What Is a Project
Projects versus Operations
Stakeholders
A project is successful when it achieves its objectives and meets or exceeds the expectations of
the stakeholders.
Stakeholders
are those folks (or organizations) with a vested interest in your
project. They are the people who are actively involved with the work of the project or have
something to either gain or lose as a result of the project.
Key stakeholders can make or break the success of a project. Even if all the
deliverables are met and the objectives are satisfied, if your key stakeholders
aren’t happy, nobody’s happy.
The
project_ sponsor,_
generally an executive in the organization with the authority to assign
resources and enforce decisions regarding the project, is a stakeholder. The customer is a stakeholder,
as are contractors and suppliers.
Stakeholders
Project Manager
Project Sponsor
Customer
Board of Directors
Executive Managers
Department Managers
Vendors
Suppliers
Project Management Office
Project Characteristics
We’ve just learned that a project has several characteristics:
_
Projects are unique.
_
Projects are temporary in nature and have a definite beginning and ending date.
_
Projects are completed when the project goals are achieved or it’s determined the project is
no longer viable.
_
A successful project is one that meets or exceeds the expectations of your stakeholders
What Is Project Management
Project management
brings together a set of tools and techniques—performed by people—
to describe, organize, and monitor the work of project activities.
Project managers
are the people
responsible for managing the project processes and applying the tools and techniques used
to carry out the project activities. All projects are composed of processes, even if they employ
a haphazard approach.
Project management is a process that includes planning,...