What is the Project ???

Before you can be a good 'project manager' and apply good 'project management' techniques, you must first be sure that the work you are undertaking is, in fact, a project. Some people say that all work is a project, but that is not totally accurate. There are really multiple kinds of work – support, operations, management, projects etc.

Support, work includes maintaining current solutions that are already in place. For IT development people, support work consists of answering questions, going to regularly scheduled meetings, fixing problems in the production systems, etc. For sales people, this could be making daily sales calls, moving contracts through an approval process, updating call logs, etc. Operations work consists of the routine work required to run the business processes. For an accounts receivable clerk this could be checking reports, balancing accounts, posting journal entries, closing out the system, etc. Management work is required to manage and lead people and business processes.

The key aspect is this type of work is that it is an ongoing and routine part of your job. This is the work you do today, tomorrow and a month from now.

According to PMBOK 2004 from PMI,

A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result

Project management is “the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities in order to meet project requirements”

On the other hand, projects are not routine. The biggest difference in these categories of work is that projects, by their definition, have a defined start and end-date. There is a point in time when the work did not exist (before the project), when it does exist (the project), and when it does not exist again (after the project). This is the key determinant of whether a piece of work is a project. However, other characteristics of a project include a defined scope, finite budget, specific end results (or deliverables) and assigned resources. Another characteristic of a project is that the work is unique. Even if a project is similar to another one, it is not exactly the same because circumstances change and because things are always different when you are dealing with people.

That being said, now you must get practical. In theory, projects can be one hour, 100 hours or 100,000 hours. So, you must recognize that, although the creation of a small deliverable is a project, it does not need the structure and discipline of a much larger project. For a one-hour project, you 'just do it'. Any planning, analysis and design is all done in your head. For a twenty hour project, you mostly 'just do it'. However, now you may need to plan a little bit, maybe communicate a little bit, maybe deal with problems a little bit. A one hundred hour project probably has too much work to plan and manage all in your head. For instance, you need to start defining the work and building a simple workplan. A 5,000 hour project needs full project management discipline. On the other extreme, a 100,000 hour project probably has too much work to get your head around it all. This requires you to break the larger project up into smaller, but related, projects to get the entire piece of work done.

20 Key Project Manager Actions and Deliverables *

Action	Deliverables
Initiating
1. Demonstrate project need and feasibility.	A document confirming that there is a need for the project deliverables and describing, in broad terms: the deliverables, means of creating the deliverables, costs of creating and implementing the deliverables, benefits to be obtained by implementing the deliverables.
2. Obtain project authorization.	A "go/no go" decision is made by the sponsor. A project manager is assigned. A "project charter" is created which: Formally recognizes the project Is issued by a manager external to the project and at a high enough organizational level so that he or she can meet project needs Authorizes the project manager to apply resources to project activities
3. Obtain authorization for the phase.	A "go/no go" decision is made by the sponsor which authorizes the project manager to apply organizational resources to the activities of a particular phase Written approval of the phase is created which Formally recognizes the existence of the phase Is issued by a manager external to the project and at a high enough organizational level so that he or she can meet project needs
Planning
4. Describe project scope.	Statement of project scope Scope management plan Work breakdown structure
5. Define and sequence project activities.	An activity list (list of all activities that will be performed on the project) Updates to the work breakdown structure (WBS) A project network diagram
6. Estimate durations for activities and resources required.	Estimate of durations (time required) for each activity and assumptions related to each estimate Statement of resource requirements Updates to activity list
7. Develop a project schedule.	Project schedule in the form of Gantt charts, network diagrams, milestone charts, or text tables Supporting details, such as resource usage over time, cash flow projections, order/delivery schedules, etc.
8. Estimate costs.	Cost estimates for completing each activity Supporting detail, including assumptions and constraints Cost management plan describing how cost variances will be handled
9. Build a budget and spending plan.	A cost baseline or time-phased budget for measuring/monitoring costs A spending plan, telling how much will be spent on what resources at what time
10. Create a formal quality plan. (optional)	Quality management plan, including operational definitions Quality verification checklists
11. Create a formal project communications plan. (optional)	A communication management plan, including: Collection structure Distribution structure Description of information to be disseminated Schedules listing when information will be produced A method for updating the communications plan
12. Organize and acquire staff.	Role and responsibility assignments Staffing plan Organizational chart with detail as appropriate Project staff Project team directory
13. Identify risks and plan to respond. (optional)	A document describing potential risks, including their sources, symptoms, and ways to address them
14. Plan for and acquire outside resources. (optional)	Procurement management plan describing how contractors will be obtained Statement of work (SOW) or statement of requirements (SOR) describing the item (product or service) to be procured Bid documents, such as RFP (request for proposal), IFB (invitation for bid),etc. Evaluation criteria -- means of scoring contractor's proposals Contract with one or more suppliers of goods or services
15. Organize the project plan.	A comprehensive project plan that pulls together all the outputs of the preceding project planning activities
16. Close out the project planning phase.	A project plan that has been approved, in writing, by the sponsor A "green light" or okay to begin work on the project
17. Revisit the project plan and replan if needed.	Confidence that the detailed plans to execute a particular phase are still accurate and will effectively achieve results as planned.
Executing
18. Execute project activities.	Work results (deliverables) are created. Change requests (i.e., based on expanded or contracted project) are identified. Periodic progress reports are created. Team performance is assessed, guided, and improved if needed. Bids/proposals for deliverables are solicited, contractors (suppliers) are chosen, and contracts are established. Contracts are administered to achieve desired work results.
Controlling
19. Control project activities.	Decision to accept inspected deliverables Corrective actions such as rework of deliverables, adjustments to work process, etc. Updates to project plan and scope List of lessons learned Improved quality Completed evaluation checklists (if applicable)
Closing
20. Close out project activities.	Formal acceptance, documented in writing, that the sponsor has accepted the product of this phase or activity. Formal acceptance of contractor work products and updates to the contractor's files. Updated project records prepared for archiving. A plan for follow-up and/or hand-off of work products
* From The Project Manager's Partner © Copyright 1996, 2001 Michael Greer & HRD Press