Before we dive into project management full tilt, I had better provide a definition for the word "project."

The classic Project Management Institute (PMI) definition says that a project is a temporary endeavor which has a specific goal and constrained resources.

Translated, this means that first and foremost, projects have a beginning, a middle, and (thankfully) an end. If you’re working on a project which has morphed from project work directly into support, then it’s no longer a project and you need to work with your team to officially end the project and begin the maintenance phase. The fact that projects have a specific goal means that we can recognize when the project is complete. Finally, we add the part about constrained resources because that’s one of the things that makes projects difficult. If we have all the money and time in the world, then there are few challenges that need to be managed.

I like to add one more aspect to the definition: that all projects are characterized by uncertainty. If we’ve done it before, then it isn’t a project. Thus, project management is about managing that uncertainty so that we can move forward and make good decisions.