What is a Project?

According to the Project Management Institute: * "A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a
unique product, service, or result." Let's break down this definition into its components to understand further
what a project is (and what it is not):

It is a temporary endeavor - what does that mean? It means that it isn't endless; it has a start date and an end
date. Projects do not go on indefinitely - activities that go on indefinitely are typically known as processes or
operations.

It creates a unique product, service, or result, which we call a deliverable. Unique means that it is unlike any other
project. It may be similar to other projects but it is never identical to one. This is what distinguishes a project from
a process. A project is unique; a process is repeatable and strives for consistency, standardization, and no deviation
from a standard. Deliverable means that it has an outcome: i.e. a new software product, a new drug, a new
building, a merger of two companies, improved customer service, etc. The outcome may be a product, goods, or a
service.

Furthermore, projects have defined...

Objectives: The goals expected to be achieved. There can be technical goals (develop new technology), legal
or political goals (to meet governmental regulations), and/or business goals (beating or eliminating
competition). These objectives should be measurable.

Scope: All the work required to satisfy the objectives for which a project was undertaken at a level of quality
expected by the customer.

Cost: The planned cost of conducting the project; it includes human and physical resources.

Time/Schedule: The planned time to complete the project, as well as the Milestones along the way.

SOME EXAMPLES OF PROJECTS

Building a house

Building a mobile application

Developing a new product

Improvement of a service (i.e. customer service, six sigma initiative)

What is Project Management?
Project Management consists of the methods and tools used to deliver a project that meets its stated objectives.
Sounds simple right? Objectives typically represent themselves in terms of cost, time, and scope (also known as
the Triple Constraint). As long as we know the objectives, we should be able to meet them, right? It may come as a
surprise to you, but often times projects fail to meet their objectives. It isn't so simple because the number of
factors that must be controlled can, and often do, interact in unexpected ways. Consequently, the project becomes
more complicated as the number of factors increases.

You've encountered projects in your personal life (remodeling a home), in your work (developing a new product
for your company), or at school (getting a degree). When remodeling a home, you must watch and control the
expenses; when developing a new product, you must monitor the number of features that are added to the
product to meet cost expectations; and when getting a degree, you often have to manage your time commitments.
Managing the expenses, managing the schedule, managing the amount of work, planning for problems, handling
the risks, communicating critical information to all involved, leading a team - these are the activities of successful
Project Management.
Managing the Triple Constraint
Which constraint, of the Triple Constraint, is the most important for a Project Manager to manage? In theory, they
are equally important, but on any particular project, one may be more important than another. A Project Manager
must understand their customer and needs to know which of the Triple Constraints may be more important (i.e.
meeting the schedule, meeting the budget, or delivering the scope). This becomes important when the Project
Manager needs to find solutions to issues or risks encountered and needs to trade off a constraint to meet the
project objectives.

Let's look at some examples. The image below represents the Triple Constraint.

Now let's look at what happens to the project if we have to change one of the constraints.

If your cost is decreased, and you must deliver in the same amount of time, then the impact would be to decrease
the scope:

If your schedule is decreased, and you must provide the same deliverables, the impact would be to increase the
cost:
If your scope is increased, then the impact would be to either increase the cost or increase the time (or both):

These examples don't cover every possibility that you might find yourself in as a Project Manager, however, they
indicate the importance of recognizing that if one element of the Triple Constraint is impacted, then the two other
elements of the Triple Constraint are likely also impacted. The Project Manager must be able to effectively identify
these tradeoffs to ensure the best possible decision is made for the business, the customer, and the project.