Project Uniqueness

Abstract

Projects are per definition unique. According to the worldwide federation of national standards bodies, International Organization for Standardization (ISO), a project is defined as:

“A project consists of a unique set of processes consisting of coordinated and controlled activities with start and end dates, performed to achieve project objectives…”.

Furthermore, the Project Management Institute (PMI) defines a project as:

“A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service”.

Likewise, many other definitions state that projects are unique, and must have a degree of novelty in terms of time, team carrying out the task or product being provided. But since some project are more unique than others, how should the project manager decide whether to address and handle the task as a project or as a business activity? In other words, how does one distinguish between what is a project and what is not, subject to the uniqueness? This article strive to answer these questions based on a project management methode described in Maylor, H “Project Management”. In short the "Volume vs Variety" of processes in a project are considered in order to thoroughly define the uniqueness of a that particular project. A further discussion is thus conducted in this article subject to the benefits and challenges of having a unique project vs. a non-unique project. Furthermore, the article briefly considers the uniqueness of programs and portfolios, and how they are different to the uniqueness of projects.

Annotated bibliography

Harvey Maylor, Project Management, 4th Edition, 2010, page 7-9.