Project Planning & Management

Project Management is a process of setting and achieving goals through planning, organising, directing, and co-ordinating project staff and other resources. It includes planning, budgeting and accounting, managing human resources, monitoring and evaluation, and reporting.

Project plans underpin all stages of project management. Often, however, conservationists are so keen to be ‘doing’ conservation that planning is not given the time and consideration it needs. Good project planning saves you time and effort in the long run, and makes you more effective by helping you to:

• Base your activities on a clear and current understanding of project context;
• Build confidence, motivation and ownership across your project team;
• Communicate clearly what you are trying to achieve – this in turn helps you to attract funding;
• Monitor progress against clear objectives and adapt as necessary; and
• Avoid over-committing yourselves.