What is a Project?

Micro Learning Unit

A project is:

A project is any time-intensive effort—defined by a clear beginning and end—that attempts to achieve a particular aim and operates under a specific set of constraints.

Most projects are characterized by a level of complexity much higher than normal, routine activity, by collaborative teamwork, and usually by a longer time frame than mere days. Simple, repetitive or short-term activity is not usually considered a project. Generating a report, paying a supplier, manufacturing cars on an assembly line—these are all routine activities that cannot be seen as projects.

Every project has different stakeholders, beginning with the project’s customer, through the project’s sponsors, various managers within the organization, senior management, public organizations, suppliers and end users, and ending with any others who may be affected by the project or its results.