When it is required to classify or divide something into more understandable or better definable parts, there are different criteria; for example by its components, its stages, its characteristics, among others.
In this writing, my proposal is to show a classification that encompasses all the jobs that are executed in an organization and the classification carried out is due to its distinctive characterization, like this:
- OperationsProjectsStrategic and Prospective Works
I have exposed this classification in different instances (business trainings, academia, colloquia) and I have been able to reaffirm that everything that is done in an organization is being covered, either in the production of a good or a service.
Operations
They are efforts aimed at carrying out activities that are carried out day by day in an organization, that is, each cycle is repeated from time to time; are those directly involved in the continuous production of the good or service. Its differential characteristics are:
- Cyclical By phases - No evolution Permanent
Projects
They are a type of work that is executed through a series of interrelated and sequential activities to achieve a unique result, within a perfectly defined beginning and end. Its differential characteristics are:
- Unique Evolutionary - by stages Temporary
Strategic and Prospective Works
They are the efforts related to organizational thought and philosophy and have characteristics of the two previous types of work, only that their periods between planning and execution are longer.
For example, while the cycle of an operation can last days, weeks or months, the cycle of organizational strategies is between 1 and 5 years. A project in an organization is carried out in up to 2 years, a prospective thinking work can be a project whose closure is after 5 years of having been raised and planned.
It seems relevant to mention that the three types of jobs share that:
- They have an objective, they look for a result They have a person in charge They consume resources (human, physical, technological and financial) They are done in a time and space They have restrictions or a quality framework They comply with the Plan, Execute, Evaluate process and Improve - PEEM (PDCA, of the acronym in English of Plan, Do, Check, Act)
Finally, it is key to mention that the prospective and strategic works are the support of the organization, to fulfill the reason for being (mission) and the visualization of it in the future (vision); that are manifested through operations and projects, that is, there should be neither operations nor projects that do not point at least to a strategy or a prospective scenario of the organization.
I represent the above by the following scheme.
