What is project management? ISO-compliant project management process for businesses

The project management process is the key that determines 90% of a project’s success or failure. Therefore, the project management steps must be carried out methodically, scientifically, and rigorously throughout the project lifecycle to achieve the best results. So, what stages does a project management process include? What factors influence a project’s success? Let’s find out with 1Office in the following article.

1. What is Project Management? An Overview of the Project Management Process

Project management is the process of planning, organizing, coordinating, and controlling resources and tasks to achieve specific goals within a defined timeframe and budget.

The project management process is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and experience by a manager to plan, coordinate time and resources, and monitor project execution to ensure the project is completed on time, within budget, and meets technical and quality standards.

See more:

• TOP 10 Best Project Management Software for Effective Project Progress Monitoring
• A-Z Guide to an Effective and Methodical Project Planning Process

2. The Core Role of Project Management

The project management process is a continuous activity throughout the project lifecycle and is a key factor in determining its success or failure. The core roles of the project management cycle include:

• Ensuring project objectives are achieved 

Each project must ensure the completion of one or more specific objectives to contribute to the overall goals of the business. Managers in general, and project managers in particular, can set overall project objectives or set objectives for each stage of the project.

• Coordinating and allocating project resources

Typically, a project will use many of the company’s resources and sometimes needs to mobilize resources from other market relationships. Using these resources most effectively is crucial and requires precise coordination and allocation.

The project manager needs to allocate project resources to specific tasks and stages to ensure they are used correctly and in reasonable quantities. This way, resources are used for the right tasks and purposes, and the project achieves the expected efficiency without waste.

• Ensuring the project stays on schedule 

Time is a critical factor in a project. Failure to meet the project schedule can lead to significant losses in money, effort, and more. Therefore, the task of project management is to allocate resources and coordinate work scientifically and reasonably to ensure the schedule is maintained and the project is completed on time.

3. ISO Project Management Process: 5 International Standard Stages

The project management process according to the international standard ISO 21500:2012 was developed by the Project Management Institute and is divided into 5 basic stages, including:

Stage 1: Project Initiation (Initiating)

The first stage of the project management process includes identifying the project’s needs, stakeholders, and specific objectives. The activities in this stage include:

• Conducting market research and assessing the project’s feasibility.
• Developing a Project Charter to define project objectives and distribute information to stakeholders.
• Identifying project stakeholders and establishing related plans.

Stage 2: Project Planning (Planning)

Project planning is a process that starts with setting objectives, deciding on strategies, policies, and detailed plans to achieve the defined goals. During the project planning stage, the manager needs to carry out the following main tasks:

• Define project objectives: The overall objective of the project is the developmental outcomes—physical, financial, institutional, social, environmental, or otherwise—that the project is expected to achieve.
• Risk analysis: Risk analysis helps to identify risks in a timely manner and take action to manage or mitigate them when possible. If the risk is at a medium to low level, a risk management strategy for the activity/outcome should be prepared. If the risk level is high, the project structure should be changed to avoid these threats.
• Project activities: Activities or tasks are performed through which inputs such as budget, human resources, and other resources are mobilized to achieve the project’s results. Based on the expected objectives and outcomes, the manager will establish the project’s activities.
• Project implementation budget: When preparing the project budget, detailed calculations must be correctly established to ensure that the project figures are reliable and realistic.
• How to measure project results: A project’s results are measured not only by the completion of all set tasks and the achievement of objectives but also by how the project manages costs and its schedule. This can be visualized as measuring the three sides of a triangle, where the sides are work quality, completion time, and adherence to the proposed budget.

Phase 3: Project Execution (Executing)

The Project Execution phase is the most critical stage of the project management process because the activities performed in this phase directly impact the project’s outcome. Therefore, project management must be carried out rigorously, ensuring collaboration among all stakeholders to achieve the project’s objectives.

