In 2025, project delivery is faster and less forgiving. Customers expect outcomes in weeks instead of months, teams are spread across time zones, and tools like AI are changing the competitive landscape.
Despite this, the reality is that only 35% of projects are successfully delivered, which makes quality project management more important than ever.
In this guide, we’ll cover the fundamentals that underpin every successful project, the tools and frameworks that keep delivery on track, and the role AI is already playing in shaping the next generation of project management.
What you’ll learn:
- What is project management?
- Why is project management important?
- Who uses project management?
- The five stages of project management
- The 6 key project management methodologies
- Common roles in project management
- 5 tips for successful project management
- What tools are used in project management?
- How to measure project success
- AI in project management
- Ready for your next project?
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What is project management?
Project management is about leading a team to deliver a clear goal while working within limits. Every project has three main constraints:
- Scope: The boundaries of the work. Scope defines what will be delivered and what won’t, helping to prevent projects from growing beyond their original plan.
- Time: The schedule for delivery. Projects typically have fixed deadlines, and delays can affect everything from costs to stakeholder confidence.
- Budget: The resources available. This includes money, people, and tools, all of which need to be managed carefully to avoid overspending.
Even across vastly different industries, from launching a product to building software or running an event, the principles stay the same. These include setting clear goals, creating a schedule, managing your team, tracking progress, and keeping stakeholders aligned.
Established frameworks like Agile, Kanban, or Scrum provide structure for how this gets done (more on this later). They take different approaches, but the aim is always the same: managing those three constraints.
Why is project management important?
Project management is vital as it provides the leadership, motivation, and problem-solving skills to introduce new products or services, boost revenue, and meet organisational objectives.
Prioritising effective project management styles enables proactive and continuous workflow improvement, preventing mistakes and overspending. The most successful companies understand how to manage a project efficiently and productively.
Who uses project management?
Organisations of all sizes, from large multinational corporations to small or medium-sized businesses, employ project management.
Whether you are leading a team in the office or managing remote teams globally, effective project management ensures your organisation reaches its goals. Project management encompasses various project types, including (but not limited to):
Project types and how they’re used
| Project types | Examples of use |
|---|---|
| Product and service development | Bringing new products or services to market |
| Software engineering | Creating new software, apps, or feature updates |
| Event planning | Organising corporate events or galas |
| Construction projects | Building new offices or renovating spaces |
| Marketing campaigns | Launching digital ads or social media content |
| IT system implementations | Migrating to new cloud services or upgrading networks |
Traditionally, a project manager leads the project team and is responsible for the project’s overall success, assigning tasks to team members, monitoring progress, and ensuring deadlines and budgets are met. Multiple team members can share project management responsibilities in smaller teams without a dedicated project manager.
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The five stages of project management
Every project follows a life cycle. While details vary depending on the methodology you use, most projects move through five key stages:
- Initiation
- Planning
- Execution
- Monitoring and controlling
- Closing
Here’s what each stage looks like in practice.
Initiation
The initiation stage sets the foundation for the project. This is where you define the scope, outline objectives, and confirm the resources you’ll need.
For larger projects, a project charter or initiation document may also be created to formalise these details. At this stage, you’ll want to establish what success looks like before the work begins.
Planning
Planning turns a high-level idea into a step-by-step roadmap. This stage involves choosing your team, setting deliverables, estimating resources, and mapping out your key milestones.
It’s also where you decide on the methodology you’ll follow, whether that be Agile, Waterfall, PRINCE2, Scrum, or Kanban. Following a strong plan from day one creates alignment across the team and helps prevent scope creep later on.
Execution
In the execution stage, the project plan moves into action. Tasks are assigned, deliverables are produced, and the team works together to push progress forward.
This stage often overlaps with monitoring, since projects rarely go exactly to plan. Strong communication and coordination are what keep execution on track when changes or challenges arise.
Monitoring and controlling
Monitoring is when you check progress against the plan. Regular updates, status reports, and tracking tools show whether deadlines are being met and budgets are on track.
When monitoring reveals something starting to slip, controlling comes in. This might mean shifting resources, resolving issues as they appear, or resetting timelines to keep the project aligned with its goals.
Closing
Closing is exactly what it sounds like: the final stage of the project. At this time, deliverables are handed over, contracts are finalised, and project documentation is completed.
