What is Project Management?
Project management is the process of using knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to plan, execute, and monitor activities to meet a project's objectives. A project is a temporary effort with a defined beginning and end, with a goal to create a product or service. Successful project management requires a clear understanding of the project's purpose and a structured approach to carrying it out. This site introduces the five major phases of project management and provides examples and templates that can be downloaded and used for any type of project. The goal of this webpage series is to give staff and students enough information to begin planning and managing a project independently before seeking additional support from a project management specialist.
To promote better understanding of each step of project management, this resource guide uses a single example throughout: creating a new mentoring program for undergraduate students.
This example is based on fictional campus data and shows how a project can identify an area of improvement and move through each management phase.
“Only 46% of first-year students reported having a meaningful connection with a faculty or staff member, while participation in mentoring programs is associated with a 15% increase in first-year retention.”