definitions and key concepts
A Project is a unique, temporary, multidisciplinary and organized effort to achieve the scope under predefined conditions and constraints. A Product/Service is a collection of features and functions that provide a solution to a problem, generating value to customers. A key difference between project and product is their life cycles: a product requires a long-term commitment while a project can usually be completed quicker.
Project managers are professionals who are responsible for project success. Project managers tend to be output-oriented, caring for the output, the deliverables, more than for the expected results, the outcome, of those deliverables. The concern for customers long-term satisfaction is frequently mentioned by product managers but it is not usually an issue for project managers. Project outputs can be either be products that follow roadmaps or transformations (eg. Digital Transformation).
Projects and products success or failure should be evaluated by objective success criteria defined as soon as possible.
The Sponsor is a person or company who provides resources (eg. knowledge and money) and political support to facilitate the success of the project.
A Stakeholder refers to anyone who is directly or indirectly affected by, or who has to bear the consequences of, the project, programme or project portfolio either in delivery or outcome. Document the stakeholders in the Stakeholder Register. Managers, clients, suppliers, employees and community leaders affected by the project are potential stakeholders the Project Manager should be aware of.
A Program is a set of projects to achieve a common goal managed in a coordinated way to enable the achievement of specific goals.
A Portfolio is a set of projects and/or programs, which are not necessarily related, brought together to provide optimum use of the organization’s resources and to achieve the organization’s strategic goals while minimizing portfolio risk. A portfolio can contain (big) projects and entire programs.
The Project Management Office PMO is a department that standardizes the governance processes related to projects and facilitates the sharing of resources, methodologies, tools and techniques.
The Baseline is the set of planning documents used to manage the project during execution and control. The baseline is also referred to as the Project Plan and is used to document planning assumptions and decisions, facilitate communication among project stakeholders, and document approved scope, cost, and schedule baselines.
Benchmarking is the process of measuring your project performance indicators against standards, generally those considered the optimal results that implement best practices.
Value is not associated with Cost or Price. Value can be whatever the customer is interested in, for example: more efficiency, lower costs, higher revenue, etc…
You may want to check other frequently used terms in our technical glossary.
