Features of a Project

A project is an effort that has a limited amount of available resources as well as a limited budget. A project also has a limited time frame and performance requirements that need to meet the request of the projects customer. According to our lecture, "There are forms of work other than projects that are pursued in organizations, whether or not those organizations are commercial or industrial firms, or government or not-for-profit institutions". The major characteristics of a project are that they have a starting point along with an ending point and it must be results-oriented. Other features of a project are that it requires certain departments unlike the regular business departments. An example of a project would be if a large company such as Xfinity, wants to perform a nationwide background check on all of the employees who install home security in customer's homes. Xfinity needs to hire a vendor who performs background checks, contractors who will perform HR duties in order to obtain employee information, and possibly a consultant company who will be the middleman between the two. A project needs deliverables. A project is usually something that has not been done before in that company and may require research. Cost, time and performance are all requirements that a project needs to meet.

Non-project types of jobs include job shop, batch process and continuous process. Job shop is a form of work that has a beginning and end except that the tasks are standard and it may require different variables in order to produce results. A batch process is the production of a business that is shown in a certain amount. For example, Xfinity can run a batch report of all employees who install home security just by running a report based upon a code that relates to their region or state. A continuous process is the results of production that do not vary from day to day or there is a set rate. An example of a continuous process would be gas and oil companies.

Definition, planning, execution, and delivery are four phases that make up a project's life cycle. Effective project managers have to be able to deal with the contradictory nature of their work. The most important trait for a project manager to obtain is personal integrity. A project manager has the responsibility of managing other people and in order to be able to manage other people, they need to be able to manage themselves first. Personal integrity involves a firm belief of who you are and what you stand for. Out of these eight traits, I feel that being a system thinker is the second most important skill for a project manager. A systems thinker focuses on how individual parts of a project collaborating in order to produce the project results. A project manager should have the ability to manage different aspects of a project, instead of breaking down the project in little pieces. Exceptional communication is the next skill that is most important