What is project management?
Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing, securing, managing, leading, and controlling resources to achieve specific goals. A project is a temporary endeavor with a defined beginning and end (usually time-constrained, and often constrained by funding or deliverables), undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives, typically to bring about beneficial change or added value (Wikipedia).
Project management is, therefore, about process. Any process. This makes it a valuable methodological tool at any time. The inherent cost of projects makes it a paramount profession in industry, construction and other high-risk sectors.
In Science, project management has certain peculiarities which makes it different from ordinary management: accounting, administration and ordinary paperwork lies more within the realm of research administrators.
Research projects, however, have many demands which are all-too-often assigned to the PIs:
Project management is, therefore, about process. Any process. This makes it a valuable methodological tool at any time. The inherent cost of projects makes it a paramount profession in industry, construction and other high-risk sectors.
In Science, project management has certain peculiarities which makes it different from ordinary management: accounting, administration and ordinary paperwork lies more within the realm of research administrators.
Research projects, however, have many demands which are all-too-often assigned to the PIs:
- partner coordination
- event organization (conference, seminar, workshop, meeting)
- milestone completion
- activity monitorization