What is a project? Four frameworks, four answers

One of the seemingly simplest questions in project management —what is a project?— reveals, when comparing the main frameworks, conceptual differences with significant practical implications.

^{The PMBOK Guide®} (PMI, 2021/2025) defines a project as ‘a temporary endeavour within a unique context, undertaken to create value’. The shift from the seventh to the eighth edition is significant: the focus moves from processes and deliverables towards outcomes and the actual value generated, underpinned by twelve principles and eight performance domains¹.

PRINCE2® (AXELOS, 2023) takes a radically different approach: it defines a project as ‘a temporary organisation set up for the purpose of producing one or more outputs in accordance with a specific business case’*^². A project is not merely an effort; it is an ad hoc organisational structure. The business case is mandatory and must remain valid throughout the entire project lifecycle.

The PM² methodology (European Commission, 2021) combines the best of both worlds: it shares with the PMBOK the time-bound nature and the singularity of the outcome, but adds the requirement for a dedicated organisational structure and a specific management approach, in line with the public administration contexts for which it was designed³.

P3.express (Rad & Turley, 2022) offers the most concise definition: ‘a temporary initiative aimed at achieving a predetermined outcome’⁴. Its value lies not in conceptual complexity, but in operational simplicity, geared towards small and medium-sized projects.

The comparative analysis yields a clear conclusion: temporality is the only universal feature present in all four definitions. Everything else—uniqueness, structure, Business Case, value—is a methodological choice.

However, none of these definitions explicitly addresses two dimensions that are critical in practice.

• The first is uniqueness: although only the PMBOK and PM² explicitly mention it, every project inherently involves a one-off outcome, shaped by its context, its stakeholders and the timing. However, it is also necessary to consider that projects may resemble others that have already been carried out and, therefore, should capitalise on the lessons learnt from them.
• The second, and perhaps the most important factor in understanding the true purpose of a project, is the organisational change brought about by the deliverables within the organisations that receive them. A project does not end when the product or service is delivered; it ends—or rather, its impact continues—when those deliverables are adopted, utilised and transform the processes, capabilities or behaviours of those who receive them⁵. It is precisely through this change that value is realised.

This perspective, which is discussed at length in the literature on Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) and in the organisational change management (OCM) approach, positions the project manager not only as the person responsible for delivery, but also as a facilitator of change who ensures that deliverables generate real and sustained value⁶.

References

¹ PMI. PMBOK® Guide, 7.ª ed., p. 4. PMI, 2021.

² AXELOS. PRINCE2® 7, p. 13. AXELOS Limited, 2023.

³ European Commission. PM² Project Management Methodology Guide – Open Edition, v3.0.1, p. 15. Publications Office of the EU, 2021.

⁴ Rad, N.K. & Turley, F. P3.express Project Management System, v1.0, Concept 1. P3.express, 2022.

⁵ AXELOS. Managing Successful Programmes (MSP®), 5.ª ed. AXELOS Limited, 2020. The MSP framework explicitly distinguishes between outputs (deliverables), outcomes (changes in behaviour or capacity) and benefits (measurable value derived from the change).

⁶ PROSCI. Change Management and Project Management: Better Together. Prosci Inc., 2021. Available at: prosci.com.