What is a Project?

Definition of a Project

  • A sequence of tasks:

    • Planned from beginning to end

    • Bounded by time, resources, & specific results

  • Defined outcomes and "deliverables"

  • Has a deadline and a budget

    • Limits number of people, supplies, and capital

A project is a structured, goal-driven effort with clear boundaries and constraints. Outlining these elements clearly from the start is crucial for success.

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Tasks vs. Projects

Routine tasks:

  • Responding to email

  • Making coffee

  • Hooking up a printer

Projects:

  • Producing a customer newsletter

  • Catering a party

  • Writing a book

  • Implementing a computer network

Tasks are often short-term and repetitive, while projects are complex, unique, and require strategic planning and coordination.

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Five Features of a Project

  1. Defined beginning, end, schedule, and approach

  2. Use of specific resources allocated to the work

  3. Achievement of defined goals (time, cost, performance/quality)

  4. Follows a planned, organized approach

  5. Involves a team of people

A successful project incorporates all five of these features and leads to a defined outcome that meets the objectives.

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Resources and Constraints

A project’s success depends on effective management of:

  • Time

  • People

  • Money

  • Equipment

  • Facilities

Managing resources efficiently is a key factor in ensuring that the project meets its objectives while staying within constraints.

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What Makes a Project Successful?

  • Organized and well-planned approach

  • Commitment from the project team

  • Balancing:

    • Time

    • Resources

    • Results

    • Customer satisfaction

Success in project management comes from maintaining balance between these factors while adapting to changing conditions.

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What is a Program?

  • A recurring or ongoing project

  • Predictable and repeatable in nature

  • Each cycle has a new plan, new resources, and a new end result

While a project is a one-time effort, a program represents a recurring, systematic process that requires fresh planning and resources each time.

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What is a Milestone?

A milestone in project management is a significant event or point in the project timeline that marks the completion of a major phase or task. Milestones are often used to:

  • Measure progress: By marking important points, you can assess if the project is on schedule.

  • Highlight deadlines: Milestones represent key deadlines that need to be met to move the project forward.

  • Reflect achievements: Reaching a milestone signifies the completion of a critical part of the project.

For example, in a software project, some common milestones might include:

  • Requirements completion: All necessary features and requirements for the software have been defined.

  • Design approval: The software’s architecture and design are approved for development.

  • First working prototype: A functional version of the software, even if limited in scope, is built and can be demonstrated.

Milestones vs. Releases in Software Management

In software project management, milestones and releases serve different purposes:

Milestone

  • Purpose: A milestone marks the completion of a major phase or achievement, used for internal project tracking.

  • Focus: Milestones are about tracking progress within the development cycle (such as completing a design or testing phase).

  • Time-bound: They are often tied to specific dates but do not necessarily result in a product being delivered to users.

  • Example: Reaching the end of the "feature development" phase or completing "beta testing."

Release

  • Purpose: A release refers to a version of the software made available to the end-user, containing a set of completed features or fixes.

  • Focus: Releases are focused on delivering usable software to stakeholders or customers.

  • Versioning: Releases are typically versioned (e.g., v1.0, v2.0) and include new features, bug fixes, or performance improvements.

  • Example: Releasing "Version 1.0" of the software for deployment to users.

Key Differences Between Milestones and Releases

Aspect

Milestone

Release

Purpose

Track progress and mark significant internal project achievements, such as completing algorithm development or model validation.

Deliver a working version of the scientific software to researchers, engineers, or end-users.

Timing

Usually tied to internal deadlines like completing a computational model, feature development, or a simulation test.

Tied to external deadlines, often aligned with conference submissions, publication timelines, or public availability.

Visibility

Mainly visible to internal teams (e.g., scientific programmers, computational researchers, project managers).

Visible to external stakeholders such as collaborating researchers, funding agencies, or general users.

Scope

Focuses on completing scientific tasks like algorithm refinement, numerical validation, or model integration.

Focuses on delivering fully functional, validated, and potentially published software versions with new algorithms or models.

Deliverable

Internal progress tracked, like a working prototype or a validated computational model, but not yet released to the broader scientific community.

A complete software release that includes new algorithms, models, or simulation capabilities made available to users for research or production use.

Duration

No specific duration, marks key points in the research and development process (e.g., completion of the first draft of a new simulation method).

Includes a collection of features, bug fixes, or optimizations that have been developed and tested over a defined period.

Example

Completing the validation of a new fluid dynamics solver or a complex climate model integration.

Release of a new version of the scientific software (e.g., "Version 2.0" with enhanced parallelization capabilities, or new solvers) for use by other researchers.

Summary

  • A milestone is an internal progress marker that helps project teams track major achievements, while a release represents a specific version of the software delivered to users.

  • In the context of software management, milestones help guide the project through its phases, while releases are tied to delivering finished products or features to the customer or end-users.