Activities in this phase include:

• Implementing project activities according to the plan: These activities may include product manufacturing, software development, infrastructure construction, service delivery, and other project-related tasks.
• Tracking and monitoring the progress of project activities: It is necessary to ensure that activities performed in this phase meet performance standards, are on schedule, and are within the allocated resources.
• Managing change: Making forecasts for the project’s timeline and costs.

Phase 4: Monitoring and Controlling

Once the project enters the implementation phase, monitoring and controlling must be executed immediately so that managers can promptly evaluate and adjust project activities, ensuring the project stays on track with its set objectives. During the monitoring and controlling process, the following aspects should be considered:

• Monitoring project progress: It is necessary to continuously monitor the project’s progress to ensure that activities are carried out according to the plan and on schedule. To manage project progress, managers should use project management tools such as Gantt charts, work schedules, and progress reports.
• Controlling quality: Quality control activities may include product quality checks, ensuring consistency across products, and verifying that established quality requirements are met.
• Controlling costs: Project costs must be tightly controlled to ensure the project is executed within the approved budget. Cost control activities may include monitoring project expenses, comparing them against the cost plan, and adjusting the cost plan if necessary.
• Managing change: During project implementation, many situations may arise that require changes from the original plan. Managers need to manage these changes to ensure they do not affect the project’s schedule, quality, and budget. Change management activities may include identifying, evaluating, and approving change requests and implementing measures to ensure these changes are carried out effectively.

Phase 5: Project Closing

The Project Closing phase is the final stage in the project management process. This phase involves completing all project tasks, reviewing and reporting results, delivering the product or service, evaluating outcomes, and documenting lessons learned.

The activities to be carried out include:

• Handing over project deliverables to the client: Before the handover, the project manager must confirm that all project requirements and objectives have been met. They must also ensure that all issues and changes have been addressed and that all project documentation is properly archived.
• Transferring technical documents to the client: These documents may include performance reports, product user manuals, or other technical documentation.
• Summarizing the project evaluation and documenting lessons learned: This evaluation should cover the degree of completion, product quality, project timeline, and costs. The manager needs to assess whether the objectives were achieved and what factors influenced the project’s performance.

4. Factors Determining Project Success

A successful project is defined as one that is completed with the right results, within the planned budget, on schedule, and accepted by the client. These four factors contribute to project success and must be carefully managed to ensure a successful outcome.

• Project outcome: The project outcome is the objective the project aims to achieve. To achieve this outcome, the project needs a clear plan and defined steps to reach its goal.
• Project budget: Managing the project budget requires careful management of costs, resources, and labor.
• Project schedule: Managing the project schedule is a critical factor in ensuring the project is completed on time. If a project is completed on schedule, it can be considered an initial success.
• Client acceptance: Client acceptance is a crucial factor in determining project success. Client acceptance means the client is satisfied with the project’s outcome and trusts the project and the contractor.

5. Enhance Project Management Quality with 1Office Software

In today’s digital landscape, applying technology in project management is key to improving performance and optimizing resources for investment projects. 1Office is one of the most popular and effective project management solutions on the market.

1Office software helps businesses solve the problems of schedule delays, cost control, and quality control in the project management process in the most optimal way with outstanding features such as:

• Simple and fast project creation. Allocate resources, time, and break down the main items of the project.
• Instantly grasp the overall progress of the entire project and the proportion by each status, thereby making timely adjustments to accelerate progress.
• Flexibility in setting project progress: By average % of work completed or by the proportion of implementation days
• Linking feature, allowing data from the Work module to be linked to other modules such as HRM, CRM. From there, for a Project, Managers can manage progress, financial situation, supplies, link to Customer management, and create new: Quotes, Contracts

Get a free consultation & software demo

In the article above, 1Office has introduced readers to the professional project management process and provided a technology solution to help manage projects effectively, tripling productivity. For a consultation and trial of the market-leading project management software, please contact us using the information below:

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