget management: Finally, there is budget management, which ensures that the project stays within the approved budget. There are well-known examples of major projects that have made headlines primarily due to poor project management - such as the capital city airport. However, particularly good project management can also save a lot of money if the budget was not utilized or the deadlines were reached early, which is characterized, for example, by an earlier deployment date for machines and systems.

What are the tasks of a project manager?

• Team management: ensuring that the various team members fulfill their tasks
• Resource management: Ensuring that the required resources are available in sufficient quality and quantity at a specific time.
• Time management: Ensuring that tasks, work packages and milestones are completed on time. If necessary, management of resources (e.g. through additional employees).
• Communication management: Managing communication with stakeholders in accordance with the communication plan drawn up.
• Risk management: Ensuring that the project is not jeopardized by risks. This also includes the introduction of measures and the continuous monitoring of risks.
• Quality management: Ensuring that the quality standards are achieved, but taking costs into account so that the quality targets are not overachieved.

What are the tasks of a project manager?

Within a project team, there is usually a project manager who leads the team. This person is responsible for strategic rather than operational activities and considerations. He or she takes on the strategic planning and management of the project and is usually responsible for achieving the project goals.

1. Creation of the project plan

The project plan includes the identification of the project objectives, a prioritization of the project objectives, taking into account the various target relationships. It also includes time planning and resource allocation.

2. Management tasks

The project team is led by the project manager. This role must ensure that all members of the team fulfill their tasks effectively and on time. Furthermore, the project manager is responsible for ensuring that employees know all the necessary tools and methods and, if necessary, receive training and further education in order to be able to fulfill their tasks.

3. Progress control and monitoring

The project management is responsible for the success of the project and therefore monitors the progress of the project. This is done on an ongoing basis. If deviations are identified, the project management adjusts the project plan and communicates the deviations to all stakeholders.

4. Stakeholder management

Stakeholder management is a task for the entire project team, but is the responsibility of the management. The project manager is responsible for ensuring that all stakeholders communicate with each other and that necessary and relevant information is exchanged or made available in a timely manner.

5. Quality assurance

The required quality standards must be achieved. In addition to internal quality standards, the specifications and standards, certifications must also be taken into account.

6. Budget management

The project budget, which is approved for a specific project, is managed by the project manager. This person is responsible for ensuring that the project stays within this budget.

7. Reporting

Due to the responsibility of the project, the project manager is responsible for reporting "upwards". It must be ensured that the progress of the project is regularly communicated to all stakeholders.

Which tools help with project management tasks?

There are a variety of tools and programs to help you manage projects. From whiteboards and project management software to collaboration tools, various analog and digital tools can help you.

You need to decide whether you want an all-in-one solution or whether you want to use separate tools for the different areas.

If you just want to manage your tasks, you can use task management tools such as Wunderlist or Evernote are suitable. But Trello also offers good management of all tasks.

There are specialized programs that can map Gantt charts (project plans in terms of time). However, these functions are also usually included in "larger" software programs such as Jira. Jira offers a wide range of functions with which almost all project management tasks can be carried out.

Conclusion - project management tasks

In this article, we have shown you what the most important tasks in project management are. We have also gone into the specifics of a project and shown you examples of the application of project-based work.

You have learned about all the relevant project management tasks and also the tasks (and differences) of project managers and project leaders.

The first relevant project management task is the creation of a project proposal, in which the project is described and outlined with all objectives and risks as well as a timeline. Based on this project proposal, a company decides whether or not to start a project.

During a project, precise and detailed planning of all work packages and milestones - as well as the costs and resources associated with them - is particularly important. The less precise the planning, the greater the deviations from target to actual during a project.

Continuous risk management is one of the most important project management tasks, as it is permanently important. In addition to the risks that are already known before a project, all potential risks that can also occur during a project must be continuously managed. Control means that measures must be defined and their effectiveness must be compared with the costs. If risk-reducing measures are found that have a positive balance (i.e. benefits are greater than costs), these must be implemented and monitored.

Another ongoing project management task is stakeholder management, which manages all stakeholders and stakeholder groups of a project and ensures seamless and specific communication.

Budget management goes hand in hand with quality assurance, which ensures quality within the available budget.

All of the above-mentioned tasks ultimately lead to reporting, in which the project is presented to managers and those responsible at defined intervals.