What Is A Project?
by Andrew Abogado via Flickr
A project has a few qualities:
- Has the goal of creating a unique product at the end of it
- Has a start
- Has an end (at least that’s the plan)
- Has people involved (at least 1)
That’s about it. If a group of activities fits that list, it’s a project.
Examples include creating anything that isn’t mass-produced:
- Building a house
- A science-fair project
- Writing a book
- Creating a website
- Launching a satellite into orbit
Not All Projects Are Created Equal
Obviously, you are not going to need the same level of project management for a science fair project as you do for launching a satellite. A project with 100 people working on it has very different needs from a project with one person.
Some definitions out there say that if you have 1 person working on it, it’s not really a project. I think that’s bull.
It IS certainly true that the level of complexity and effort on a project directly determine how much “project management” needs to happen.
My rule of thumb: “Only do what adds value.”
If you spend time and money on lots of formal project management practices when you don’t really need them, you are wasting resources.
More questions? Leave a comment below or connect with me, and I will update this post as needed to provide the best definition possible.
Jul 7th, 2009 at 7:54 am
Hi Josh,
I am one of those who believes a project must have more than one person involved. One of my big complaints with PMI’s definition of project is that it makes tying your shoes each morning or toasting your bread a project. While TECHNICALLY, it is not unreasonable to call them projects, looking at projects in the context of being a PROFESSIONAL rather than amateur, we need to create some lower boundary enabling us to move beyond the single person projects and look at those which require the coordination of more than one resource.
Below is the definition of Project Management that I derived for my PhD dissertation. While not directly a definition of Project, it certainly does establish some of the attributes alluded to in your original posting.
project + management: the administration supervision or executive function to plan, organize, coordinate, direct and control a proposed or planned undertaking to achieve a particular aim or objective within a specific time frame, with some reasonable expectation for success, through the skillful handling or use of limited or constrained resources and the successful organization, administration and controlling these affairs in a business-like manner.
This came from a restatement of the Merriam Websters dictionary definition of “Project” and “Management”.
On the topic of “Not all projects are created equal”, a resource addressing that concept worth looking into is the work of Lynn Crawford and Ishi Ishikawa in the creation of the “CIFTER”. http://www.globalpmstandards.org/project-manager-standards/general/cifter/
Again, while not actually defining “project” it provides some insight into what makes a project a project, at least in the context of the professional practitioner.
BR,
Dr. PDG, Jakarta
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Bob Reply:
July 8th, 2009 at 8:09 am
Dr. Paul,
A) I do like your definition of “project management”. But will agree with others that 1 person projects exist, but must be unique!
Josh,
I agree with your thumb:
My rule of thumb: “Only do what adds value.”
But many people do not “see” the value in formal project management at times and miss the value that it adds over the duration of a project. Having a project management process that takes into account the complexity of the project is ideal so that it does not overwhelm the simple project with non-value added work, BUT does add the disciplined approach needed for the complex projects.
So, in general I agree with this:
If you spend time and money on lots of formal project management practices when you don’t really need them, you are wasting resources.
Now, I have to tie my shoes – pulling up the MS project schedule…..
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Jul 7th, 2009 at 8:02 am
Thank you for the comments and references Dr. Paul!
I respect your view on having more than one person…and would agree with you in some instances…for example, the experience required for some project management certifications needs to fit your definition of a project.
That said, it is still extremely helpful to apply some of the practices of project management on a project where you are the only actor. Many things don’t add value and therefore don’t apply, but many tools still do. I like to think of these as projects too, and approach them that way (with the proper level of rigor).
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Jul 7th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
So Josh,
I’ve got a person from central IT support standing up an Oracle server in preperation for a migration effort by the claims procecsing group. This person will work for 9 weeks – ALONE – doing the server configuration, baseline software install, table definitions in DDL, etc. etc. etc.
This is not considered a project for the insurance company?
I’ve got a FPGA developer writting the Handel-C code for the Command and Data Handling built in test for the spacecraft’s C&DH box. She’ll be working over the next 12 weeks – ALONE – doing the converstaion from the previous model’s microcode to the current model’s microcode – which has a new version of the RAD750 processor.
This is not considered a project for NASA?
