Project management is the application of processes, methods, skills, knowledge and experience to achieve specific project objectives according to the project acceptance criteria within agreed parameters. Project management has final deliverables that are constrained to a finite timescale and budget. 

A key factor that distinguishes project management from just ‘management’ is that it has this final deliverable and a finite times-pan, unlike management which is an ongoing process. Because of this a project professional needs a wide range of skills; often technical skills, and certainly people management skills and good business awareness.

Project management is aimed at producing an end product that will effect some change for the benefit of the organization that instigated the project. It is the initiation, planning and control of a range of tasks required to deliver this end product. Projects that require formal management are those that:

• Produce something new or altered, tangible or intangible.
• Have a finite time span: a definite start and end.
• Are likely to be complex in terms of work or groups involved;
• Require the management of change.
• Require the management of risks.

Investment in effective project management will have a number of benefits, such as:

• Providing a greater likelihood of achieving the desired result.
• Ensuring efficient and best value use of resources.
• Satisfying the differing needs of the project’s stakeholders.