Completing assignments using Project Management

What is Project Management?

Whether you're working as a freelancer or self-employed and running your own business, it's important that you stay on-top of your employees and projects to make sure you are giving the client the best possible product.  Project Management is the process of planning your projects out in an organized, professional manner to achieve your project goals on time.  

The main project constraints being:

• Scope - All requirements/work that needs to be completed to deliver the product or service

• Time - Amount of time needed to complete all tasks

• Quality - All activities necessary to complete the project are necessary and efficient

• Budget - Planned amount needed for resources/expenses to complete the project

There are many project management "methods", however they all follow the same basic steps and have the same main challenges of achieving the project goals while honoring the original rules and constraints. The point of all methods of project management is to plan, organize, motivate, and control project resources to achieve the best possible product or service.  

The overall "steps" to follow in good project management are as follows

1.  What is the problem/project?  

State the problem that needs to be addressed/Identify what project needs to be completed to meet the clients needs.

2.  Determine Project Goals/Objectives

State the project's main goals in an easy-to-understand way, break down the goals of the project/assignment into a step-by-step list.

3.  Determine Requirements

Identify the activities needed to complete the project.  What materials and resources will need to be purchased?  How many people will you need to help complete the project on time?

4.  Select a strategy

How will you reach the project goals?  What project management method will you use?  

5.  Determine Schedule/Budget

How much money will be needed for materials/employee pay to finish this project?  How much time will you need to complete the project?  Will you submit parts of the project piece-by-piece for review?  What is your project timeline?

6.  Execute plan / Monitor project

Begin on the project and monitor the project to make sure all rules/constraints are being met.  Make sure focus is clear and project is on-time.

7.  Close

Project is complete.  Launch the product/Submit to client.  Follow up with client to make sure they are happy with the product.  Send a thank you note to all clients/employees for the work/chance.  Close project and prepare for next assignment.

Project Management is especially important for those of us in the digital media/web development field, as many of our projects and assignments are large and require many steps to complete.  There are many project management development models, from the traditional approach to the water-fall method, and all models work great for different assignments.  I believe one of the best methods to follow for someone in our field would be the Agile Management method.

Agile Project Management

For our final project, we were asked to choose a method of project management and follow the guidelines to meet our semester goals. After reviewing all of the different ways to manage projects, I finally settled on the Agile Project Management method. This method requires the project head to create "steps" in the project, and complete the project step-by-step.

This final project involves the creation of a final graphic design portfolio, including a website, logo, business cards, and resume. Using project management, I would give myself 2 weeks to finish each "step" of the project, resulting in a working, completed product.

Following Agile Project Management, I would spend 2 weeks working on completing a finished design for my personal logo. Once the logo is completed, I would have another 2 weeks to complete 3 business card compilations and choose a single design for public use. I would follow this model until the entire final project is completed and satisfactory.