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Josh Nankivel Reply:
July 7th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
I think perhaps you meant to address Dr. Paul? My definition of a project is inclusive of 1-person projects.
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Glen B. Alleman Reply:
July 18th, 2009 at 10:48 pm
Yep
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Jul 7th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
Josh,
Oh yea. Each of those examples are real. Individually funded, finite duration, planned start and end, with a tangible deliverable – a product or a service.
You know, a Project.
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Jul 7th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
Fun thread! I have been building and deploying Project and Portfolio Management (PPM) systems for several years now (currently at Serena Software). Typically in organizations that have formalized PPM and demand management processes, they have different types of “projects” (and type has a close correlation to budget and criticality). Depending on the type of project, there will be different governance rules. Some organizations may not call the smaller budgeted initiatives projects, but most will track all work (potentially capturing TCO across all work types in the portfolio). So call it what you will, but please make sure the work is managed and accounted for!
- John Scumniotales – http://agile.scumniotales.com – http://www.twitter.com/jscumniotales
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Jul 8th, 2009 at 2:53 am
tying your shoes each morning or toasting your bread a project ………….
Don’t you think these are examples of oprations rather than project? These are more repetitive and ongoing things.
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Josh Nankivel Reply:
July 8th, 2009 at 6:09 am
I think we agree Avinash. The product being created must be “unique” and your examples are not unique, they occur on a regular basis.
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Jul 9th, 2009 at 3:14 am
Hi Avinash,
Here is PMI’s definition of “Project”- “A temporary endeavor undertaken to produce a unique product, service or result”.
So let’s test to see if tying your shoe meets that test.
Temporary- Is tying your shoe something that has a start and finish? That is it not something you do all day long?
produce a unique result- Do you tie the knot exactly the same way every time? Using the same pair of shoes? In the same place? At the same time?
And let’s see about toast.
Temporary- Is toasting bread a finite task? It has a start and a stop correct?
produce a unique result- Does each slice of bread come out exactly the same each time? Do you always toast white bread or do you sometimes choose dark bread or English Muffins?
Yes, of course I have taken this to an extreme, but you can see how PMI’s definition is slanted towards making just about anything and everything a “project”…. Why? Because the more “things” they can define to be projects, the more they can sell memberships, certifications and related paraphenalia…….
The point I was trying to convince Josh et al is to move beyond PMI’s definition and set some kind of boundaries that differentiate between those who “do” project management as a normal part of their day to day personal lives from those who do project management for a living, and are thus “professional” project managers.
In the world I live and work, (mostly construction management professional services or related training) the demarcation line that to be a project requires MORE than two people involved works consistently well.
In the scenario Glen describes, I would apply my “more than one person” test as well.
Not to open a Pandora’s box of definitions, but for Glen’s examples, I would tend to call what he describes as work packages or sub-projects- part of something larger- rather than a full blown project- although if it is being done under contract by Glen’s company, I am sure THEY consider it a project, and legitimately so, at least for calculating revenue and costing purposes.
Bottom line here- if you look at previous postings, I think it is quite clear that the issue of “definitions” as they apply to project and program management is at best a thorny one, and one that is unlikely ever to be resolved. More than likely a case of the 7 Blind Men and the Elephant. http://www.jainworld.com/literature/story25.htm
BR,
Dr. PDG, Jakarta
http://www.getpmcertified.com
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Jul 20th, 2009 at 2:29 am
Ahh the fun of defining…
I could spend a lot of time describing some of the instances over the years where people have anted the cast iron answer to whether this is or is not a project!!
I suggest to people that there are clear projects in all organizations. I also mention the fact that there are lots of grey areas – see Dr Paul above – areas that may/may not be projects. I overcome this by suggesting that a project management approach is appropriate in all work and mention a study by one of the water companies who showed over here in the UK that using some of the tools of project management helped deliver business as usual much quicker….bottom line; why worry what is/is not a project, use project management tools and techniques to help you deliver.
Ron Rosenhead
http://www.ronrosenhead.co.uk
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Josh Nankivel Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 5:29 am
I agree completely Ron. Many of the processes involved in formal project management are useful just about everywhere. For instance, I am working on developing some training material right now and guess what I’ve been using to structure my approach to it? A WBS!
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