Project Management a Project Is Defined as

Project Management A project is defined as a temporary endeavor, usually where a group of people and resources brought together to tackle a specific problem. Project management is necessary in order to ensure that the problem is solved, on time and on budget. Project management is often very task oriented, in particular placing emphasis on how to move through the different stages of the project in order to bring it to fruition. A given project will have a number of specific, finite objectives and a defined time frame.

Success for the project will typically reflect whether or not the project's objectives, including that relating to the time frame, where met, which would define a successful project. If they were not met, then perhaps the project would be deemed unsuccessful (Githens, 2011). Where a project manager deals with conflict, it is usually interpersonal conflict or communication issues between members of the project team, as there is usually not competition for scarce resources. A program is a series of projects.

These projects would be managed in a way that delivers an overall set of benefits to the organization. There is a high level of coordination required in program management, because the person in charge of the program needs to conceptualize and guide a number of different projects. There is also a likelihood that within the program some of the projects might not contribute, and it is up to the program manager to ensure that each project fits within the specific purpose of the program.

Where a project manager is focused on the transactional elements of management, arguably the program manager is focused more on strategy and leadership, and coordination, as a means of guiding the organization towards its objectives. Resource allocation is a key part of this job, ensuring that each project has the resources it needs while being efficient at the same time. The program manager also has to deal with conflict between resources for different projects. Competition for scarce resources is a major source of conflict at the program level (Usmani, 2012).

In this management sense, a portfolio is a set of programs. They are usually not related. So this is more reflective of the conglomerate model of doing things. The organization seeks to succeed by having a number of unrelated businesses, rather than by having a single business. So while program management is about juggling projects to make the organization succeed, portfolio management is about finding the right mix of programs to deliver the sort of growth and/or stability that the organization wants.

Portfolio management does not involve competition for scarce resources, as those are usually contained with the program level, and there is little need for interpersonal conflict at this level. For management, the major issues are to determine where the best opportunities arise, and when to enter and exit specific businesses. Those types of decisions may have less conflict, but there are still likely to be political dimensions to this job.

This is not as visionary on an interpersonal level as the program manager role, but it does require a high level of strategic vision, to see how different businesses will fit together to create the most ideal portfolio. So each of these management types is similar in the sense that there are going to be objectives, and the manager has to figure out the best way to meet those objectives. There are going to be people and resources involved no matter what. But because of these.