A project is an organized effort to (partially) build, improve, modify, integrate, consolidate, or retire one or more elements of a system within a defined scope. Projects exist for a discrete period of time or expenditure of resources; they are terminated when their goals have been achieved, when they lose their sponsorship, when it becomes evident that desired outcomes can no longer be achieved, or when their environment changes in a way to make the project no longer worthwhile or possible.

Projects have goals and requirements (written, spoken, or implied), which usually include expectations about a set of activities that are funded by the project. As these activities are performed, team members are typically expected to competently adhere to a system of governance.