Project Management

Project Management Chapter 2 Project Management Cycle

Some more terms……. • Project life cycle • Phases of a project • Phase exits or stage gates • Stakeholders

Project Life Cycle • Project management is about acquiring or achieving the project goal • Most projects need to be broken down into a logical sequence of ‘phases’, known as the project life cycle.

Phases of a Project • Organisations normally break a project down into several project phases for better management control • Collectively, the project phases are known as the project life cycle • Each project phase is marked by the completion of one or more deliverables. How do you eat an elephant?

Stage Gates • Each phase ends with a review of the deliverables and performance in order to detect and correct errors and to decide if the project should continue into the next phase. • The phase end reviews are often called phase exits or stage gates.

4 Phases of a Project • project initiation • project planning • project execution and control • project closure Collectively these four phases represent the ‘project life cycle.’

4 Phases of a Project Project life cycle

Project Life Cycle Initiation Planning Execution and control Closing Cost and staffing level time

Initiation Planning Execution and control Closing Cost and staffing level time Project Life Cycle - Ideal v Typical

Exercise What does the chart tell you about typical v ideal project life cycle?

Initiation Planning Execution and control Closing Cost and staffing level time Answer • Many projects don’t get adequate resources in the early stages • Low resourcing in the planning stage results in delays in completing the project on time, to the right quality and within the budget

Allocation of time and money……. Initiation 10% Initiation 20% Planning Planning 25% 30% Implementation Implementation 60% 40% Closing Closing 10% 5% Successful projects Typical

Sydney Opera House • Good or bad project?

Sydney Opera House • Planned - 1959 to 1963 (4 years) - $7 million • Actual - 1959 to 1973 (14 years) - $100 million

Project Life Cycle (PLC) as a Tool • PLC is a management tool to make it easier to manage the project sequence • The choice of phases vary from industry to industry and the PLC will vary to suit the needs of the participants • Different project managers choose different PLC’s, depending on the nature of the task i.e. Engineering, software development etc.

Project Life Cycle (PLC) Uses • To maintain an overview of the project • To help identify tasks • Break the project into manageable parts • Integrate activities (bite sized chunks) • To help with the timing of decisions (go/no go) • To guide the level of contingency needed

Common characteristics of PLCs • Cost and staff levels low in early phases of the project • Probability of failure, risk and uncertainty are highest in the early phases • Ability of stakeholders to influence the outcome of the project are highest at the beginning of the project • Although many projects have similar phase names, with similar work requirements, few are identical • Sub-projects within a project also have distinct project life cycles

Project Stakeholders • Project stakeholders are individuals and/ or organisations who are actively involved in the project and whose interests are directly affected by the outcome of the project

Key Stakeholders • the project advocate or champion (promotes the idea) • the project sponsor (for funding) • the project manager (for the execution) • customer or client (the user) • the performing organisation (the team) • Other categories of stakeholders can be identified such as internal and external clients, team members & families, suppliers, contractors, Government etc.

The Project Management Dilemma Managing stakeholders expectations can be difficult because of the sometimes widely different objectives of the various groups of stakeholders

Your understanding of the project needs to match stakeholders’ understanding. Work to make sure it is what you end up with!

Stakeholders Identification • Let’s take you completing this course as a project (some people might argue that it isn’t a project – but it is – it has a start and an end date, a clear goal and some phases to it • Who are all the stakeholders?

Stakeholder Cycle

More information • Chapter 2 – Project Management for Success, Knipe et al

For the next session – homework • Think about a project you have undertaken – with your studies, at home, at work or anywhere else • Identify the phases of the project - did you follow each of the 4 phases? • Identify the stakeholders for that project

Common characteristics of PLCs • Cost and staff levels low in early phases of the project • Probability of failure, risk and uncertainty are highest in the early phases • Ability of stakeholders to influence the outcome of the project are highest at the beginning of the project • Although many projects have similar phase names, with similar work requirements, few are identical • Sub-projects within a project also have distinct project life cycles

In class ‘Mock Test’ 1. What is meant by the term ‘deliverable’? 2. What is meant by the term ‘stakeholder’? 3. List the 4 different phases of a project life cycle 4. List at least 3 benefits from using project life cycle to manage projects

In class ‘Mock Test’ 1. What is meant by the term ‘deliverable’? • an output from a stage of the project 2. What is meant by the term ‘stakeholder’? • individuals and/ or organisations who are actively involved in the project and whose interests are directly affected by the outcome of the project 3. What is meant by the term ‘contingency’? • The buffer or safety margin built into a project

In class ‘Mock Test’ 3. List the 4 different phases of a project life cycle • project initiation • project planning • project execution and control • project closure 4. List at least 3 benefits from using project life cycle to manage projects • To maintain an overview of the project • To help identify tasks • Break the project into manageable parts • Integrate activities (bite sized chunks) • To help with the timing of decisions (go/no go) • To guide the level of contingency needed

Project Management