What is a project. Definition of the project, its features and characteristics

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

The project approach to achieving the set goals makes it possible:

1) Combine goals that are significant for the company, the achievement of which is possible in the foreseeable future.

2) Plan allocations more effectively.

3) Coordinate the actions of managers and performers.

What is a project? Definition of concept

The word "project" (projectus) is translated from Latin as "outstanding, moving forward, protruding." And if you reproduce this word in the Oxford lexicon, you get: "a well-planned start of a business, a personally created company, or joint work necessary to achieve specific goals." If we approach the answer to this question in more detail, then the project is:

a campaign (or list of follow-up actions) through which some problematic issues or a brilliant idea will be solved;

one or more one-time tasks, without which the implementation of the project will be difficult,setting and achieving key goals;

temporary task that must be completed within a set time frame using a certain amount of resources;

deed, the completion of which is tantamount to obtaining the desired result;

a set of efforts limited by time and resources or carrying out activities necessary to approach the goal (all work is carried out by a special organization created for such tasks);

list of time-driven activities, the implementation of which will lead to the achievement of the only correct result; as a rule, such events are aimed at qualitative changes or the development of a new product (service);

promoting and structuring several ideas and defining the goals of projects that are part of the main project, joint implementation of various action plans (activities);

designing sequential operations, the implementation of which will achieve certain results in the future;

details of actions planned in a specific period and under specific conditions, the purpose of which is to change the situation in the future;

an event that requires a detailed plan and involves a series of operations aimed at fundamentally changing the existing situation;

a dream, a flow, a mechanism through which one can be realized in the future, with the subsequent use of the concepts listed here for self-realization;

investigating a subject of interest in the present to plan for the future

By variety, projects can be personal (for example, developing a personal website) or developing, forcing society to change (sometimes beyond recognition).

Distinguishing Features

The project, the definition of which has no analogues, is called innovation or novelty. And if in the near future there is no need to repeat the implementation of any points of the project (or it will never need to be solved), it is called one-time.

If the final result must be received by a predetermined date, then the distinguishing feature of this project is the time limit. And when the involvement of specialists from different fields is necessary to bring the project to life, the definition of the project can be “fit” in one word - interdisciplinarity.

Risks

Risks and difficulties in the development and management of a project arise mainly if such tasks have not been previously solved. The riskiness of the project directly depends on its scale and the equipment of the performers (availability of the necessary equipment, materials and tools). Many risks, for example, are borne by an investment project, the identification of the sources of which is impossible without obtaining the necessary knowledge.

Financing of investment projects

Internal financing or self-financing is carried out at the expense of the enterprise - the founder of the project and provides for the expenditure of personal fundsshareholders. Also, the possibility of using the net profit of the enterprise, as well as damper deductions, is not excluded, and the formation of capital is strictly targeted. This type of funding is only possible if the project is small.

Defining an externally funded project:

1) External financing can be provided by the state, financial and non-financial enterprises, the public, foreign investors and additional funds at the disposal of the founders.

2) Shareholding and share contributions.

3) Investment bank loans and bonds.

Limiting factors

Any project has three limiting factors:

• Due dates. To correctly calculate the duration of the project, technical tasks are divided into building blocks, then the “lifting” of the amount of work is evaluated and the results are compared with the experience of successful developers.
• Resources. For example, human resource: managing employees, defining project work using their talents and abilities.
• Result. The components of this item are: financial solvency, skillful marketing, economic efficiency, professionalism of the project manager and performers.

Project programs

When considering the work of any organization, one can almost always note two key options for its activities that existone time:

so-called "churn" and periodically recurring transactions or deals;

projects

The main differences between these two activities are the cyclicity of repetitive processes and subordination to a specific schedule of actions focused on achieving a unique result.

For example, in a car manufacturing facility, shop floor operations, bookkeeping, and mail processing are repetitive activities. Recurring transactions are characterized by a fairly high degree of certainty and require a systematic approach, the purpose of which is to increase the production efficiency of existing facilities and equipment.

The definition of a project oriented to the implementation of any internal or external changes is, for example, the creation of the latest modifications, the readjustment of conveyors or the introduction of new automatic systems. External changes may relate to marketing campaigns, expanding the field of activity of the organization, changing market relations. In particular, the following options can be noted:

projects of coordinating formation (reorganization of the enterprise, introduction of innovations, and so on);

projects for establishing a business (research development, production of the latest products, the formation of progressive trends, entering previously unknown markets);

projects for the formation (maintenance) of infrastructure (scheduled repairs, replacement of equipment, and so on);

commercial plans carried out under the contract (manufacturing anddelivery of original or unpresentable products, development, provision of original services)

This list can be continued if we supplement it with examples from different industrial areas, which have significant differences in the scale of work, deadlines, number of employees and significance of results.

Result oriented

The goal of any project is to get a specific result, that is, to achieve the goal. A specific goal is the driving force behind the project.

Defining a project involves performing interdependent tasks. Goal-oriented projects are endowed with a deep inner meaning necessary for their implementation. The primary feature of project management is accuracy in the definition and formulation of goals, from the highest level to the detailed formulation of less significant goals.

In addition, the project can be regarded as a step-by-step achievement of extremely clearly formulated simple tasks, and its progress as the achievement of larger tasks. The project is considered completed only after the final goal is achieved.

What is a portfolio of projects

Portfolio - a collection of projects (programs) united with one goal: to make management more comfortable and successful. The projects collected in the portfolio may not be interconnected, not united by a common goal and exist independently of each other.