Show All

Hide All

This article was excerpted from Microsoft® Office Project 2003 Inside Out by Teresa S. Stover. Visit Microsoft Learning to buy this book. View other articles written by Teresa Stover.

In this article

What is a project?

What is project management?

What is a project?

There are two types of work performed by organizations: operations and projects. An operation is a series of tasks that are routine, repetitive, and ongoing throughout the life of the organization. Operations are typically necessary to sustain the business. Examples of operations are accounts receivable, employee performance reviews, and shipping and receiving. Employee performance reviews might take place every six months, for example, and although the names and circumstances of employees and supervisors might change, the process of preparing and conducting employee reviews is always the same. In addition, it's expected that there will continue to be employee reviews throughout the life of the organization.

On the other hand, projects are not routine or ongoing. That is, projects are unique and temporary and are often implemented to fulfill a strategic goal of the organization. A project is a series of tasks that will culminate in the creation or completion of some new initiative, product, or activity by a specific end date.

Some project examples include an office move, a new product launch, the construction of a building, and a political campaign. It is never the same project twice — for example, this year's product launch is different from last year's product launch. There is a specific end date in mind for the launch, after which the project will be considered complete. After the project is complete, a new and unique product will be on the market.

Projects come in all sizes. One project might consist of 100 tasks; another, 10,000. One project might be implemented by a single resource; another by 500. One project might take two months to complete; another might take 10 years. There can be projects within projects, linked together with a master project consolidating them all. These subprojects, however, are all unique and temporary, and all have a specific outcome and end date.

 Top of Page

What is project management?

Project management is the coordinating effort to fulfill the goals of the project. The project manager, as the leader of the project team, is responsible for this effort and its ultimate result. Project managers use knowledge, skills, tools, and methodologies to:

• Identify the goals, objectives, requirements, and limitations of the project.
• Coordinate the different needs and expectations of the various project stakeholders, including team members, resource managers, senior management, customers, and sponsors.
• Plan, execute, and control the tasks, phases, and deliverables of the project based on the identified project goals and objectives.
• Close the project when completed and capture the knowledge accrued.

Project managers are also responsible for balancing and integrating competing demands to implement all aspects of the project successfully, as follows:

• Project scope   Identifying the specific work to be done for the project.

• Project time   Setting the finish date of the project as well as any interim deadlines for phases, milestones, and deliverables.

• Project cost   Calculating and tracking the project costs and budget.

• Project human resources   Signing on the team members who will carry out the tasks of the project.

• Project procurement   Acquiring the material and equipment resources with which to carry out project tasks.

• Project communication   Conveying assignments, updates, reports, and other information with team members and other stakeholders.

• Project quality   Identifying the acceptable level of quality for the project goals and objectives.

• Project risk   Analyzing potential project risks and response planning.

Balancing scope, time, and money is often among the biggest responsibilities of the project manager.

If you increase the scope, the time or money side of the triangle will also be increased. If you need to reduce time, that is, bring in the project finish date, you might need to decrease the scope or increase the cost through the addition of resources.

 Note   There is some debate about how to accurately describe the key controlling elements that make up a project. Some believe that it is best described as a triangle — the three sides representing time, money, and resources. Others say that it is a square — with scope, time, money, and resources being the four sides, each one affecting the others. One can suggest that money and resources are synonymous in this context because resources cost money. Adding resources adds money, and the only thing you need more money for would be resources.

Find links to more information about working with the project triangle to help control your project in the See Also section, which is visible when you are connected to the Internet.

Project management practices  Balancing and integrating competing demands

 Top of Page

About the author   Award-winning author Teresa Stover has written 11 computer books and countless user manuals, tutorials, and online help systems. She is a project management expert who's served as a consultant to the Microsoft Project team since Version 4. Teresa is the author of Microsoft® Project Version 2002 Inside Out and manages her own technical and business writing consultancy.