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Projects exist to bring about or fulfill the goals of the organization. Most projects benefit from the application of a set of processes and standards known as project management. Let’s start with some fundamental questions.

■ What makes a new assignment a project?

■ How do you know if you are working on a project?

■ What distinguishes a project from an operational activity?

Projects involve a team of people, and so do day-to-day business activities. They both involve following a process or a plan, and they both result in activities that help reach a goal. So, what is so different about a project? Let’s explore all of these questions in the following sections.

Identifying the Project

A project is a temporary endeavor that has definite beginning and ending dates, and it results in a unique product, service, or result. A project is considered a success when the goals it sets out to accomplish are fulfilled and the stakeholders are satisfied with the results.

Projects also bring about a product, service, or result that never existed before. This may include creating tangible goods, implementing software, writing a book, planning and executing an employee appreciation event, constructing a building, and more. There is no limit to what can be considered a project as long as it fits the following criteria:

Unique A project is typically undertaken to meet a specific business objective. It involves doing something new, which means that the end result should be a unique product or service. These products may be marketed to others, may be used internally, may provide support for ongoing operations, and so on.

Temporary Projects have definite start and end dates. The time it takes to complete the work of the project can vary in overall length from a few weeks to several years, but there is always a start date and an end date.

Reason or Purpose A project comes about to fulfill a purpose. This might include introducing a new product, fulfilling a business objective or strategic goal, satisfying a social need, and any number of other reasons. It’s important to document and communicate the purpose and reasons for the project so that team members remain focused on achieving the goals of the project.

Stakeholder Satisfaction A project starts once it’s been identified, the objectives have been outlined in the project charter, and appropriate stakeholders have approved the project plan. A project ends when those goals have been met to the satisfaction of the stakeholders.

Once you’ve identified the project, you’ll validate the project (we’ll cover this topic in the section “Validating the Project” later in this chapter) and then write the project charter and obtain approval for the charter. We’ll talk in more detail about the project charter in Chapter 3, “Creating the Project Charter.”

Programs and Portfolios

Projects are sometimes managed as part of a program or portfolio. A program is a group of related projects that are managed together using coordinated processes and techniques. The collective management of a group of projects can bring about benefits that wouldn’t be achievable if the projects were managed separately.

Portfolios are collections of programs, subportfolios, and projects that support strategic business goals or objectives. Unlike programs, portfolios may consist of projects that are not related.

Here’s an example to help clarify the difference between programs and portfolios. Let’s say your company is in the construction business. The organization has several business units: retail construction, single-family residential buildings, and multifamily residential buildings. Individually, each of the business units may comprise a program. For example, retail construction is a program because all the projects within this program exist to create new retail-oriented buildings. This is not the same as single-family home construction (a different program), which is not the same as multifamily residential construction (a different program). Collectively, the programs and projects within all of these business units make up the portfolio. Other projects and programs may exist within this portfolio as well, such as parking structures, landscaping, and so on.

Programs and projects within a portfolio are not necessarily related to one another in a direct way. And projects may independently exist within the portfolio (in other words, the project isn’t related to a program but belongs to the portfolio). However, the overall objective of any program or project in a portfolio is to meet the strategic objectives of the portfolio, which in turn should meet the strategic objectives of the business unit or corporation.

Understanding Operations

Operations are ongoing and repetitive. They don’t have a beginning date or an ending date, unless you’re starting a new operation or retiring an old one. Operations typically involve ongoing functions that support the production of goods or services. Projects, on the other hand, come about to meet a specific, unique result and then conclude.

It’s important to understand that projects and operations go hand in hand in many cases. For example, perhaps you’ve been assigned to research and implement state-of-the-art equipment for a shoe manufacturing plant. Once the implementation of the equipment is complete, the project is concluded. A handoff to the operations team occurs, and the everyday tasks the equipment performs become an ongoing operation.

Don’t be confused by the term service regarding the definition of a project. Providing janitorial services on a contract is operations; providing contract Java programmers for 18 months to work on an IT project is a project.

Let’s look at the definition of two more terms. Project management brings together a set of tools and techniques – performed by people – to describe, organize, and monitor the work of project activities. Project managers (PMs) are the people responsible for applying these tools to the various project activities. Their primary purpose is to integrate all the components of the project and bring it to a successful conclusion. Managing a project involves many skills, including dealing with competing needs for your resources, obtaining adequate budget dollars, identifying risks, managing to the project requirements, interacting with stakeholders, staying on schedule, and ensuring a quality product.

We’ll spend the remainder of this book describing the tools and techniques you’ll use to accomplish the goals of the project, including the key concepts you’ll need to know for the exam. Many of the standards surrounding these techniques are documented in the PMBOK Guide^®.

Using the PMBOK Guide^®

Project management standards are documented in A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide^®), published by the Project Management Institute. PMI^® sets the global de facto standard in project management. It’s a large organization with more than 700,000 members from countries around the globe.

In addition to publishing the PMBOK Guide^®, PMI^® also manages two rigorous certification exams for individual project managers: the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)^® and the Project Management Professional (PMP)^®. The PMBOK Guide^® is the basis for the exam portion of the CAPM and PMP certifications. If you continue in a career in project management, you may decide to study and sit for the CAPM or PMP certification exams. The material you will study to prepare for the Project+ exam is an excellent foundation on which to build your project management knowledge.