The Project Management Life Cycle

Introduction

Learn how to adopt an IT Project Management Framework for IT project management. The IT Project Management Framework is a collection of concepts, methods and tools that helps project teams to manage project lifecycle, document project and manage project documents and artifacts.

What is IT Project Management Framework?

A framework is a set of tools put together to help you accomplish your job faster and better. The IT Project Management Framework is a collection of concepts, methods and tools that helps project teams to achieve the followings.

• Manage project lifecycle: To walk the team through the journey of an IT project, from project identification, to project initiation, planning, execution, and closeout, phase-by-phase, step-by-step. Activities will be performed throughout the lifecycle to address the management needs of the project.
• Document project: Documents are produced as outputs of the lifecycle activities. The framework provides the guidelines, templates and tools in developing these documents.
• Manage project documents and artifacts: The framework comes with a conceptual repository that acts as a holding area of project documents and assets, providing the team a centralized place for document retrieval.

The three major components

There are three components that shape and support the IT Project Management Framework. They are: (1) Project Management Lifecycle, (2) Project Management Repository, and (3) Project Complexity Classification.

Project Management Lifecycle

The Project Management Lifecycle, which defines an IT project’s life cycle as five distinct phases. Each IT project progresses through the five phases, completing the activities required, and producing a set of related document outputs.

Here is a quick walkthrough of the five phases.

• The first phase is the Identification phase. Its primary objective is to determine whether a proposed IT project should be undertaken. Activities of this phase involve identifying solutions and providing recommendation based on the analysis of cost and benefits for each possible solution. By the end of this phase, a project proposal will be developed. A project sponsor evaluates it and determines if the project should be undertaken. Projects receiving formal sponsorship progress to the next phase of the life cycle.
• The Initiation phase begins with the performing organization appoints a Project Manager to lead the project team and manage the project. The project manager defines the project scope and develop the project charter, which will be approved by approving authority and project sponsor. The signatures formally empower the project manager to expend resources on the project and begin the Planning phase of the project.
• In the Planning phase, various planning activities will be conducted, which includes the planning of work, schedule, budget, resources, staffing need, and etc. Those planning activities are performed to ensure the project will be completed on time and within budget.
• In the Execution and Control phase, the project team completes the development activities identified in the planning phase to produce the project deliverables required. This phase ends by having the deliverables accepted by the users and the project sponsor.
• Phase five, the Closeout phase. This phase involves discussing and documenting the lessons learned from the project, as well as to plan and conduct transferal activities.

Project Management Repository

Throughout the Project Management Lifecycle, activities will be performed, the information collected will be organized and output as documents. The Project Management Repository is a holding area for these documents and other resources produced and required during project life cycle. It provides a common place for project team to locate deliverables and re-usable assets.

The Project Management Repository comprises a number of containers for holding different kinds of project documents and artifacts, known as drawers. For instances there are five drawers to hold the documents produced by the five phases of the Project Management Lifecycle.

There are also drawers that stores the different kinds of procurement documents such as contracts, purchase orders and any statement of work. Resources that help the team in executing their duties as required can be put under drawers like Policies, Standards, Procedures, and etc.

Project Complexity Classification

There is no one-size-fit-all when it comes to project management. Having a clear understanding of your project’s complexity helps determines what activities and deliverables are required for managing the project.

The IT Project Management Framework provides a Project Complexity Questionnaire that helps you determine your project’s complexity. By answering a set of complexity questions, a complexity score will be obtained, which determines the classification of project complexity.

Project Lifecycle

The initiation phase

The initiation phase is the first phase of the entire project management life cycle. The goal of this phase is to define the project, develop a business case for it, and get it approved. During this time, the project manager may do any of the following:

• Perform a feasibility study
• Create a project charter
• Identify key stakeholders
• Select project management tools

By the end of this phase, the project manager should have a high-level understanding of the project’s purpose, goals, requirements, and risks.

The planning phase

The planning phase is critical to creating a project roadmap the entire team can follow. This is where all of the details and goals are outlines in order to meet the requirements laid out by the organization.

During this phase, project managers will typically:

• Create a project plan
• Develop a resource plan
• Define goals and performance measures
• Communicate roles and responsibilities to team members
• Build out workflows
• Anticipate risks and create contingency plans

The next phase (execution) typically begins with a project kickoff meeting where the project manager outlines the project objectives to all stakeholders involved. Before that meeting happens, it is crucial for the project manager to do the following:

1. Establish goals and deliverables
2. Identify your team members and assign tasks
3. Develop a draft project plan
4. Define which metrics will be used to measure project success
5. Identify and prepare for potential roadblocks
6. Establish logistics and schedules for team communication
7. Choose your preferred project management methodology
8. Ensure your team has access and knowledge of the relevant tools
9. Schedule the meeting
10. Set the agenda and prepare the slides

The execution phase

This stage is where the bulk of the project happens. Deliverables are built to make sure the project is meeting requirements. This is where most of the time, money, and people are pulled into the project.

As previously mentioned, a kickoff meeting is held to mark the official start of the execution phase. A kickoff meeting agenda might look something like this:

• Introductions: Who’s who?
• Project background: Why are you doing this project? What are the goals?
• Project scope: What kind of work is involved?
• Project plan: What does the roadmap look like?
• Roles: Who will be responsible for which elements of the project?
• Communication: What kind of communication channels will be used? What kind of meetings or status reports should your team expect?
• Tools: Which tools will be used to complete the project, and how will they be used?
• Next steps: What are the immediate action items that need to be completed?
• Q&A: Open the floor for any questions

The controlling and monitoring phase

This phase happens in tandem with the execution phase. As the project moves forward, the project manager must make sure all moving parts are seamlessly headed in the right direction. If adjustments to the project plan need to be made due to unforeseen circumstances or a change in direction, they may happen here.

During the controlling and monitoring phase, project managers may have to do any of the following:

• Manage resources
• Monitor project performance
• Risk management
• Perform status meetings and reports
• Update project schedule
• Modify project plans

At the end of this phase, all the agreed project deliverables should be completed and accepted by the customer.