What is the project?

Project?  yes, you guessed it right…Well almost.

In simple terms, it is a temporary endeavor undertaken to achieve a particular aim in a certain duration.

A project is actually the coordinated set of responses to fulfill a unique need. Usually, there is a preferred sequence of execution for the project’s activities. Projects are those activities that cannot go on indefinitely and must have a defined purpose.

The fundamental purpose of most projects is to either make money or save money. However, in the modern economy, a significant percentage of the project ends up losing money or even failure of the business.

Before you can begin your project management journey, you must know the concept of the project. The first question you will need to address is what exactly is a project? Isn’t a project being just a variant of day-to-day business operation?

Let’s examine the definition of projects and their common characteristics.

What is the Definition of the project?

There are several definitions of a project and they all point towards the same meaning.

According to the Project Management Institute(PMI), a project is defined as a “temporary endeavor with a beginning and an end and it must be used to create a unique product, service or result”.

As per the Association for Project Management (APM), “a project is a unique, transient endeavor undertaken to bring about change and to achieve planned objectives”.

Wikipedia mentioned that contemporary business and science treat a project (or program) as any undertaking, carried out individually or collaboratively and possibly involving research or design, that is carefully planned (usually by a project team) to achieve a particular aim.

 Remember, a project is a series of tasks that need to be completed to reach a specific outcome under given constraints.

 The nature of a project is temporary and a project is undertaken to produce a unique output. A project has a definitive start and end: It cannot continue forever. It has to end when the objective is achieved or it is terminated.

How projects and business goal are interconnected?

Projects are great opportunities for any organization to achieve its business objectives efficiently through implementing change. Projects help organizations to make desired changes with a reduced probability of failure.

For any organization, projects are building blocks of strategy to achieve the vision and business goals. Project act as a tool to promote change.

Who manages the projects in an organization?

Usually in an organization, projects are managed at the business level as well as at project level. The connection between the business leaders (top management team) modus operandi and the work which is done in the project can be described in a two-level model.

• Business Level: Coordinate and manage the project organization
• Project Level: Manage projects, Execution

At the business level, projects are managed to keep the long-term of the organization. Projects are monitored and prioritized at this level. This is where the responsibility for all project methodologies, processes, and management systems lies with management to adapt as per the business need.

At the business level, management manages projects through:

• Initiation, termination, follow-up, and control of projects
• Conforming that projects are in line with the strategic goals of the company
• Coordinating projects with the organization
• Managing business opportunities and controlling risks
• Assigning project managers
• Supplying management tools, project models, and methodologies
• Monitoring project through tollgates

Tollgates: A tollgate is a standardized control point where the phase of the project is reviewed and/or audited and approved (or not) to continue with the next phase.

At the project level, the project is managed and executed by applying the project methodology. The project managers responsibility is to deliver result through organizing and managing project team, while the project group plan and execute the project tasks.

Project Manager manages projects through:

• Ensuring project objectives are met
• Communicating and delegating tasks
• Engaging and motivating project group members
• Applying management tools, models, and methodologies.
• Communicating result and managing changes
• Manage project through milestones

A milestone is a specific point within a project’s life cycle used to measure the progress toward the ultimate goal.

Project Lifecycle & Phase

Almost every project goes through phases that vary with the size, length of the project, and complexity of the project. Taken together, these phases represent the path a project takes from the beginning to its end and are generally referred to as the project life cycle.

There is no standard or guidelines for the project lifecycle model. Each industry uses its own variations and the project lifecycle model may vary from project to project even in the same industry.

The naming convention of the phase is mainly defined based on project characteristics. One industry may name the first phase as the concept phase whereas another may name it the initiation phase.

It is convenient for the project managers to divide the project into phases for performing project tasks. Each milestone at each stage is then elaborated and tracked. The basic phases of a project are dependent on the kind of project that is being carried out.

Characteristic of a project

Whichever project definition you choose, nearly every project you manage will have almost the same characteristics. Let’s examine some of the important ones.

1. Defined Specification. This is usually specified in terms of scope of work, cost, schedule, and quality requirements.
2. It requires the doing of something different, something that was not done previously. A project is a unique, one-time undertaking; it will never again be done exactly the same way, by the same people, and within the same environment
3. Projects are temporary activities. A project is an ad hoc organization of staff, material, equipment, and facilities that is put together to accomplish a goal. This goal is within a specific time frame. Once the goal is achieved, the organization created for it is disbanded, or sometimes it is reconstituted to begin work on a new goal (project).
4. Projects cut across organizational lines. Projects always cut across the regular organizational lines and structures within a firm.
5. Projects involve uncertainty. Because a project differs from what was previously done, it also involves uncertainty and risk. This uncertainty represents risk—an ever-present threat to your ability to make definitive plans and predict outcomes with high levels of confidence.
6. The organization usually has something at stake when undertaking a project. The unique project “activity” may call for special scrutiny or effort because failure would jeopardize the organization/firm or its goals.
7. A project is a process of working to achieve a goal. During the process, projects pass through several distinct phases, which form and are called the project life cycle. The tasks, people, organizations, and other resources will change as the project moves from one phase to the next. The organizational structure and the resource expenditures build with each succeeding phase; peak; and then decline as the project nears completion. All of your projects consume resources—resources in the form of time, money, materials, and labor.
8. Finally, a project must be progressively elaborated. This means that the project progresses in steps and continues in increments. This also means that the definition of the project is refined at each step and ultimately the purpose of the progress is enunciated. This means that a project is first defined initially and then as the project progresses, the definition is revisited and more clarity is added to the scope of the project as well as the underlying assumptions about the project.

Conclusion

Before you can begin your project management journey, you must know the concept of the project. The first question you will need to address is what exactly is a project? Isn’t a project being just a variant of day-to-day business operation?

It is a temporary endeavor undertaken to achieve a particular aim in a certain duration. The fundamental purpose of most projects is to either make money or save money. However, in the modern economy, a significant percentage of the project ends up losing money or even failure of the business.

Projects are managed at the business level as well as at the project level. The connection between the business leaders (top management team) modus operandi and the work which is done in the project can be described in a two-level model.

Which kind of project are you working on? Is the project running in loss or profit? Let me know by leaving a comment below right now.

If you enjoyed this blog post, share it with a friend!