Week 3 Assignment – Five Phases
Project Management Strategy
November 5, 2012
Five Phases of Project Management
Life cycle management is a business management approach that can be used by all types of businesses (and other organizations) to improve their products and thus the sustainability, employing the principles of project life cycle – the five phases of project management, which consists of, initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, and closure.
Iniation Phase
The first phase of a project is the initiation phase. During this phase, a business problem or opportunity is identified and a business case providing various solution options is defined. Once the recommended solution is approved, a project is initiated to deliver the
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This phase is the basis for the successful execution of the subsequent Executing phase. The planning phase is also the phase where, definition of work packages, detailed planning, clarification of responsibilities, risk analysis, and interfaces are defined. Project Planning marks the completion of the Project Plan –i.e., no work is left uncovered.
Execution Phase
Execution. This is where the project team does the work to crate the final deliverables of the project. It is the largest part of most projects and it goes far better if adequate time was taken to properly plan the work of the project (Reynolds, 2009). Resources' tasks are distributed and teams are informed of responsibilities. This is a good time to bring up important project related information (Project Plan Execution, 2009).
During the Execution phase, the project manager spends a considerable amount of time in communication making sure the resources (people, equipment and materials) are available to do their work and know what work needs to be completed. There is a significant amount of work in this phase, as a project manager works to juggle many aspects of the project. During this phase, you'll use all of your management skills to implement and manage cost and quality, risks and change, and several other factors (Reynolds, 2009).
Monitoring
The next phase of the Project management life cycle is monitoring. Successful Project Management Principles & Controls are summarized as three main methods;
Key outputs in this phase are the Projects Requirements definition, the capability and capacity assessment, project delivery strategy and the Project Management plan. The role of the construction/ project manager in this phase is, once project authorized, it is the project manager’s responsibility to implement the project. In terms of the Project Requirements Definition the, the project manager refines and details the project authorization and details what the project is required to accomplish in terms of the products/services the project will deliver and the scope of work that needs to be done. The project manager must provide project team members, corporate sponsors, and other stakeholders with a common understanding of what the project is all about, and is the authoritative reference document that defines the project.
Project management is short term; it has a beginning, an end, and has identified steps to take throughout the process. The steps of project management are as follows: proposal, initial investigation, detailed investigation, development and testing, trial, operation and closure, as well as, the evaluation. There are measurable benefits to using project management within an organization for certain key objectives or processes that need
The first step will be to look at the goals of the project, and align them with the mission of the company. Systematically, the project will be broken into phases: Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, Coordinating, Budgeting, Evaluating, and Reporting. Each phase will be further broken down into tasks and placed into a work breakdown structure. From this view, one is able to see the entire project duration, critical path, and milestones. The Planning phase is integral in any project. This phase of the project defines project objectives, mission, goals, and approach. In addition, outlining key elements of the project is critical: performance expectations, risks analysis, and contingency plans. However, after completion
2. Recommends phases, processes, tools, and techniques for supporting an IT project, must be flexible and include best practices learned from experiences over time
The project life cycle consists of the conceptualization phase, the planning phase, the execution phase, and the termination phase.
Project management is managing the work to develop and innovate or even change within an existing operation. There are five steps in this management: Initiating the project, Planning and controlling all activities to keep the project on schedule, executing every phase of the projects process, monitoring/ controlling reviewing and regulating the progress and performance of all phases of the project, Closing process this is where all processes are finalized and completed to officially close the project out.
Project monitoring is of great importance in project planning. Project monitoring usually provides information which is of importance in, determining if the projects inputs are all used up, identifying problems facing the society, ensuring that people working on the project attend to their duties and also make it easy to use strategies
The project execution phase of the Project Management Lifecycle is exactly where the work gets done. This is the third phase of the project management life cycle, after Initiation and planning phase project enter into execution phase. In this phase literally project get start to build. Whether it is the building house of a project, changing a process project, or anything kind of project in between, where we can say that the work has begun.
Several adaptations to the traditional approaches like agile, interactive, phased, extreme, etc have been made but each will be expected to meet the requirements of the project objectives, timeline, resources, and deliveries of the stakeholders. Other industry standard certifications like ISO9000 and regulations like the Sarbanes-Oxley have also influenced methodologies and processes used by several organisations (Kerzner, 2003). Generally, managing projects should involved five major process which include the project initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and controlling, and then project closing. See Fig. 2 below.
c After the acceptance of all stakeholders is achieved, actual growth begins and a project management methodology needs to be selected based on the major areas seeking improvement. A project tracking and monitoring system has to be in place for improved estimation of project life-cycle.
During the project initiation phase, I can work collaboratively with the project sponsor in the development of project charter and lead up to the formal authorisation of the project/ new phase. From the sponsor’s project SOW (Business need, product scope), Business case etc., I can identify measurable project objectives, high level requirements, risks, summary milestones and budget and approval authorities. The key deliverables in this phase are project charter and stakeholder lists.
This process is critically important because it will lead to a successful project. Other than that, the process in the project management must be followed by organization and top management to ensure that their project is on the right path.
In order to achieve their business objective, project management and the used methodology are key factor which will be responsible for the success or failure of this project.
Monitoring – According to my knowledge monitoring by project manager deals with the monitoring of the progress of the project and that can be achieved by checking the Daily Progress Reports prepared by site in charges and concerned department in charges every day.
Project management is a series of steps taken in sequence to manage a project through all phases from conception to completion. The steps are documented in a strategic plan. The plan is used to ensure that all parties are working towards a common goal. Project management requires applying knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to specific activities in accordance with established standards and guidelines. There are five basic functions of project management: planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling. Basic activities of project management include: identifying project requirements to define the outcomes; addressing various needs, concerns and expectations of others; setting up, maintaining and carrying out communications; managing others; creating project deliverables; and balancing competing project constraints.