Project Management and Project Lifecycle - Essay Example

? Week and Week 2 Assignment Introduction Irrespective of the significant time project management has been around, confusion is still persistent concerning the exact definition of a project. Any form of outcome that necessitates the need to incorporate multiple action items, in a sequential order, can be referred to as a project. It is usually, a temporary undertaking with specific goals in mind. It, thus, does not fall under the confines of normal business operations. As such, it is bounded by time, resources and the required results from the project. It, however, needs to be planned from the beginning to the end. A project is subjected to some certain constraints. These constraints range from time, personnel, money, equipment and the necessary facilities. The success of a project is hinged on the specific situation in which it has been employed. This stems from the fact that in some situations the concerned parties may be willing to sacrifice certain features for a hastened recovery. In dissimilar situations, parties may be willing to extend the respective timelines so as to build on quality results. The reality, however, is that rarely do projects run smoothly throughout its process. Research has shown that only about thirty four percent of projects are completed on time and on budget (Lock, 2007). Thus, each project that has been implemented has a significant probability of encountering snugs along the way to completion. For a project to be considered a success, it has to meet certain prerequisites. The project must meet its intended objectives and requirements. These are the reasons behind the formation of the project. Thus, it is imperative that it meets these objectives. In the event whereby some of the intended objectives and requirements are not met, it will necessitate a restructuring of the strategy that was employed as this forms the foundation of the project (Lock, 2007). In the event where this occurs, irrespective of the actualization of other factors of success, the project will still be deemed a failure. A project must operate within the confines of a pre-established budget. If it deviates from this budget the probability of failure significantly rises. The goal is to work within the constraints sourced from the budget and still met project goals, thus making the client happy. However, certain situations arise whereby, the set budget is not sufficient to cater for all the required features. The project management team has only two options to employ. It can either choose to ultimately increase the budget or it can decide to cut the scope of the project. Budget concern is the most vital. As such, the project management team must deliberate with the client on the features they are willing to sacrifice so as to stay within the allocated budget. This forms one of the reasons behind the rationale that effective project management is not an easy endeavour. The client might insist on the project meeting all the features in a situation where this is near impossible. To avoid such scenarios, it is imperative to iron out such details upfront before embarking on the project. A characteristic of any project is that it has three variables that can be adjusted throughout the process. These variables are the scope, the timing and the allocated budget. As such, it is important to find out from the client which of the variables are vital to them and which ones can be adjusted. Each project must strive to operate within the set timeline. This stems from the fact that it can result into havoc in the event where it is not appropriately managed. When a deadline has been established, the first question becomes whether it is a hard deadline or a soft deadline. A hard deadline does not necessarily indicate the complexities that will be encountered if the project is not complete by that time. Rather, it implies the nature of the deadline is such that, it has dependencies hinged on it. It is not impossible to alter but, it may eventuate in potentially embarrassing the client. In this scenario, the project management team needs to go back to client and, establish if the client is willing to sacrifice some features of the project so as to meet the deadline. Additionally, find out if the client is willing to increase the budget, in order to increase resources and subsequently increase the probability of meeting the deadline. The demanding task entails convincing the client on the need for compromises. However, the compromises must be structured around the factors that are of high regard to the client. Another key aspect of a successful project rests on its ability to meet quality requirements. This might present a problem if not handled with professionalism. The rationale behind this is that quality is distinct to each individual. What may be quality to one person may appear mediocre to another person. As such, it is imperative to understand what the client considers quality. The project management team should find out if there is a set standard that should be met, and the consequences that would be faced in the event where the set standards are not met. Having the quality standards in mind will aid in restructuring the required features, the timeline and the allocated budget. The last success factor rests on satisfying the stakeholders. These are the individuals or entities that have vested interests in the project. In the scenario whereby the stakeholders are more than one, it becomes imperative to find out if their concerns indeed matter. Is it to the benefit of the project to take into consideration all the concerns of all the stakeholders? Will the project still be deemed a success if some of the concerns of some of the stakeholders is not met? If so, then which stakeholders matter the most? It is actually near impossible to meet all the concerns of all the stakeholders. As such, the need for diplomacy cannot be overemphasised. However, meeting stakeholder satisfaction is hinged on the nature of the project. In an external project, decisions made might not affect future projects. However, for internal projects, the overall long term consequences of decisions made in the course of the project need to be considered. The significant stakeholders in a project include; project manager, project team, project customer and project sponsor (Heerkens, 2002). All of these stakeholders, except the customer, will be involved in the planning stages of the project. Stakeholders are tasked with the mandate to ensure resource are available for the project success and provision of important insight into the project’s outcome; this especially important in realization of organizational support. The assigned roles of the stakeholders vary throughout the project life cycle. The degree of stakeholder participation directly affects the level of success that a project will experience. A program is a project which is recurring in nature. A program is set in motion at predictable intervals. It further entails the propagation of a new plan and consequently new end results (Deeprose, 2002). Additionally, it is backed by new set of resources not previously utilised. Unlike a project which has a budget, a program has no such restrictions. On the other hand, an operation is an ongoing execution of activities with the aim of producing repetitive results. They are permanent in nature and are characterised by only one constraint; hat is to make profit. Unlike projects, operations are permanent and repetitive in nature. Projects act as instigators of a new business while operations act as a sustaining feature for businesses. Projects create new products while operations sustain the production of the same product. The role of project management can be classified in three perspectives (Project Management Institute, 2008). These perspectives are technical, transactional and transformational. In the technical perspective, it entails the activities that are imperative for project definition, implementing the project in strict accordance to its implementation plan and ensuring the quality of delivery. This perspective of project management is present in the project definition and project lifecycle stage. The transactional perspective entails managing activities associated with project workflows and performances. This perspective is majorly applied in the controlling of the project in the implementation stage. Lastly, the transformational perspective entails activities associated with leadership. It simply sources the best possible performance from the team. This perspective is characterised by team maintenance, team development and team motivation. Effective project managers put most effort at this perspective. Organizational structure is termed as the distinct framework that is employed in the overall supervision of staff and the allocation of tasks. As such, its role in project management is vital as it directly affects the expectations, flexibility and the level of autonomy allowed to the team working on a specific project. It also dictates how different personnel working on a project interact and the mode of allocation of limited resources. Conclusion A project lifecycle entails a logical sequence of activities that are done so as to accomplish the project goals. The four phases of project lifecycle are the concept phase, development phase, execution phase and transfer phase. The concept phase entails gathering data and identifying the goals amongst other basic details. The development phase entails financing aspect, determining the schedule. The execution stage entails executing the work and resolving issues that have arisen. The transfer stage entails finalizing the project ad testing all relevant systems. On the other hand, project management process entails defining, planning, controlling, monitoring and closing the project. Despite this difference between project management and project lifecycle, both are imperative for the success of the project. References Deeprose, D. (2002). Project management. Oxford, U.K: Capstone Pub. Heerkens, G. (2002). Project management. New York: McGraw-Hill. Lock, D. (2007). Project management. Aldershot, England: Gower. Project Management Institute. (2008). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK Guide). Newtown Square, Pa: Project Management Institute. Read More