project management: yes, but why?
introduction
Many of our clients ask us to explain the dedicated project management line in the estimates because they don’t understand its importance. However, it is considered the central element of a successful project. It initiates planning, estimation, and aims to achieve the level of quality desired by the client.
If, like our clients, you wonder about the usefulness and importance of project management, we invite you to discover what hides behind this mysterious line on your quotes!
what is the purpose of project management?
Project management aims to organize, in its entirety, the smooth running of the project. It calls for organizational techniques throughout its lifecycle with the sole aim of achieving the objectives set at the outset.
To work effectively and achieve a certain level of quality, we can distinguish different stages during project management:
1.Exchange with clients and partners:
Once the contract is signed, the project manager’s role is to be the interface between the client and the agency. They will effectively ensure communication between the various parties. Their main mission is to gather information from the client (needs, content, elements…) and transmit it to the dedicated teams. And vice versa, of course!
Project management requires other skills and qualities such as listening, understanding, rewriting, and sometimes even translation when requests are extremely technical.
Project managers often have their phone glued to their ear and their email at their fingertips to always stay connected with their client and teams!
2.Project framing:
During the initiation phase, it is mandatory to carry out a framing phase. This will include the client’s request, constraints, and specifications. At the same time, we define the main lines of the project and determine its major milestones.
The project manager will need to break down the various tasks that make up the project to determine interdependencies and the order in which they need to be executed.
3.Project and resource planning:
Once the framing is done, the project can begin. With the main goal of meeting client deadlines, a production schedule will be developed. It is created based on both client needs and necessary resources.
This step, both crucial and obligatory, can sometimes be complicated to achieve: managing teams, schedules, contingencies… It can quickly become a headache. If this step is poorly done, the whole project suffers!
4.Management of internal or external resources:
Once the project is planned and resources allocated, it is the project manager’s job to manage the teams and ensure that each objective is met.
They monitor various elements to ensure that all project stages are carried out successfully:
- conducting an initial briefing with the entire project team
- regular monitoring and control of various tasks
- anticipating potential problems and solutions to counter them
- adjusting schedules and/or resources
- creating cohesion within the project team…
These are all tasks that ensure the project runs smoothly.
5.Deadline management:
Project management also involves managing deadlines!
Following estimations made by production teams, the project manager schedules the necessary time and ensures it is adhered to in order to deliver the product within the initially planned deadline.
Teams are provided with the schedule to follow, and the project manager ensures that the stages are respected.
Project management, often requiring adaptations, demonstrates its ability to quickly find solutions. In other words, if you’re a project manager, you’re a good juggler!
6.Validation of deliverables:
An essential step in a successful project is a thorough check of the deliverable. The project manager is responsible for the elements or materials sent to clients.
Regardless of the final deliverable, a check-in is necessary to ensure that the outcome conforms to the specifications and objectives set initially.
For validation, a lot of rigor, patience, and sometimes even technical quality are required. Ultimately, project managers are very versatile!
In conclusion, to succeed in a project, it must be properly organized and monitored. A project cannot be efficiently completed without effective project management. Comparatively, it’s a bit like planning a vacation! You study and plan the best route to take, look at the must-see sights along the way, plan your food, and sometimes even games to entertain the children.
Well, it’s the same with communication projects! We plan, anticipate, and schedule so that your projects run smoothly and your objectives are met!
aritcle author
Published in august 2019
Audrey Morant
Head of Project Management Department at Gardeners, Adjunct Instructor at INSEEC and IAE University Savoie Mont-Blanc.