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What is a Project (1 of 5)
Organizations perform work. Work generally involves either operations or projects,
although the two may overlap. Operations and projects share many characteristics; for
example, they are:
◦ Performed by people.
◦ Constrained by limited resources.
◦ Planned, executed, and controlled.
A project can thus be defined in terms of its distinctive characteristics—a project is a
temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service.
Projects are undertaken at all levels of the organization. They may involve a single person
or many thousands.
They may require less than 100 hours to complete or over 10,000,000.
Projects may involve a single unit of one organization or may cross organizational
boundaries as in joint ventures and partnering.
What is a Project (2 of 5)
Temporary means that every project has a definite beginning and a definite end.
The end is reached when the project's objectives have been achieved, or when it becomes
clear that the project objectives will not or cannot be met and the project is terminated.
Temporary does not necessarily mean short in duration; many projects last for
several years. In every case, however, the duration of a project is finite; projects are not
ongoing efforts.
What is a Project (3 of 5)
Projects involve doing something which has not been done before and which is,
therefore, unique.
A product or service may be unique even if the category it belongs to is large. For
example, many thousands of office buildings have been developed, but each
individual facility is unique—different owner, different design, different location, different
contractors, and so on. The presence of repetitive elements does not change the
fundamental uniqueness of the overall effort.
What is a Project (4 of 5)
A Project can create:
A product that can be either a component of another item, an enhancement of an item, or
an end item in itself;
A service or a capability to perform a service (e.g., a business function that supports
production or distribution);
An improvement in the existing product or service lines (e.g., A Six Sigma project
undertaken to reduce defects); or
A Result, such as an outcome or document (e.g., a research project that develops
knowledge that can be used to determine whether a trend exists or a new process will
benefit society).
What is a Project (5 of 5)
Examples of projects include, but are not limited to:
Developing a new product, service, or result;
Effecting a change in the structure, processes, staffing, or style of an organization;
Developing or acquiring a new or modified information system (hardware or software);
Conducting a research effort whose outcome will be aptly recorded;
Constructing a building, industrial plant, or infrastructure; or
Implementing, improving, or enhancing existing business processes and procedures.
Project versus Operation
What is Project Management (1 of 2)
Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to
project activities in order to meet or exceed stakeholder needs and expectations from a
project.
Meeting or exceeding stakeholder needs and expectations invariably involves balancing
competing demands among:
◦ Scope, time, cost, and quality.
◦ Stakeholders with differing needs and expectations.
◦ Identified requirements (needs) and unidentified requirements (expectations).
Project Management is an ART, intuitive genius is essential
Project Management is a SCIENCE, all factors can be predicted (status, check), review the
plan, move forward.
Projectized Organization
Composite Organization