Operational and project activities, why and for what.
Article date
07 27 2026
Article Author
Olga Vsevolodova
Reading Time
3 minutes
Operational and project activities, why and for what.
In any company/enterprise, from time to time there is a need to implement some significant idea or task that affects the company's activities, its results, development, position in the industry and in the market, which, in essence, is one of the tasks on the way to achieving strategic goals.
And if management has developed and strengthened such a need, then there is a necessity for its implementation. This could be a task to launch a new product to the market, expand the network of representative offices and branches, optimize production, change technology, automate business processes, construct buildings and infrastructure facilities, etc. Each of these tasks requires implementation. And here the question arises: how and with what resources to handle this new task. There seem to be people, but they are busy with current tasks; there seem to be opportunities, but what is needed to achieve this goal is unclear. And then, with the mature development of the company, it becomes obvious that for activities not directly related to the execution of current routine ongoing tasks, separate resources are needed that will be specifically engaged in this — achieving the desired strategically important result within a limited period of time and with a limited budget. At the same time, at the start of such work, there is often no detailed description of the required result, evaluation criteria, and a huge number of uncertainties, but there are approximate requirements and constraints on time and resources.
Therefore, it is considered optimal to divide the company into operational and project activities.
Operational activity is the current activity of the company to ensure the functioning of the company to obtain planned benefits and fulfill contractual obligations.
Project activity — unknown what, unknown how, but within a specific timeframe and within budget.
And here, when there is a task but no specifics, there is a budget but there are deadlines, Project activity with a Project Manager arises. A Project Manager is like a conductor of a large diverse orchestra, who must systematize everything, put it on shelves, plan, while ensuring the team's performance, the quality of the future product, customer satisfaction, risk minimization, resource availability, interaction, stakeholder awareness, timely task completion, and at the same time resolving conflicts and problems on a daily basis.
If a company, for some reasons, most likely economic, decides not to separate these types of activities, then such an approach most often leads to disastrous results, because people overloaded with routine are not eager to engage in something new for the sake of some mythical strategic goals. And project activity itself consists entirely of uncertainties, new inputs, constantly changing conditions in which one must navigate and make decisions on a daily basis, and this is not suitable for everyone.
But the separation of project and operational activities is only the first step. Project activity must be structured, have a methodology, resources, authority, and tools. Project teams must be expert and interested in project goals, understanding their future prospects after project completion. Project results should become products that are in demand, supported, and developed. And all this should happen on an ongoing basis with analysis of economic effects and based on the company's strategic goals.
What this approach gives the company is a competitive advantage, when the high speed of changes in the external and internal environments is not a challenge and a problem for the company, but a current task of project activity. And when project activity is well-structured, successful project implementation is more the norm than a coincidence.
Conclusion:
Project activity — goals, uncertainty, deadlines, organization, monitoring, quality control, risk management.
For what? — To achieve strategic goals.
Why? — Only with this approach is the achievement of goals within time and resource constraints ensured.
In any company/enterprise, from time to time there is a need to implement some significant idea or task that affects the company's activities, its results, development, position in the industry and in the market, which, in essence, is one of the tasks on the way to achieving strategic goals.
And if management has developed and strengthened such a need, then there is a necessity for its implementation. This could be a task to launch a new product to the market, expand the network of representative offices and branches, optimize production, change technology, automate business processes, construct buildings and infrastructure facilities, etc. Each of these tasks requires implementation. And here the question arises: how and with what resources to handle this new task. There seem to be people, but they are busy with current tasks; there seem to be opportunities, but what is needed to achieve this goal is unclear. And then, with the mature development of the company, it becomes obvious that for activities not directly related to the execution of current routine ongoing tasks, separate resources are needed that will be specifically engaged in this — achieving the desired strategically important result within a limited period of time and with a limited budget. At the same time, at the start of such work, there is often no detailed description of the required result, evaluation criteria, and a huge number of uncertainties, but there are approximate requirements and constraints on time and resources.
Therefore, it is considered optimal to divide the company into operational and project activities.
Operational activity is the current activity of the company to ensure the functioning of the company to obtain planned benefits and fulfill contractual obligations.
Project activity — unknown what, unknown how, but within a specific timeframe and within budget.
And here, when there is a task but no specifics, there is a budget but there are deadlines, Project activity with a Project Manager arises. A Project Manager is like a conductor of a large diverse orchestra, who must systematize everything, put it on shelves, plan, while ensuring the team's performance, the quality of the future product, customer satisfaction, risk minimization, resource availability, interaction, stakeholder awareness, timely task completion, and at the same time resolving conflicts and problems on a daily basis.
If a company, for some reasons, most likely economic, decides not to separate these types of activities, then such an approach most often leads to disastrous results, because people overloaded with routine are not eager to engage in something new for the sake of some mythical strategic goals. And project activity itself consists entirely of uncertainties, new inputs, constantly changing conditions in which one must navigate and make decisions on a daily basis, and this is not suitable for everyone.
But the separation of project and operational activities is only the first step. Project activity must be structured, have a methodology, resources, authority, and tools. Project teams must be expert and interested in project goals, understanding their future prospects after project completion. Project results should become products that are in demand, supported, and developed. And all this should happen on an ongoing basis with analysis of economic effects and based on the company's strategic goals.
What this approach gives the company is a competitive advantage, when the high speed of changes in the external and internal environments is not a challenge and a problem for the company, but a current task of project activity. And when project activity is well-structured, successful project implementation is more the norm than a coincidence.
Conclusion:
Project activity — goals, uncertainty, deadlines, organization, monitoring, quality control, risk management.
For what? — To achieve strategic goals.
Why? — Only with this approach is the achievement of goals within time and resource constraints ensured.