Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives.

A project is a finite endeavor (having specific start and completion dates) undertaken to create a unique product or service which brings about beneficial change or added value.

The primary challenge of project management is to achieve all of the project goals and objectives while honoring the project constraints. Typical challenges are scope, quality, time and budget. The secondary—challenge is to optimize the allocation and integration of inputs necessary to meet pre-defined objectives. A project is a carefully defined set of activities that use resources (money, people, materials, energy, space, provisions, communication, motivation, etc.) to achieve the project goals and objectives.

The duration of the phases would be dependent on the nature of the project and its importance to the organisation. The documentation sequence and its linkages ensure smooth functioning and control of the project deliverables.

The intention of project management is to provide an integrated single point of responsibility for ensuring that all parts of the project are managed effectively concluding with the successful provision of project deliverables. Generally projects are intended to produce a unique outcome having a clear beginning and a defined end-point. Project management concepts may be applied throughout the full lifecycle of projects, i.e. from concept definition through to the execution and on into the operations & maintenance phases.