You may select projects or have them selected for you. Personal projects are usually done at your own discretion, allowing you to select the projects you undertake. This might include planning a vacation or remodeling your home. A business project may also be self-initiated. For example, if you own your own business or you simply decide your workload is slow, you can take the next two weeks to rearrange your office for maximum efficiency.

A project at work, however, is often the result of your boss or supervisor selecting you to head up a specific assignment. In some instances, you may have made a suggestion about how to run the company more efficiently. For example, maybe you proposed a better way to handle sales strategies and you find yourself on the verge of a project. In other instances, the company simply needed someone to handle a task and, tag — you're it.

Another type of project arises out of a common need. This could be a community need or a project to meet the growing needs of a particular group. Organizations, associations, and various charitable groups are constantly engaged in planning and carrying out projects that benefit others. A severe storm might elicit the need for a community effort to clean up and restore a neighborhood. You might volunteer your time and abilities to oversee a fund-raising project initiated by your daughter's school.

There are also projects that fall in your lap. Your daughter is getting married, and you're the only one who can plan the wedding. Your boss assigned Fred Flintstone to plan the upcoming company picnic, but Fred suddenly quit the company and ran off with Wilma to Rock Vegas. Guess who's in charge now?

No matter how the project comes to you, you will still need to have a specific end result in sight. That clear goal is what you will work toward. You will also need to plan and set a schedule, stay within your budget, and utilize your resources — whether the project consists of your two children helping you build a patio or a team of twenty-five so-called experts helping you develop a formula that prevents wrinkles. The size, cost, and manpower will vary, but the basics of assessing the project requirements, setting the wheels in motion, and having the resources to get to your desired conclusion on time are still the same.