Through the ages, mankind undertook many different kinds of projects. Ancient projects typically involved construction and resulted in structures such as the pyramids, the Great Wall of China and cathedrals in Europe. In modern times man continued to build physical structures such as buildings, roads, bridges and railway systems and also developed a vast range of products such as motor cars and electronic equipment and even undertook space travel. All these endeavours involved projects.

Project management developed in the engineering industry and is still part-and-parcel of the work of most engineers in all parts of the world. The construction industry, aerospace and defence industries contributed significantly to the develop­ment of this discipline. However, project management also proved to be very effective in many other situations where change and uncertainty prevail. The result is that, during the last number of decades, project management has found wide application outside the engineering profession.
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The reward of sound project management is, first of all, a satisfied customer. The customer could be some external organisation or a senior manager within your own organisation who requested the work to be done. You could also be the customer of your own project, for example, when you are renovating your house.

For contractors a successful project is often rewarded by increased future business and an improved market share.

For the project manager, a successful project brings the satisfaction of having led a successful effort, an improved reputation and, possibly, improved career prospects.

Too much specialisation is sometimes risky for one’s career: if the need for a specialised skill decreases, a specialist might have to start a different career from a lower level, or he or she might face unemployment.
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Management in general is often described as planning, organizing, leading and control. Project management draws heavily on general management and utilises many of the principles of general management. However, project management differs from general and other types of management to allow focus on schedule, budget and quality of the deliverables, to deal with the complexity inherent to projects and to provide the flexibility required by projects.

Effective project management not only necessitates the use of the powerful tools and techniques that have been developed, but also requires a disciplined team and first-rate leadership on the part of the project manager.

An important difference between project management and other forms of management is that a project has a definite start and a well-defined end. That necessitates project initiation and project closure.
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