What is a Project?

Organizations perform work, which generally involves either operations or projects.

These share characteristics such as the fact that they are performed by people, that they are constrained by limited resources, and that they are planned and controlled. Operations differ from projects in that they are ongoing and repetitive, while projects by contrast are temporary and unique. A project therefore is a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product or service. Temporary means that a project has a definite beginning and end. Unique means that the product or service includes at least some singular characteristics. A project management career differs from other management positions in that the project manager‘s responsibilities are to oversee a team of people during each project for a finite time in order to achieve a defined goal, and then move to another project, often with new team members and different goals.

Stakeholders

Projects exist to satisfy a need for one or more stakeholders. Such people include anyone participating in or who will be affected by the outcome of the project. These people have needs and expectations: criteria by which they determine the success of the project, such as quality, cost or schedule. Ultimately, project management involves satisfying stakeholders by applying leadership, experience, knowledge, skills, tools and techniques.

Constraints

Every project has constraints within which it must be managed. Examples of constraints include the people available for the project, the maximum budget, the date by which project completion is required and the features of the product or service. Such constraints often compete during a project. For example, the number of features included in a product must be balanced against the available budget and schedule. An effective project manager weighs such constraints against each other with the stakeholders in order to agree on their relative importance.