Definition of a project

Posted by Rafal | Filed under Productivity

When talking about project most people would think about tasks and endeavours taken in the business environment. There are many examples of such. Mergers, design of new products, marketing campaign, publishing a book, building an apartment complex etc. There is a whole discipline of knowledge called project management which grew out of the business’s need for better, more effective and efficient completion of projects.

The business side of the project may be overwhelming. There are many resources on this subject which make them less compelling for non professional. They talk about resources, stakeholders, Gantt charts, milestones, stages. For this reason not many people would think that they also have projects at home. As not many task that need to be completed around their homes would require complicated structures and tools. However we all have various project to complete and perhaps one of the reasons why things not always go the right ways is that we don’t realise that. Repainting house, setting up shelf’s in the basement, weekend trip, family holidays, servicing car, reading a book all these are some examples of project that many people would have on their mind.

The main struggle with project is finding a difference between a to-do item and the project it self. So what is a project then?

The Project Management Body of Knowledge defines a project as  “a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product, service or result. The temporary nature of projects indicates a definite beginning and end”

A similar twist can be found on the Wikipedia page: “A project is a temporary endeavour, having a defined beginning and end (usually constrained by date, but can be by funding or deliverables[2]), undertaken to meet particular goals and objectives[3], usually to bring about beneficial change or added value. The temporary nature of projects stands in contrast to business as usual (or operations)[4], which are repetitive, permanent or semi-permanent functional work to produce products or services. In practice, the management of these two systems is often found to be quite different, and as such requires the development of distinct technical skills and the adoption of separate management.”

Based on the another definition (via Old Dominion University) a project is :
     • Sequence of tasks  – Planned from beginning to end 
    • Defined outcome and "deliverables"
    • Deadline
    • Budget  – limits number of people, supplies, and capital

In the “Getting Things Done” book David Allen defines a project as: “any commitment that takes more than one step to complete (p…).” In addition to that a project should to answer following questions: why, what, how. 
This definition treats almost any task as a project and although it may look mundane to write all these down it’s a way  to address the issue of short attention span or constant shifting of focus – you can always refer to a project list.
I would expand it by adding the element of time. Other definitions highlight  projects are temporary engagements and as such have start and end date. They may last couple years but ultimately they have start and end date.  When you remember that projects are mostly confined to a period of time it will be easier to distinguish them form other element of GTD called Areas of Focus. For example launching a blog is a project but being a blogger or running a blog would fall under the area of focus.

So How do you define projects in your life? Do you treat any of you to do’s as projects?

Permalink | Comments (2) | Feb 10, 2010

2 Responses to “Definition of a project”

  1. kristalsoldier Says:
    June 27th, 2010 at 03:09

    Hmm..interesting question! No, personally, I don’t like to quantify my life by thinking of my “to do” points as “projects”. Luckily, I do work that feels less like “work” and more like a very engaging pasttime and for which I get paid what I consider to be a fair wage (and I am being realistic here). I have fun doing what I do, and that means I don’t have “to do” anything, I do things because I “like” doing them.

    Am I making any sense here?

    You have a nice blog here, I should add. Valuable insights all around!

    Best

  2. Rafal Says:
    June 28th, 2010 at 21:07

    Hi Kristalsoldier,
    Thanks for reading and sharing your views.
    You are making perfect sense.
    Sure, looking at life strictly in terms of projects, todo’s etc may sound very mechanic and computer like. For me it more of helping me keeping important stuff on top of my agenda.
    I today’s world it so easy to get distracted….
    Thanks.

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