Week one course materials and assignments

Project Management

Supporting Activity Project Characteristics

• What are some of the characteristics that differentiate projects from other functions carried out in the daily operations of an organization? List some examples of work considered to be a project and work not considered to be a project.

The main trait and attribute that differentiates projects and non-projects is the duration of the event in question. Events that are ongoing in perpetuity are not projects. Projects, instead, are tasks/jobs (or collections of the same) that has a definite start point and end point as well as a budgetary estimate and a depicting/listing of the resources needed for the project. The project is planned, commence and then evaluated whereas operations tasks are normal daily tasks that do not generally halt unless there is a business need or reason for it (PMBOK, 2013).

For example, work tasks like checking email or answering customer phone calls is not a project. However, a plan that effects an upgrade to the email server or a plan to revamp the call queue system and structure would both be projects. That all being said, projects and daily operations are related as one informs the other and vice versa. Prior operations and/or deficiencies would justify (or not justify) a project to makes changes or upgrades while the ensuing operations would show the efficacy and effectiveness of the project. Metrics and measurements can be used to assess both projects and operations but those two different tasks are NOT the same thing and never will be (PMBOK, 2013).

Supporting Activity Project Charter Audience

Write a 200- to 300-word short-answer response to the following:

• Who is the intended audience that a project charter best serves? In what way is it used?

A project charter, often also referred to as a project definition or project statement, is basically a summary and recitation of the parameters of a project. It would include items and information such as the project scope, who is involved in the project and the objectives/reasons that the project is being undertaken. How long the project will take and the impacts thereof would typically be explained at last at a high level (PMBOK, 2013).

The audience of the project charter can vary based on who is involved and/or impacted by the project. Examples would include project stakeholders, project planners, project funders, vendors, staff that will be working on the project, staff that will be impacted by the project and/or the people that are involved in ascertaining whether the project is needed in the first place. Who everyone is relative to the project and what they are responsible for would typically be included in the project charter (PMBOK, 2013).