Most teams also hold a review to capture any lessons learned, such as what worked well and what to do differently next time. A proper close means nothing is left behind, and any insights from along the way are carried into future projects.
The 6 key project management methodologies
Various project management types and frameworks can lead to successful project management. Choosing the right one is important, as it determines how you structure your team and plan and monitor your projects.
Here are concise descriptions of the leading project management frameworks:
1. PRINCE2
PRINCE2 (Projects In Controlled Environments) is a structured methodology widely used in the UK, Europe, and Australia. It provides a standardised process for managing projects and is best suited to large or complex projects that require strong governance.
Best for: Large, complex, multi-stakeholder projects that require formal structure, governance, and accountability. Due to this, it’s often used by the government.
2. Waterfall Project Management
Waterfall project management focuses on meticulous planning, breaking down and scheduling the entire project from start to finish sequentially. It’s best suited for teams capable of defining all project requirements upfront that are comfortable with fixed deadlines.
Best for: Projects where the work must be completed step by step, such as building a house or running large-scale infrastructure projects.
3. Agile Project Management
Agile is an iterative approach that enables quick responses to project feedback. It prioritises adaptability, collaboration, and incremental delivery, making it ideal for complex projects with evolving requirements, especially in software development.
Best for: Projects with evolving requirements or high uncertainty. It’s commonly used in software development, product innovation, or environments where feedback loops are essential.
4. Kanban Project Management
Kanban focuses on continuous improvement through visualising and managing the flow of work. Tasks move across the Kanban board as the project progresses, allowing for rapid adaptation and resolution of bottlenecks. It is beneficial for projects with unpredictable workloads.
Best for: Teams handling ongoing or unpredictable work, like in support or maintenance.
5. Scrum Project Management
Scrum divides larger projects into shorter sprints, adapting to project demands as it evolves. It defines rules for team size, roles, planning, meetings, and deliverables.
Best for: Small to medium cross-functional teams working on complex projects where work can be broken into iterative sprints, and frequent stakeholder feedback is valuable.
6. Six Sigma
Six Sigma aims to reduce waste and speed up delivery. It is most helpful in industries where quality and consistency are required, like manufacturing and healthcare.
Best for: Large organisations or projects with a strong emphasis on quality, consistency, and defect reduction. Especially in manufacturing, industrial, or operations settings.
Common roles in project management
Every project brings together different people with diverse skills and responsibilities. These roles look distinct depending on the size of the organisation. For example, smaller teams often share tasks, while larger companies may dedicate whole offices to a single job.
Here are some of the roles you’ll see on a project team and what they do.
Project team roles explained
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Project sponsor | Provides funding and takes overall accountability for project success |
| Portfolio manager | Prioritises and manages a group of projects or programs at the organisational level |
| Project manager | Leads the project day to day by planning, assigning work, monitoring progress, and keeping the team on track |
| Project coordinator | Handles scheduling, documentation, and admin to support the project manager, often in larger organisations |
| Team members | Carry out the project tasks, usually drawn from functions like software development, marketing, IT, or finance |
| Stakeholders | People affected by or able to influence the outcome, from internal teams to customers |
5 tips for successful project management
Effective project management allows companies to develop products or services, optimise operations, and provide value to customers with minimal friction and greater efficiency. Here are five tips to help you succeed in project management:
1. Start with a crystal-clear business case
Before you begin your project, you need to make sure it has a clear reason for existing. Write down what problem it solves, what success will look like, and why it’s worth the time and money.
For example, is the goal to launch a new product, improve customer service, or cut costs? When everyone understands the ‘why’, it’s easier to make decisions if the scope, time, or budget needs to shift later.
2. Break the work into priority tiers
Not every task has the same impact. Split your deliverables into categories like ‘must have’, ‘nice to have’, and ‘can wait’.
This keeps the team focused on what matters most if time or budget gets tight. For example, when launching a new app, fixing security issues is a must-have, while adding extra features might be nice to have.
3. Get some quick wins
Don’t wait until the end of the project to show progress. Deliver something small but meaningful early on, like a test version of the product or a pilot event.
Quick wins boost morale, give stakeholders confidence, and help you spot any delivery issues before you’ve invested too much time or money.
