What is a project? Projects, projects, projects – they have permanently become part of the vocabulary of business managers. They are short-term, complex activities with a pre-planned framework, focused on a specific result. It’s hard to imagine timely achievement of business goals and task-based budget planning without them. However, the market is moving away from the model where we create and deliver a product one time. It bets on a long-term relationship with users, continuous contact, agile improvement, adjustment and fine-tuning without end. So does project planning and execution no longer make sense? Is project a buzzword, defining an outdated way of doing business? Read on to find out more.
The world’s largest organization for people involved in project management is the Project Management Institute (PMI). Founded in 1969, it has nearly 3 million people working as Project Managers or studying various aspects of management. The organization’s age, however, does not mean that the knowledge it promotes is not updated and adapted to the requirements of today’s market. Business projects are doing well, and PMI estimates that the number of project managers is expected to increase by up to 33% by 2027, creating 22 million new jobs worldwide.
PMI periodically releases new and improved versions of the book entitled Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). The latest, seventh version was released in August 2021, and unlike its previous ones, it was actually rewritten. After all, project management has recently been changing almost as rapidly as the digital work environment.
However, the definition of a project, a concept central to PMI, has hardly changed. A project is defined as follows: “A temporary endeavor to produce a unique product, service, or result. The temporary nature of projects indicates the beginning and end of a project or phase of project work. Projects can be executed alone or be part of a program or portfolio.”
The word “project” defines then a very specific and deliberate action, thanks to which a product or organization undergoes an expected metamorphosis, the results of which can be measured. In the following text, we will elaborate on and explain the elements of the definition from PMBOK. We will answer the questions:
However, we will devote separate texts to discuss the stages that a project consists of and what types of projects there are.
Projects have a definite time frame and a one-time nature. That’s why temporariness is one of the most important characteristics of a project, which helps distinguish it from a product. The one-time nature and unique result allow projects to be distinguished from processes carried out in a company. A project can thus be:
In the traditional approach, a detailed project execution plan was considered an integral part of the project. So the project team went to work equipped with a detailed schedule of tasks covering the entire duration of the project – from start to finish. However, as project management methods have matured, this approach has gradually changed.
In PMI’s report titled “Pulse of the Profession 2021: Beyond Agility,” companies taking a new approach freely using project management methods and principles in line with market requirements have been called gymnastic. They use “the right approach in the right way at the right time to deliver what’s needed.”
Although on paper such management looks a bit less impressive than traditional methods, it works very well in practice. Especially in the management of high-risk projects and hybrid and remote teams.
As we move away from the cascade approach (the Waterfall method) and the growing popularity of agile methods (Agile) and their variants (such as Scrum and Scrumban), it has become popular to consider as the norm to gradually tackle tasks, their detailed budget and means of execution.
Invariably, however, a project is different from other endeavors as it has a precisely defined beginning and end. When we start a project, we have a clearly defined goal and a vision of what we want to accomplish. We also have a defined budget, a schedule of tasks and completion criteria.
Each project, apart from its temporary nature, specific purpose, beginning and end – has a unique result. For the examples listed above, the results will be one-off – building a single-family housing estate at a specific address, or holding a corporate event at the Sunrise Hotel on February 29, 2023.
The one-time nature of the project means that reusing the knowledge and skills acquired when executing a project requires adapting them to new conditions. For example, if once we manage to obtain funding for company development from the EU, it does not mean that our next application will also be successful. Each next application will be unique as many factors change:
Although the implementation of a project is associated with a large undertaking, it’s worth remembering that a project can even be refreshing furniture in a company’s garden. This is because whether an undertaking is a project is neither determined by the number of involved people nor by the planned or actual implementation time.
Project management is one of the most desired skills on the job market. That’s why understanding what projects are, and having a flexible approach to their implementation, is so important for business.
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Author: Caroline Becker
As a Project Manager, Caroline is an expert in finding new methods to design the best workflows and optimize processes. Her organizational skills and ability to work under time pressure make her the best person to turn complicated projects into reality.
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