Project

A project is any undertaking, carried out individually or collaboratively and possibly involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a particular goal.^[1]

An alternative view sees a project managerially as a sequence of events: a "set of interrelated tasks to be executed over a fixed period and within certain cost and other limitations".^[2]

A project may be a temporary (rather than a permanent) social system (work system), possibly staffed by teams (within or across organizations) to accomplish particular tasks under time constraints.^[3]^{: Section 1.2}^[4]

A project may form a part of wider programme management^[5]^: 1 or function as an ad hoc system.^[6]^: 922

Open-source software "projects" or artists' musical "projects" (for example) may lack defined team-membership, precise planning and/or time-limited durations.

^ Compare: "definition of project in English from the Oxford dictionary". English. Oxford Dictionaries. 2016. Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 6 September 2016. Definition of project project in English: [...] An individual or collaborative enterprise that is carefully planned to achieve a particular aim [...]
^ "What is a project? definition and meaning". BusinessDictionary.com. Retrieved 10 June 2018. project [:] [...] Planned set of interrelated tasks to be executed over a fixed period and within certain cost and other limitations.
^ Project Management Institute 2021.
^ Compare the somewhat circular definition: Manning, Stephan (2008). "Embedding projects in multiple contexts – a structuration perspective". International Journal of Project Management. 26: 35. doi:10.1016/j.ijproman.2007.08.012. S2CID 111365140. Retrieved 6 September 2016. Two theoretical propositions have been made: First, projects as temporary systems are characterized by certain structural properties, in particular task specifications, time constraints and team relations, that guide project activities.
^ Mittal 2009.
^ Kuijper 2013.

[1] Compare: "definition of project in English from the Oxford dictionary". English. Oxford Dictionaries. 2016. Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 6 September 2016. Definition of project project in English: [...] An individual or collaborative enterprise that is carefully planned to achieve a particular aim [...]

[2] "What is a project? definition and meaning". BusinessDictionary.com. Retrieved 10 June 2018. project [:] [...] Planned set of interrelated tasks to be executed over a fixed period and within certain cost and other limitations.

[FOOTNOTEProject_Management_Institute2021-3] Project Management Institute 2021.

[4] Compare the somewhat circular definition: Manning, Stephan (2008). "Embedding projects in multiple contexts – a structuration perspective". International Journal of Project Management. 26: 35. doi:10.1016/j.ijproman.2007.08.012. S2CID 111365140. Retrieved 6 September 2016. Two theoretical propositions have been made: First, projects as temporary systems are characterized by certain structural properties, in particular task specifications, time constraints and team relations, that guide project activities.

[FOOTNOTEMittal2009-5] Mittal 2009.

[FOOTNOTEKuijper2013-6] Kuijper 2013.

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