Answer: Depends on who you ask 😉
Wikipedia has a nice succinct definition.
The Project Management Institute (PMI) lists the processes and skills. (And include info on getting certified as a PM)
But my favorite definition comes from the association for project management (apm), a UK organization. Paymo, a tool vendor, embedded an apm video: “At its best, project management is virtually invisible. Its the absence of problems and the prevention of failure.”
A real world example is an interview Scott Becker, from Becker’s Hospital Review, did with Kristin Myers, VP of Technology at Mt Sinai Health Systems. ( a 15 min listen) In adddition to some great advise, Kristin talks about projects that did not go well: “As project manager, this is part of life and have to take those lessons:
– understanding the business strategy.
– under business and community have to be involved in system selection – it should not be dictated by IT.
– you need change management, focusing on the human factors of change”
So it looks like there are varying definitions of what project management is, just like there are all shapes and sizes of projects. Our job is to figure out what works best for our project, client and team.
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