Lesson 1 · about 10 minutes

Project or routine?

To lead a project, you must first see one. Not all work is a project. Some work is routine, and it needs different care.

Your win today

You tell a project from routine work. And you ask the one question every project needs: “When is it done?”

1. What is a project?

The PMBOK Guide (6th and 7th editions) defines a project as “a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.” — cited in Oguz, 1.2 Project Characteristics

The PMBOK Guide is the standard book of the Project Management Institute (PMI), the biggest project management association. It says a project is “a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.”

In plain words:

endeavor: work that people do together.
temporary: it has a start and an end.
unique: it makes something new, something that was not there before.

“Projects can last minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, or years.” — Oguz, 1.2.2

Temporary does not mean short. A project can last years. Temporary only means: there is an end.

“Constructing a replica of a building should also be considered a project, although the same architectural blueprints are used.” — Oguz, 1.2.1

Unique does not mean never seen before. A copy of a building, with the same plans, is still a project. It is a new building, in a new place, with its own plan.

2. The opposite: operations

“Operations are ongoing and repetitive. They involve continuous work without an ending date wherein the same processes are repeated to produce the same results.” — Oguz, 1.2.2

Work that repeats, again and again, with no end, is operations. In plain words: routine work.

A project…	Operations…
has an end	has no end
makes something new	make the same result again
changes things	keep things running

“The purpose of operations is to keep the organization functioning, while the purpose of a project is to meet its strategic goals and create a change in the organization.” — Oguz, 1.2.2

Both are good and both are needed. But they need different care. A project needs a goal and a plan. Operations need a good routine.

3. One thing, two lives

Oguz gives an example. A company builds a new payroll system: that is a project. When it is ready, the payroll team uses it every month to pay salaries: that is operations. Later, a big change to the system is a new project.

One system, two lives. Building it is a project. Using it and keeping it running is operations. A big change later is a new project.

“Whenever there is a new need to modify the system or purchase a new one, this should be treated as a new project.” — Oguz, 1.2.1

probat8 works the same way. A new report screen is built: project. Then people use it every season, and the team keeps it running: operations.

4. The question every project needs

“Projects are completed when the project goals are achieved or it’s determined that the project is no longer viable.” — Oguz, 1.2

A project ends when its goal is reached. So a project needs a goal that you can check.

Sometimes someone says “this is a project”, but nobody can say when it is done. Then it has no end, so it is not temporary. It slowly turns into routine work that nobody planned.

That is why a good lead asks first: “When is it done?”

Weak “done”	Strong “done”
Done when the export is better.	Done when authorities can download the new export from the app.
Done when the app is faster.	Done when the main page loads in under 2 seconds.

A strong “done” is a result that you can check: yes or no.

5. Practice

Project or operations? “Move the app to a new server before the old one is switched off in March.”

It makes a change and it ends when the app runs on the new server. Temporary and unique: a project.

Project or operations? “Install the security updates every month.”

Same work, same result, every month, with no end. That is operations.

Project or operations? “Build a new export for authorities, ready before the next bat season.”

A new result with a clear end. Project. When it is done, using it becomes operations.

Project or operations? “Answer support e-mails from users.”

It repeats and never ends. It keeps things running: operations.

Project or operations? “Write the handbook for the new version of the app.”

A new document that was not there before, and it is finished one day. Project.

A project runs for two years. Is it still temporary?

Temporary means: it has an end. Not: it is short. Projects can last “minutes … or years”.

The new export is done and accepted. Now users use it every week. What is that weekly use?

The project ended when the export was accepted. Using it and keeping it running is operations, like the payroll example.

When is a project done?

Done = goal reached. A deadline is the planned end, but the date alone does not make the work done. A project can also stop early, when it is clear that the goal cannot be reached.

Your team lead says: “Make the app faster. That is a project.” What do you ask first?

“Faster” has no end: you could go on forever. Ask for a result you can check, like “the main page loads in under 2 seconds”. Then the project has an end.

Type the two features that make work a project (two words).

Temporary (it has an end) and unique (it makes something new).

6. Your real-world task

At work, 5 minutes

Look at what the probat8 team works on this week: tickets, a board, or the chat.
Find one piece of work that is a project, and one that is operations.
For the project, write one line: “Done when …”. Use a result that you can check.
If nobody can say when it is done, write that down too. That is a useful finding.

Tell Claude the two pieces of work and your “Done when …” line. The next lesson builds on it.

Read this (10 minutes)

Abdullah Oguz, “1.2 Project Characteristics”, from the free textbook Project Management, 2nd Edition. Short and clear, with the payroll example from this lesson and more.

Want more? Adrienne Watt’s free textbook Project Management, Chapter 2: “Project Management Overview”.

Questions?

Something unclear? Ask Claude, your project management teacher. No question is too small.