Basic Project Management Functions
The definition of the project's objectives together with all the activities involved in their achievement, and the resources consumed, is known as the project scope. Since the scope of a project has the habit of changing during the life of a project, this gives rise to the need for Scope Management.
For a project to be considered effective or successful, certain standards of quality must also be stated or presumed. Establishing and maintaining these standards during the life of the project leads to the need for Quality Management.
Since a project is determinate, it is clearly set in the context of a finite period of time. Unfortunately, time is a completely inflexible resource, so that activities must be carefully planned and scheduled. This is referred to as Time Management.
Because in our society "time is also money," money is a closely associated resource. Fortunately, it is somewhat more flexible. Nevertheless, it too needs careful managing, so we have Cost Management.
Scope, quality, time and cost, form the basic core of project management. However, as yet we have not discussed some of the special circumstances that arise in the management of projects.
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PMBOK Standards
