Welcome to our course on Project Management. This course is designed keeping in mind the PMP examination.

So all of you, attempting to give your PMP examination will directly benefit from this course and can take the examination with ease. Now let us consider a scenario, The VP of marketing approaches you with a fabulous idea. He wants to set up kiosks in local grocery stores as mini-offices. These offices will offer customers the ability to sign up for new wireless phone services, make their wireless phone bill payments, and purchase equipment and accessories. He believes that the exposure in grocery stores will increase awareness of the companys offerings. He wants the new kiosks in place in 12 stores by the end of next year. The best news is he has assigned you to head up this project. Now the Question, is it a Project? Projects are of temporary in nature; have definite start and end dates; produce a unique product, service, or result; and are completed when their goals and objectives have been met and signed off by the stakeholders. When considering whether you have a project on your hands, you need to keep some issues in mind. First, is it a project or an ongoing operation? Next, if it is a project, who are the stakeholders? And third, what characteristics distinguish this endeavor as a project? Projects versus Operations Projects are temporary in nature and have definitive start dates and definitive end dates. The project is completed when its goals and objectives are accomplished. Sometimes projects end when its determined that the goals and objectives cannot be accomplished or when the product, service, or result of the project is no longer needed and the project is canceled. Projects exist to bring about a product, service, or result that didnt exist before. This might include tangible products, services such as consulting or project management, and business functions that support the organization. Projects might also produce a result or an outcome, such as a document that details the findings of a research study. In this sense, a project is unique.