Work is for tasks, the total labor or “person-hours” required (in terms of minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months) for all resources to complete a task. For assignments, the amount of work to which a resource is assigned for a specific task. For resources, the total amount of work to which a resource is assigned for all tasks. Work is different from task duration. For example, a resource may require 32 hours of work to complete a task, but the task may be scheduled with a duration of 2 days. This indicates that more than one resource needs to be assigned to this task, namely two. Working 8 hours a day on the task, two people would complete the task in 2 days. (Wimincken.com PM Glossary)
Other Definitions
Work – The total number of hours, people or effort required to complete a task .(Wideman Comparative Glossary of Common Project Management Terms v2.1 )
Work – The effort spent on an activity or task. Effort x Time . Editor’s Note: Scientifically speaking, “effort or work = force x distance”. However, ‘work’ is often used in the sense of ‘work done’ as in ‘ work-to-date ‘ (spent) on an activity or task . Hence: effort spent over a period of time . (Wideman Comparative Glossary of Common Project Management Terms v2.1 )
