If you are wondering what is activity in project management lexicon, you’re in the right place. Project management activities form the base of any project. It is essential that project managers and team members have a good grasp on how activities work and what they mean with the project plan.
From deadlines to dependencies, activities have many aspects and sides and by using an effective project planning tool such as Sinnaps, activities are much easier to manage!
Project activities using an intuitive Gantt
Índice
What are Project Management Activities?
Project Planning activities include exactly what you may think- planning out the activities of the project! When you are trying to define activities in project management, it is crucial to consider a number of points and it’s also important to read some tips here: Project Management Basic Steps.
In the sphere of project management, an activity is also known as a task. It is a part that makes up the project that needs to be accomplished in order to ultimately reach the end goal of the project. It has a defined duration of time, the date by which it should be completed known as the deadline.
A task or a project activity can also be broken up into subtasks which makes it easier to accomplish for the people responsible for its completion. This can be done effectively using Sinnaps subtask management tools. Each sub task will also have a specified duration and deadline.
Once everything is completed within an activity, the activity is seen as completed and if it holds any dependencies, the following activities can be started. Dependencies are links between the activities that make up a project that show which tasks or activities are dependent on the completion of others.
Project Management Activities
Activities require the coordination of time, effort and resources. People or team members act as the responsible persons for activity completion. They put in the time and effort required to complete the activity. Resources can be anything from money to outsourced materials or services. These are vital to activity completion but should be measured and monitored carefully throughout the project. Overall coordination is an essential aspect of project activities, both within the activities themselves and between the tasks of the project.
Assigning Activities
Once an activity or task is designed, it is important to place it effectively within the project plan or Gantt flow, if you are using Sinnaps, and to then assign the activity to the team member or members that will be responsible for its completion.
Team members using Sinnaps will be notified of the activities that they are assigned and can track the progress accordingly. Any issues or doubts regarding the activities can be efficiently resolved by using the live in-chat feature split up by task. Team members will have a clear visualisation of the task at hand, by when it needs to be completed and if there are any other activities dependent on its completion.
Here, a Kanban board with some project activities:
Resources and Activities
Resources are a vital part of any project and mostly for the reason they play a major role in the completion of project activities. Resources can be assigned effectively using Sinnaps Resource Planner and their use can also be monitored using the Sinnaps Resource Tracker, a project cost management software too, all in one!
Control easily your costs with this panel
The project manager and team members can keep an eye on the resources that they are using in real time, which greatly decreases the risk of unknowingly using too many resources in an inefficient manner.
Project Activity Sequencing in Project Management
You can’t just list random activities and throw the randomly onto a project timeline, right? Sequencing 
activities refers to the order in which the activities are placed and for good reason. Various tasks or project activities may have specific relationships and dependencies that must be considered when deciding on activity order. It is the logical progression of tasks in the most efficient manner to complete the project.
Project manager activities are also included in the project plan. The project manager identifies and considers the relationships between tasks allowing for the making of a logical order to the activities at hand. Connections between activities are referred to as the connection with the past task (predecessor) and the following (successor).
Not only does task sequencing identify the order of activities, but also when one can begin and if it is dependent on the completion of beginning of another. Software project management activities are easier to plan as the sequence is generally automatically calculated for you.
Project Activities Example
In the same way that all projects are different in terms of size and objective, there exist countless amounts of types of activities. Your project’s tasks and activities will largely depend on the type of project you are undertaking.
A common example of an activity for a marketing campaign project, for example, would be an activity called market research. This activity would be placed generally towards the beginning of the project and would be featured on the Sinnaps critical path as it would be a task with multiple dependencies and therefore vital to the overall project’s completion.
Activity lists can also be created outlining the various tasks part of the project. This list, also known as the task list, points out the various activities and clearly states the dependencies of each task. Project management activities list examples include construction projects that generally have many dependencies and should therefore include a list that double makes sure of the various dependencies.
The activities covered by software project management apps such as Sinnaps are carefully planned and monitored. Sinnaps effectively identifies the best and most efficient path your project activities should follow in order to successfully complete your project. This includes the generation of a critical path within the Gantt-flow and constant updates on project and activity progress.
Here at Sinnaps, we love hearing what you think. Give this article a like if it has helped you and leave a comment sharing your opinion or asking any question you may have! We’ll be sure to get back to you! 😉
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