What is a Project ?

A project is ...

An ORGANIZATION of  PEOPLE, as well as other RESOURCES, brought together to meet SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES within a  FINITE PERIOD of time by carrying out a set of ORGANIZED AND PLANNED ACTIVITIES.

Projects are anchored in time: Setting and Meeting Milestones is essential to running effective and successful projects.

The key attributes of a project are:

Business and / or Technical Objectives

A project must be directed at meeting one or more objectives. These objectives are generally based on one or more Business or Technical Objectives.

Defined Processes and Tasks

Projects work towards producing deliverables by carrying out activities and tasks in an organized and planned fashion. There is a very strong connection between what is done and what is produced.

Set Periods of Time

PROJECTS ARE NOT OPEN ENDED. Projects have one or more milestones which serve to identify deliverables as well as acting as markers to indicator project health.

Resources and Budgets

Projects MUST have a defined budget.

NOT EVERYTHING IS A PROJECT !

It is useful to use some sort of guide taking Duration, Number of Resources, Total Effort (Effort Hours) and Budget into consideration to define whether work is a project or not.