successful project management - Commonwealth of Learning

Organizations perform work either as operations or as projects. The shared
characteristics of projects and operations are that both are:
• performed by people;
• constrained by limited resources; and
• planned, executed and controlled.
On the other hand operations and projects differ as follows:
• Operations are ongoing and repetitive.
• Projects are temporary and unique
“A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or
service.”
It is temporary because it has a definite beginning and end. It is unique because it is
different in some distinguishing characteristics.
Additionally, managing a given distance education project is faced with challenges.
Meeting or exceeding stakeholder needs and expectations invariably involves
balancing competing demands among which are:
• scope, time, cost, and quality;
• stakeholders with differing needs and expectations; and
• identified needs and unidentified expectations - client relations challenge.
The core of project management can, therefore, be summed up in Figure 7A thus
Figure 7A The Core of Project Management
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