Among the possible roles in project management, the key terms are customer, project sponsor and project manager. The customer is the end recipient of the project's outcome. A project sponsor is the individual who is responsible for making decisions, making sure resources are available for the project and overseeing the project. These can include individuals or groups inside or outside the organization conducting the project. The project manager is the person in charge of directing the project team, communicating with stakeholders and sponsors, and allocating resources.
This is the beginning phase of the project management process. The words here deal with early-stage ideas. Common words and phrases include budget, project charter and schedule. A budget is the amount of money available for the project. When the project team drafts a project charter, they are formally laying down the objectives of and the contributors to the project. A schedule allocates the time required to complete the project, taking into account personnel and resource availability.
In the organization of a project, planning is essential. It is important to understand the "project triangle," which includes time, budget and scope. These terms assist the project manager in the planning phase in figuring out how long the project will take, what resources it will require and how much work it will take to get to the end result.
Coordination, communication and prototyping are terms that are vital to implementing the project. To coordinate means to organize resources and personnel in a harmonious order. Communication is required to exchange ideas and messages among personnel. Another important term in this stage is prototyping, which is the concept of creating a mock-up deliverable to test for problems in the project. A prototype is an early model of the outcome.
Important terms in this stage are risk management and evaluation. Risk management is a process that uses analysis to identify problems or risks in the project and provides steps to avoid problems. During the control stage, managers need to make sure their project is on track. Evaluation establishes whether the project is successful by comparing current performance to projected performance.
In the final stage of project management, concepts to note are performance review, reporting and documentation. Performance reviews can take many forms, from overall team review to individual analysis, but it is important that the reviews thoroughly cover many aspects, including observance to budget, product delivery and efficiency. Reporting covers all facets of the project, such as the projected project triangle vs. the end project triangle and the lessons learned. These reports should be documented for reference in future projects.