You might have heard Project and Project Management terms several times. These common terms may sound simple but when you try to understand in practical term, they might confuse you or you may land up interpreting it in a different way.
The formal definition of the project according to the Project Management Institute(PMI), a project is defined as a “temporary endeavor with a beginning and an end and it must be used to create a unique product, service or result”.
Some formal definitions of Project management are:
According to the Project Management Institute(PMI), a project is defined as a “temporary endeavor with a beginning and an end and it must be used to create a unique product, service or result”.
As per the Association for Project Management (APM), a project is a unique, transient endeavor undertaken to bring about change and to achieve planned objectives.
Wikipedia mentioned that contemporary business and science treat a project (or program) as any undertaking, carried out individually or collaboratively and possibly involving research or design, that is carefully planned (usually by a project team) to achieve a particular aim.
And, I am sure you must be aware of these definitions. These seem very simple in terms of languages but yet it is difficult to correlate with your daily basis work. Even though project management is a very common and ubiquitous term, a significant number of projects fail to meet its objective.
Well to explain all these, let me tell you a short story about Ted.
The Mini Project
Ted is a telecom engineer who lives his life with passion, grace, and a sense of purpose. Last Monday, Ted’s mom expresses her interest in getting the best smartphone to enhance her social networking skill. Ted happily agreed to provide her with the perfect smartphone. Finding the right device for the woman who carried him for nine months takes a great deal of research.
Ted initiated a quick discussion with her mother to ascertain key requirements like what kind of websites does she use while using mobile? iOS or Android? What are her favorite colors? When she wants the phone to get delivered? What app she would use? What is the budget for the phone? What accessories she would like?
After having a detailed understanding of specifications and thorough planning, Ted decided to buy the smartphone from an online retailer. Ted did some research over the internet and find out the best seller to buy a smartphone.
Ted went online mobile shop and executed the smartphone order with the best network service plan along with accessories. He was monitoring the shipment status on daily basis. However, it took five days for the shipper to deliver the package to his home address. There was a bit confused over the home address and Ted coordinated with the delivery guy to clarify it.
Finally, the mobile phone arrived on Sunday morning. Ted outfitted the phone with a screen protector, activated the network SIM and installed all apps as desired by his mom. Also, Ted taught her mother how to create a Twitter account and follow someone.
After devoting his whole Sunday, Ted made the phone ready to use in all respect and handed it over to his mother. Finally, the mission success was celebrated as a closing ceremony with Ted’s favorite pizza.
That is how Ted bought the perfect smartphone for the most favorite people in the world – his mother. Does Ted’s story sound familiar? If it does, you are not alone. Ted’s story is the story of every successful project professional.
Did you notice that Ted has effectively used his soft (art) & hard (science) skills to manage this mini but important project?
A Full-Fledged Project
After successfully buying the perfect smartphone for her mother, the next morning Ted returned to the same old boring office.
At the coffee stand, Ted got an opportunity to have a quick chat with his awesome boss. While chatting with his boss (Mike), Ted spilled his weekend ordeal and explained about his mini-project. After the discussion, Mike informed Ted that the company is planning to provide a smartphone to all of its 10000 employees. Management believes this will boost employee morals and increase their productivity.
Intrigued by this coincidence, Ted’s narrated a similar mini-project to Mike. Mike found Ted’s weekend project experience is quite similar to the project he is discussing with top management.
After hearing about Ted’s weekend experience, Mike was assured that Ted is the right person to complete this work and decided to assign the job of acquiring 10000 smartphones. Also, Mike mentioned that the company wants this project to be completed before Christmas.
Ted realized that basically, it is the same activity that Ted performed for his mom, but now it has to be performed on a large scale. Now, Ted would need a team of experts and professionals who can perform the project tasks through well-defined processes and practices. This brought the company’s project management process & guidelines into the picture.
Ted developed a project charter and stakeholder list. With approval from the sponsor in place, Ted formed his project management team to do scope planning, WBS development, schedule development, budget planning, quality & risk planning. Ted come up with a fantastic project management plan to execute the project work. After six months of a continuous team effort, Ted was able to provide the best smartphone to all 10000 employees well before Christmas. Also, the project was completed under the budget approved by management.
As like another story, this story also has a Happy Ending. However, in the project management world, this may not be always true. Things become pretty complex and difficult if proper project management processes are not followed.
Conclusion
Before you can begin your project management journey, you must know the concept of the project and project management. Also, it is important to correlate this knowledge with respect to your daily work management.
A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to achieve a particular aim in a certain duration. The project can be as simple as organizing a birthday party for your friend or launching a new Tesla model car.
How do you explain the project and project management terms to your colleague? Let me know by leaving a comment below right now.
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