^ [[2.1 About Projects]] # 2.1.1  What is a project? A project is a temporary organisational structure set up to create a unique product or service (output) within certain constraints such as time, cost and quality. - **Temporary** means that the project has a well-defined start and end. - **Unique output** means that the project’s product or service has not been created before. - It may be similar to another product, but there will always be a degree of uniqueness. - A project’s **output** may be a **product** (e.g. a new application) or a **service** (e.g. a consulting service, a conference or a training programme). The project is defined, planned and executed under certain external (or self-imposed) **constraints**. - These can relate to scheduling, budgeting, quality, - but also to the project’s organisational environment (e.g. risk attitude, capabilities, available capacity, etc.) ![[Fig 2.1 Key project characteristics.png]] ==A successful project ends when its objectives have been achieved and all deliverables have been produced and accepted by the organisation or person that requested the project (the client). The deliverables are then handed over to the client and the project team is disbanded==. **Projects are different from normal day-to-day work (operations)** and are best managed with a special **temporary organisational structure in order to:** - **define the project scope** and its deliverables (products or services) - create a **business justification** for the investment (by defining the project’s value for the organisation, outlining the business context, listing alternative solutions, etc.) - identify **project stakeholders** and define a **[[Project Core Team (PCT)|project core team]]** - create the **project plans** to help guide and manage the project - assign and coordinate project work to **teams** - **monitor and control the project daily** (progress, changes, risks, issues, quality, etc.) - hand over the deliverables and administratively **close the project**. ![[Fig 2.2 A project as a transformational process which turns ideas into reality.png]] --- Spanish Guide: [[2.1.1 ¿Qué es un Proyecto?]] <-- [[2.1 About Projects]] --> [[2.1.2 Why we do projects?]]