• Personal Time and Project Management Tips From America’s Top Universities

  May 17, 2013

  
  

• 5 Things To Do On Your Small Project

  May 17, 2013

  
  

• The 7 Project Manager Personalities: Which One Are You?

  May 16, 2013

  
  

• Project Management - Organizational Influences

  May 16, 2013

  
  

• The Inconsistency of Agile

  May 15, 2013

  
  

• PMP Certification Mindset and the Training Dilemma

  May 14, 2013

  
  

• Chromatophobia - Fear of Project Status Reports

  May 13, 2013

  
  

• Promoting Agile beyond software development

  May 12, 2013

  
  

• 10 Project Management Pitfalls

  May 12, 2013

  
  

• The History of Project Management

  May 11, 2013

  
  

What Is a Project?

May 2, 2012 | Author: PM Hut | Filed under: Project Management Definitions

What Is a Project?
By Michael Phillips

The following are some characteristics that define what a project should be. I enjoy going back and reading this and comparing it to so called projects I have worked on. Those projects that seem to have no planning, no goals, are under budgeted, and seem to run on and on with no end in sight.

• A project is undertaken to create something, such as a product, service, or result (PMI, 2008). There has to be something that shows a finished result. It can result in a small component of another item, be a creation of the capability to perform a service, or be the finished document of a research project.

• A project is temporary, having a definite beginning and end (PMI, 2008). This is ideal, but we know some projects can run on, but to the best of a team’s abilities there is a defined beginning and a product with an end in sight. It can be defined as a long or short project, but it is defined. They can run a week, they can run for several years, but there must be a beginning and an end (Microsoft.com, 2012).

• A project is an endeavor. People need to do work with equipment on tasks that have an intention to them. Nothing happens spontaneously.

• A project has objectives that must be met to be completed (PMI, 2008). To reach the endpoint, objectives must be met. If objectives are not met a project can be terminated.

• A project can be repeated, having repeated tasks (PMI, 2008). As long as there is a unique element such as time and location, the fundamental uniqueness of the project work can be repeated, such as the construction of similar office buildings. The project team, materials, and base design can be the same, but there may be some unique designs, circumstances, and contractors used.

• A project can involve a single person, a single organizational unit, or multiple organizational units (PMI, 2008).

• A project is an endeavor. People need to do work with equipment on planned tasks that have an intention to them. Nothing happens spontaneously. (Microsoft.com, 2012).

• A project has a plan. The plan details the direction and purpose of the project, known as the scope. It also details many of the details listed above, such as the objectives, estimated costs and schedule, tasks, materials, and estimated size of the project team.

• A project is not an ongoing work effort, such as following an organization’s existing procedures (PMI, 2008). Ongoing operations have no established end date and could run indefinitely, such as accounting and human resources (Microsoft.com, 2012).

Examples of projects include creating the mirror for the Hubble Space Telescope (component of another item), creating a new marketing display at Macy’s (business function that supports production), or building a house (outcome). Projects exist at home, such as cooking a dinner, planting a garden, or repainting a room.

References

- Project Management Institute (2008). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK guide), Ch 1 & 2. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute, Inc.

- Microsoft.com. (2012). A short course in project management.

These definitions of a project were compiled by Michael Phillips. You can read more on his blog.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012 and is filed under Project Management Definitions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

feel free to leave a comment

Comment Guidelines: Basic XHTML is allowed (a href, strong, em, code). All line breaks and paragraphs are automatically generated. Off-topic or inappropriate comments will be edited or deleted. Email addresses will never be published. Keep it PG-13 people!

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

All fields marked with " * " are required.

Name: *
Email (will never be displayed): *
URL:
Your comments: *
Remember my information for the next time I visit.

• Agile Project Management
• Ask the Hut
• Certification
  • CAPM
  • ITIL
  • PgMP
  • PMP
• Change Management
• Communications Management
  • Communications Planning
  • Information Distribution
  • Performance Reporting
  • Project Closure
• Computer Based Information Systems
  • Latest Trends
  • Project Collaboration
• Concepts
  • Project Lifecycle Phases
  • Project Stakeholder Management
  • Role of the Project Manager
• Corporate Transformation
• Cost Management
  • Cost Estimating
  • Economic Evaluation
• Critical Chain Project Management
• Delegation
• History
• HR Management
  • Organizational Structures
  • Team Building
• Implementing Project Management
  • PM Implementation Plan
• Integration Management
  • Change Control
  • Project Management Framework
  • Project Plan Development
• Lessons Learned
• Management
• Miscellaneous
• People Issues
  • Conflict Management
  • Leadership
  • Motivation
• PMBOK
• PRINCE2
• Procurement Management
  • Contract Administration & Close-out
  • Procurement Plannning
  • Solicitation & Source Selection
• Program Management
• Project Lifecycle Phases
• Project Management Advantages
• Project Management Advantages
• Project Management as a Career
• Project Management Best Practices
• Project Management Charts
• Project Management Definitions
• Project Management Ethics
• Project Management for Beginners
• Project Management Guides
• Project Management Musings
• Project Management Office
• Project Management Proposals
• Project Management Templates
• Project Portfolio Management
• Project Workforce Management
• Quality Management
  • Principles
  • Techniques
• Requirements Management
• Risk Management
  • Risk Identification
  • Risk Quantification & Analysis
  • Risk Response & Control
• Scheduling
  • Normal and Crash Costs
  • Project Plan Refinement
  • Resource Constrained Projects
  • Resource Leveling
• Scope Management
  • Process of Change Control
  • Project Scope Management
  • Scope Change Control
• SCRUM
• Soft Management
• Time Management
  • Activity Definition
  • Activity Duration Estimate
  • Activity Sequencing
  • Critical Path
  • Network Planning
  • Project Milestones
• Training
• Uncategorized