4. Track leading signals, not just deadlines
Don’t wait until the due date to see if the project is on track. Look at early signs instead, like tasks running late, team members being overloaded, or costs starting to creep up.
Catching these issues early gives you time to adjust before they turn into missed deadlines or blown budgets.
5. Leverage the right tools
Quality software saves time and keeps projects organised. Dashboards, task boards, and reporting software all make it easier to see progress and derailment issues early.
Platforms like Salesforce CRM, Slack, and Tableau bring teams together by combining collaboration, data, and AI insights in one place. When you use the right tools, you’ll spend less time on admin and more time focusing on delivery.
What tools are used in project management?
Project management tools bring structure and visibility to projects. They also help you plan tasks, track progress, and keep your team on the same page.
The most common tools are:
- Gantt charts for timelines and dependencies
- Kanban boards for visualising work as it moves through stages
- Dashboards for a real-time snapshot of performance
Templates like a project charter, risk register, or stakeholder matrix also save time and keep processes consistent.
Older projects used to rely on static charts and spreadsheets. However, modern projects now use platforms that provide live updates, automation, and more connected collaboration. For example, Salesforce integrates directly with Slack (for team communication) and Tableau (dashboards and analytics), giving project leaders and their teams visibility, all in one place.
How to measure project success
Project success isn’t limited to finishing the work. It should be measured by whether the project was delivered well and created real value.
Traditional KPIs cover the basics, such as:
- Time: Did you hit deadlines?
- Budget: Did you stay within your budget?
- Quality: Did the output do what it was meant to?
Modern KPIs dig deeper and look at whether stakeholders are actually satisfied and if the project delivered measurable business value. For example, if reducing delays saves 20% of staff hours, you can put a dollar figure on that saving for the business.
Real-time dashboards make tracking these more complex measurements possible. You’ll be able to see progress against targets, flag issues early, and compare results to industry benchmarks.
AI in project management
Today, 70% of project professionals already use AI, and another 29% plan to, with only 1% saying they won’t.
The role of AI isn’t to replace project managers, but to take on the repetitive work and use prediction to identify risks earlier. This should give project managers back time for strategising and leading their teams.
Here are some of the common ways AI can help in project management:
Automating admin
AI can take care of the small but time-consuming tasks like scheduling, sending reminders, and updating status reports. Tools like Agentforce handle this in the background, so project managers don’t have to.
Predicting risks
Through analysing past projects and current data, AI can spot early signs of trouble, from budget overruns to resourcing gaps. With Salesforce CRM Analytics, these insights show up in real time, giving managers a chance to act before problems escalate.
Drafting documentation
Progress reports, meeting notes, and stakeholder updates often eat into a manager’s day. Generative AI can create first drafts in seconds, leaving the project manager to review and refine instead of starting from scratch.
Combining AI and human judgment
AI brings speed and data-driven insights. Humans bring context, judgment, and empathy. The best results happen when both work together. AI might highlight an issue, but it’s the project manager who decides how to respond and keep the team on track.
How can your business use AI?
Get inspired by these out-of-the-box and customised AI use cases.
Ready for your next project?
Strong project management is what turns ideas into outcomes. Success comes down to getting the fundamentals right, choosing the right framework, and using tools that make collaboration easier. Plus, with AI now built into everyday platforms, project managers can spend less time on admin and more time leading their teams.
The next step is to review your own approach, refine your methodology, and invest in tools like Slack (for communication), Tableau (for analytics), and Agentforce (for an AI assistant).
If you’d like to see how our AI assistant Agentforce could help take you out of the busy and into the big, you can watch the demo here.
FAQs
What is a work breakdown structure in project management?
A work breakdown structure (WBS) is a way of breaking a project into smaller, manageable pieces. It shows all the tasks needed to reach the final deliverable and makes it easier to assign work and track progress.
How does project management differ from product management?
Project management is delivering a specific outcome within scope, time, and budget. Product management focuses on the lifecycle of a product. Both roles often work closely together.
What is a project portfolio?
A project portfolio is the collection of projects and programs an organisation is running. Managing a portfolio means choosing which projects to prioritise, making sure they align with business goals, and allocating resources effectively.
What should I look for in project management software?
Good project management software gives you visibility and control. Features like task boards, Gantt charts, reporting dashboards, and integrations with tools like Slack or CRM systems make it easier to keep everyone aligned.
