project management and its ability to deliver valuable outcomes to stakeholders. A few of the most fundamental concepts from the prior PMBOK editions (Editions 1 through 6), discussed in earlier editions of this For Dummies book (Editions 1 through 5), will always be true even if not explicitly referenced by name in PMBOK 7. We review those in the next few sections. You’ll know that we’ve transitioned to PMBOK 7 concepts and terminology when you reach the “Adopting a Principled Approach to Project Management” section of this chapter.
Determining What Makes a Project a Project
No matter what your job is, you handle a myriad of assignments every day. For example, you may prepare a status report, conduct a meeting, design a marketing campaign, or relocate to new offices. Or you may make your company’s information systems more user-friendly, develop a research compound in the laboratory, or improve the organization’s public image. Not all these assignments are projects. How can you tell which ones are and which ones aren’t? This section is here to help.
Understanding the three main components that define a project
A project is a temporary undertaking performed to produce a unique product, service, or result. Large or small, a project always has the following three components:
Specific scope: Desired results or products (check out Chapter 5 for more on describing desired results)
Schedule: Established dates when project work starts and ends (see Chapter 7 for how to develop responsive and feasible project schedules)
Required resources: Necessary number of people, funds, and other supporting elements like lab space, test equipment, manufacturing facilities, computer hardware and software, and so on (see Chapter 8 for how to establish whom you need for your project and Chapter 9 for how to set up your budget and determine any other resources you need)
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FIGURE 1-1: The relationship between the three main components of a project.
Although many other considerations may affect a project’s performance, these three components are the basis of a project’s definition for the following three reasons:
The only reason a project exists is to produce the results specified in its scope.
The project’s end date is an essential part of defining what constitutes successful performance, as the desired result must be achieved by a certain time to meet its intended need.
The availability of resources shapes the nature of the results the project can produce.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, 7th Edition (PMBOK 7), elaborates on these components by:
Emphasizing that product includes both the basic nature of what is to be produced (for example, a new software program or a new prescription drug) and its required characteristics (for example, the features and functions the software program must include), which are defined as the product’s quality.
Noting that resources refers to funds, as well as to other, nonmonetary resources, such as people, equipment, raw materials, and facilities.
PMBOK 7 also emphasizes that risk (the likelihood that not everything will go exactly according to plan) plays an important role in defining a project and that guiding a project to success involves continually managing trade-offs among the three main project components — the products to be produced and their characteristics, the schedule, and the resources required to do the project work.
Recognizing the diversity of projects
Projects come in a wide assortment of shapes and sizes. For example, projects can:
Be large or small:Installing a new subway system, which may cost more than $1 billion and take 10 to 15 years to complete, is a project.Preparing an ad hoc report of monthly sales figures, which may take you a few hours to a day or two to complete, is also a project.
Involve many people or just you:Training all 10,000 of your organization’s staff on a new diversity, equity, and inclusion policy, is a project.Rearranging the furniture and equipment in your office is also a project.
Be defined by a legal contract or by an informal agreement:A signed contract between you and a customer that requires you to build a house defines a project.An informal promise you make to install a new software package on your colleague’s computer also defines a project.
Be business-related or personal:Conducting your organization’s annual blood drive is a project.Organizing and hosting a dinner party for 15 friends is also a project.
A PROJECT BY ANY OTHER NAME JUST ISN’T A PROJECT
People often confuse the following two terms with project:
Process: A process is a series of routine steps to perform a particular function, such as a procurement process or a budget process. A process isn’t a one-time activity that achieves a specific result; instead, it defines how a particular function is to be done every time. Processes, like the activities that go into buying materials, are often parts of projects.
Program: This term can describe two different situations. First, a program can be a set of goals that gives rise to specific projects, but, unlike a project,
