What is a Project?

Are you struggling to get the definition of a project straight in your own mind? Does your role at work feel poorly defined because you and your coworkers aren’t talking about projects in the same way?

By the end of this article, you’ll be equipped with the same language I use to successfully define and discuss projects. This is key to building the foundation for clear roles and communicating the value of project managers in any company. 

Defining a “project”

According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), in their PMBOK® Guide – Seventh Edition, a project is "a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result." The key elements of this definition are:

• Temporary: This work has a start date and an end date—or it will, even if not yet determined. "Operations,” by contrast, are ongoing business activities that do not end. Just about every business activity can be considered either a "project" or "operations."
• Product, Service, or Result: Once the project ends, something new exists. It could be a new product, a change to an existing product, a change to the way a company is run, or any planned, definable result. This result continues to exist even though the project is over (Pay attention to the distinction between a "project" and a "product"—this will be an asset to you).
• Unique: This product, service, or result is something you or your company hasn't created before. Perhaps you've performed some of the required steps on past projects. But at least some of the steps are new, or at least some major aspect of the result is new.

Expanding the definition

Chris Croft, a leadership and project management coach, shaped my early understanding and language around projects. He has some great material for people who are new to the field. His elegantly simple definition of a project, found in his training material here, is "something complicated that you haven't done before."

Croft’s definition captures the "unique" element of PMI's definition above, but adds the idea of "complicated," or "complexity." Complexity is a valid and important aspect of a project, but is a bit hard to define, so let’s look at something you can use to stand in for complexity that is easier to measure: a project involves a team—or at minimum, more than one person. This will be part of the definition of a project in most professional settings, and it is often the point where complexity begins.

For example, if someone at my company needs one designer to make one graphic, I don't worry about treating that as a project. But if the request involves both copy from a writer and graphics from a designer, and the whole thing has a deadline, it becomes worthwhile for someone (like me) to make sure the handoffs happen smoothly and on time.

There’s nothing wrong with using the term “project” for something you do all by yourself; a solo project can certainly meet all the other criteria discussed above. But a project that requires the coordinated skills of more than one person will typically also require the skills unique to a project manager.

I managed client “projects” in the first year and a half of my career while I was a solo entrepreneur, and I needed to communicate, manage all the tasks, and work within established timelines. But I didn’t need to coordinate the communication of others, negotiate resources and schedules, or any of the other skills involved in shepherding many people to produce a single outcome. These coordination skills are where project professionals really shine.

Helping colleagues understand projects

I’m guessing many of you are reading this not for your own clarity, but because you’ve encountered difficulties discussing projects or project roles with coworkers. If that’s the case, here are some of the things I actually say to help people understand what I do as a project manager and how I can help them:

• When describing my job to casual acquaintances, I say: “At my company, other people have the ideas of what they’d like to do or make. Then they come to me, and I say, ‘Cool, here’s how we’ll chart the path from your idea to reality.’”
• When describing my job to a new coworker, I say: “I can help you with projects. So whenever you want to do or make something, come to me, or explain whatever you know so far in an email, and I will guide you through the steps to make your thing and pull in the right people at the right times.”
• A real conversation with a coworker recently, paraphrased:
  Coworker: “I’ve been encouraging my team recently to take more initiative to pull together the people they need to help them achieve their outcomes, but am I hearing you say you want us to let YOU do that?”
  Me: “Yes, please do! As project managers we keep up on everybody’s roles and when various people need to be pulled in on projects. If you come to your project manager with the result you’d like to achieve, we will pull together the internal resources for you and guide you through the process.”

Making the definition your own

To be clear, not all project managers’ roles work exactly the same way. Perhaps you’re only in charge of schedules or budgets on projects. Perhaps you have more responsibility to decide what your projects’ results should be than I do. Here are some tips to keep in mind as you adapt your working definition of a project and your role to fit your situation:

• Focus on what the person you’re talking to needs to do, and what they’ll get from you. You’ll notice I didn’t necessarily use all the key elements of the definition of a project in my example dialogue above. But it’s there in the background as I make sure my audience knows they need to tell me the result they want, and I will help them with everything that needs to happen next.
• Keep the language as simple as possible. I talk about things people want to ‘do or make,’ for example. This wording is better received instead of saying ‘your product, service, or result.’ Whenever you can, use terms people already know and use.
• Pay attention to what makes things click for people. I couldn’t describe projects or my role quickly at first. But the opportunities to try were abundant. Every time I did, I paid attention to the understanding or confusion in people’s eyes. I hung onto what worked, and I rephrased what didn’t. If your job is new, hone your description every time a friend or family member asks you about it. They are a great practice audience to help you figure out the simple wording that will do the trick for your coworkers too.

I hope you now feel equipped with some basic elements of the definition of a project, and some tools to help you explain projects in a practical way to the people around you. Sign up below for more tools to help you explain and manage your projects in practical ways!