A project is a temporary attempt to change in some way or other than the present. A project is distinguished from belligerent activity or contingent activity. Since we all do definite things in our lives, we can say that you don’t create a project, but you undertake one. However, a project is not a unit of time, even though it seems so. At the start of one project the objectives may be spelled out perfectly in view of chances of later modification, and the objectives may be modified along with the process, outlined on a PRINCE2 Practitioner course and training.
Projects can’t be planned or expected, but they cannot be avoided. A project is an attempt to create an end state. The plan is a minimally acceptable turn-key solution that is either completed in stages in the same way or in some other way.
Projects are intended to mean different things to different people. Some projects can be straightforward affairs – it’s often quite possible to restructure existing circumstances, organize new resources, or get secondary or tertiary work done at less expense. Other projects which might not be straightforward and easy take the form of projects in time· and monies budgets, e.g., building a stepped approach to a building.
In most cases, the initial director almost always has a team to assist him or her, for example, a director being the project manager (though the project manager would probably handle the smaller-scale projects). There are two fundamental types of projects, projects in time and projects in money, though the larger if they are to be successful, must be a mix of the two. All the projects must be appropriately resourced, as defined by the project budget. In every project, individual supplies or materials are managed according to the approved budgets. Project budgets take on the double function of cost control and expenditure by organizing the right program.
Projects can and do, of course, change the project environment very much. The scope of the project and the goals to be achieved need to be known up-front. The budgets need to be set both in terms of cost and, more significantly, in terms of value. The values can be measured in terms of quality, defect reduction, teamwork, or financial improvements. If there is a realistic possibility of achieving these goals, then the project financials will support this. If the project is to introduce, for example, a new method of work, or to carry out a recent activity in terms of the capacity of the team, then these must be fundamental values. If the actual value cannot be achieved, the project remains waste.
Projects can either be thought of as enterprises or be thought of as a portfolio of enterprises. A portfolio is something you show as the final output of an enterprise with any degree of success in the future. Efforts spine, resources, and cross-activity are resources in the portfolio but are not entirely under the control of the portfolio itself. There is always a margin of safety, provided the decision-making environment is firm and clear to all concerned.
In a portfolio, projects have to be defined, staffed, and funded. According to a mutually agreed plan, these would have to be undertaken based on a minimum of the Lessons of Experience. When projects are carried out according to a plan with priorities, scope, and time-lines set, the most significant risks are known. Plans need to be provided by the enterprise as part of the plan. When plans are well thought out and acre by the enterprise, they are always run on a timetable with tentative components audited regularly.
Projects have a particular field of play in them. For example, in the initial conception of a project, there might be a technology or a recognizable process known to others in the enterprise space. For example, specialized teams come together to form a development team (which may be suppliers), and there might be similar groups on the ground (if the enterprise is an international project team). The academic sector forms a community of contractors in high-risk projects. Planned civilization needs to embrace collaboration.
