From the course: Project Management Foundations: Small Projects

How do you identify a small project?

From the course: Project Management Foundations: Small Projects

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How do you identify a small project?

- [Narrator] Projects of different sizes need different amounts of management, communication, and documentation. Let's look at questions you can ask to determine whether your project is small. The first question is: What is the project supposed to achieve? Break down the project purpose into objectives. A project can be considered small if it has a single objective, or at most, three objectives. The sample project has two objectives: acquire office space that will support the business for at least five years, and set up technology that will work for five years. On the other hand, constructing a multistory building could have many objectives, like reflecting a company's culture, being LEED-certified, supporting multiple use, and so on. Another question is: Are the results you need to deliver straightforward, and is it easy to tell if you've delivered what you're supposed to? Third, ask how many people or skills are needed. The more people you need, the more effort it is to procure and manage resources, and the more carefully you have to choreograph the work. A rule of thumb for a team on a small project is less than 10 people. You can also ask how many decision makers and stakeholders there are. Projects are much simpler if only one person makes decisions. You may have heard the saying, too many cooks spoil the broth. In small projects, too many decision makers complicate the project. Speaking of complexity, that's a characteristic that can turn a small project into one that feels much larger. Situations such as tasks relying on tasks and other projects, several people working together, people working in different locations, and so on, can push your project out of the small category. It might come as a surprise that budget is not a good guide for project size. That's because costs can vary depending on more than effort. For instance, the cost of materials or other expenses. For practice, answer these questions about your own projects to determine whether they qualify as small.

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