Project Life Cycle and Organization Unit 2

Project Life Cycle Defines the phases that connect the beginning of a project to its end What technical work to do in each phases When the deliverables are to be generated, reviewed, verified and validated Who is involved in each phase How to control and approve each phase

Project Life Cycle Collection of project phases –Projects are “born” when a need is identified by customer –Life cycles vary in length –Not all projects formally go through all phases –Different players in different roles at different times –Completion and approval of one or more deliverables characterizes a project phase –A deliverable is a measurable, verifiable work product

Phase 1 - Concept Identify the Need/Problem/Opportunity –Need and requirements are usually written up by the customer in a document called an RFP –High-level or summary plan –Project Charter –Scope Statement

Phase 2 - Development Development of proposed solution –More detailed plan –More accurate budget estimation –More thorough WBS –Baseline With Phase 1, known as project feasibility

Phase 3 - Implementation Execution of WBS Resource utilization Measuring Progress Acceptance

Phase 4 – Close-out Terminating the project –All work is completed –Objective accomplished –Approval of deliverables –Feedback and evaluation –Handover With Phase 4 known as project acquisition

Project Life Cycle Characteristics –Costs and staffing levels are low at start, peak during the intermediate phases and drop rapidly at end –Level of uncertainty is highest at start –Stakeholder influence highest at start –Phases can be subdivided into sub phases –Each phase concludes with a review to determine acceptance –Phase can be closed without initiating any other phases

Stakeholders Individuals and organizations that are actively involved in the project or whose interests may be affected as a result of the project's completion or execution –Project sponsor and project team –Support staff –Customers –Users –Suppliers –Opponents

Stakeholders May have positive or negative effect on project Project managers must manage stakeholder expectations.

Organization Structure Functional Matrix Projectized

Functional Organization Staff Functional Mgr Chief Exec Project Coordination

Projectized Organization Staff Project Mgr Chief Exec Project Coordination

Matrix Weak Matrix –Project coordination via functional staff w/o functional manager involvement Balanced Matrix –Project manager reports to functional manager Strong Matrix –Project manager reports to Manager of Project Managers

Advantage of Projectized Project manager’s authority highest Resource availability highest Project manager controls budget, not functional manager Project manager’s role is full-time Project Management administrative staff is full-time (reverse for functional)