Project – A definition!

The first thing is to know what is a project, before learning to manage one. The way I like to define a project is “a set of activities having a definite BEGINNING and END with a UNIQUE RESULT”.

If a project is repeated regularly by keeping most of the attributes same, it becomes an operation. An example can be a setup of a soda drink plant for the first time is a project. The manufacturing of the first batch of soda drinks is also a project. But after that, everyday’s production becomes an operation that has a similar result every time it is performed. So, even an operation when performed for the first time is a project.

The project is ‘Temporary’ in nature as it has a start and an end in a specified time period. Project being temporary doesn’t mean that it is of a short duration. The duration of a project can be as short as a week, for example, and as long as multiple years. Constructing a new room in the house is a project which could be completed in a week or so depending upon the planning, budget, resources, etc., whereas, construction of a 50 stories high rise building could take years. An important thing to understand here is that a construction company involved in the construction of different buildings considers them as individual projects as they result in a different product every time after a specific start and end. The company’s internal departments like procurement, debris disposal, logistics, etc. however are running similar operations just on different sites.

So a project is anything with a start and an end which makes it temporary and it has a unique result which can be a product or a service.