Project management

Advantages of project management

Guide

Project management is a powerful business tool that can deliver many advantages to businesses of all sizes. It gives you repeatable processes, guidelines and techniques to help you manage the people and the work involved in your projects. It can increase your chances of success and help you deliver projects consistently, efficiently, on time and on budget.

Benefits of project management

The main advantage of project management is that it helps you to manage your projects effectively, enabling you to resolve problems more quickly. Following good practices can help you:

  • improve your chances of achieving the desired result
  • gain a fresh perspective on your project, and how it fits with your business strategy
  • prioritise your business' resources and ensure their efficient use
  • set the scope, schedule and budget accurately from the start
  • stay on schedule and keep costs and resources to budget
  • improve productivity and quality of work
  • encourage consistent communications amongst staff, suppliers and clients
  • satisfy the various needs of the project's stakeholders
  • mitigate risks of a project failing
  • increase customer satisfaction
  • gain a competitive advantage and boost your bottom line

Not having a process to manage your projects can result in lost time, wasted money, inconsistencies and poor performance. Find out more about the benefits of following a project management method.

What is a project?

A project is a temporary effort, which has a defined:

  • scope - size, goals, requirements
  • resources - staff, equipment, material
  • time - start and end, task durations, dependencies, etc
  • money - costs, contingencies and profit

Project management oversees the planning, organising and implementation of a project. Read more about the basic principles of project management.

Most projects have five basic stages, with distinct project management processes. 

While every project will be unique and may need specific solutions to succeed, some basic project management templates and tools can help you manage your projects.