Subtitles of the Movie

By now we've defined a project and its primary characteristics. This movie will clarify the difference between a project and Operational Work; two separate things that are often confused as one. We'll start by defining what is considered operations work, since you already know the definition of a project. Operations refers to work that is ongoing versus temporary and repetitive, versus unique. While the purpose of a project is to achieve its objective and end, the purpose of Operational Work is to sustain the business. They seem to be opposites and so you may now be wondering how is it possible to confuse the two? But it is quite common, mostly because they do share characteristics. The PMBOK Guide does a great job at laying out these shared characteristics. They both have the following in common: they are performed by people, they are constrained by limited resources and they are planned, executed and controlled. Let's end by reviewing the opposing characteristics. A project is temporary, unique and it ends, while Operational Work is ongoing, repetitive and is meant to sustain a business. The reason we've gone through this in such detail is that you may see this come up on the exam in a scenario where someone is attempting to manage ongoing work as a project. So make sure you are clean between the two. And that wraps up the differences between a project and Operational Work.