Generally, successful projects are an elemental part of business strategy and profitability. In retrospect, projects consist of different stages that form the life span of each project. Furthermore, with modern project management practices, projects are planned, scheduled, and managed as separate entities. That is from start to finish of each stage. Consequently, products are finished and delivered to the owners, investors, marketers, or users. That is in accordance with the project contract or internal project charter. For all this to occur without hiccups, efficient project management stages need to involved.
The Importance of Project Management Stages
For instance, if a new project manager takes over a project halfway, many un-resolved design or other conflicts occur. This is not uncommon in design, construction, field operation projects, and IT projects. Generally, project management is a mature discipline and applying structure stages allows reverse engineering and saves time and money. Furthermore, it assures that project managers maintains responsibility and consistency during the entire project life cycle thus resolving conflict easily. Additionally, it enables stakeholders concerned with creating, planning and executing projects to better understand the agreed project processes.
Similarly, project management enables the capture and documentation of project experiences allowing continuity and application on future similar projects. Similarly, project management stages enables the definition of all the project roles and responsibilities. These roles could be project planning, estimating, scheduling, monitoring ,and control methods. Additionally, enables the effective application of project management software application packages into the project eco-system. Subsequently, well-documented project management stages allows us focus on creating, planning, scheduling, and managing the project in an orderly manner. All while evaluating both the success, value and the results that the project has produced.
Project Life Cycle Phases
Generally, project management stages involve phases as part of their life cycles. Firstly, the ideal project starts with a concept, authorization, initiation, identification, selection and project charter. Additionally, a business case, planning, scheduling. Secondly, it involves organization and preparation which defines the feasibility confirmation, development, demonstration, design prototype, quantification. Furthermore, it continues to the execution, implementation, realization, production and deployment. Similarly, it also applies the designing, commissioning, installation and testing phases. Lastly, closure of a project which involves the handover of project results to the user, project termination, and post-completion evaluation.
Project Objective
Establishing a project objective is normally one of the first project management stages. It normally involves requirements gathering, the conducting of workshops and interviews with clients. This is with the sole purpose of identifying the core project objective and initiatives. All these objectives should be clearly stated and agreed amongst all stakeholders, ensuring the project is aligned with the business direction of the organization. Furthermore, illustrating the feasibility of achieving the defined business requirements for the project.
Project Scoping
As a part of the project management stages, scoping defines and controls what is required for successful completion of a project. It describes the boundaries of the project and what the project will deliver and what it will not deliver. Specifically, scoping ensures the project has identified the goals and objectives with well-defined sets of indicators for progress monitoring. Additionally, scope management plans help manage any project changes. Furthermore, scoping facilitates how, when and why any changes to the project are made. Thus, allowing stakeholders have a better understanding of the project boundaries.
Project Schedule
A project schedule determines the complete project timescale, resource requirements and costs for management and control of the project. Similarly, a project schedule provides an overview of activities in the project management stages. All for the purpose of ensuring the timely completion of the project. This shows the gravity of this stage amongst other project management stages. Additionally, a project schedule is acts as a communication tool that informs project stakeholders of the status of the project. Furthermore, it gives the project team information in the form of graphs and charts, as to when each activity must begin and end.
Project Budgeting
Generally, budgeting may be one of the most important stages of all the project management stages. It potentially has the highest impact to the project, the organization and to the beneficiaries. This is because inadequate budget management can lead to misappropriations of funds, improper assignment of expenses and losses. Hence, the failure, disruption or delay in project completion. Furthermore, it’s important to identify the tools, physical and human resources required to carry out the project in relation to the financial budgeting.
Establishing Resource Requirements
Generaly, a leading cause for most project failures is poor estimation and management of resources. Establishing the right resource requirements Concentrate will have a significant impact on the project. Establishing and estimating the resource requirements also facilitates recreation of estimates, and “what if analysis”. Establish and identify hardware, software, contractor and training resources required for project success. Establish the human resource in units of a day or hours if possible and determine the total effort per task. Furthermore, other resources required for the project like equipment, accommodation etc.
Quality assurance
Generlly, quality assurance is about ensuring the project outputs are relevant to the needs of the beneficiaries. Furthermore, delivered in a timely manner, adequate to the conditions in which they have to be used. Additionally, quality assurance delivers on the commitment the project made at its initiation, and does what the project said it was going to do. In retrospect, this project management stage includes quality audits performed by the project team during every project deliverable. Likewise, it involves a quality management plan, quality audit reports, and quality improvement records.