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project itself.
In leading any project, the project manager and the team must understand this broader context so that correct project life cycle phases, processes, tools and techniques that fit the project can be appropriately selected.
The processes that, for instance, were followed in implementing a project such as the Fifa 2010 World Cup differ sharply from those that are currently underway in the Copac project (Zimbabwe constitution making process).
What is common in the two examples is that both are projects. The traditional features of any formal project are that it must have a beginning and an end, unique activities, a budget as well as a single point of responsibility.
Project managers must divide the project work into phases to provide better management and control.
Collectively, the phases in between the start and end of the project are called the project life cycle. The structure of these phases may differ from one type of project to another.
In this article we will focus on elaborating the five common project life cycle phases and the aspects that must be fulfilled at each phase for successful completion of a project.
Initiating
Once a decision has been made to undertake a project, it must be initiated or launched. There are a number of activities associated with this.
One is for the project sponsor to create a project charter, which would define what is to be done to meet the requirements of project.
This is a formal process that is often omitted in organisations. The charter should be used to authorise work on the project, define the authority, responsibility and accountability of the project team, and establish scope boundaries for the job.
When such a document is not produced, the team may misinterpret what is required of them, and this can be very costly.
Planning
One of the major causes of project failures is poor planning. Actually, I am being kind.
Most of the time the problem is due to inadequate or no planning! The team simply tries to “wing it”, to do the work without doing any planning at all.
As I have explained in previous articles, many of us are task-oriented, and we see planning as a waste of time, so we would rather just get on with the work. Failing to develop a plan means that there can be no actual control of the project. Without a plan, everything is a deviation.
Executing
There are two aspects to this process. One is to execute the work that must be done to create the product of the project.
This is called technical work, and a project is conducted to produce a product. Note that we are using the word product in a very broad sense.
A product can be an actual tangible piece of hardware or a building. It can also be software or a service of some kind.
It can also be a result – consider for example a project to service an automobile, which consists of changing the oil and rotating the tyres.
There is no tangible deliverable for such a project, but there is clearly a result that must be achieved, and if it is not done correctly the car may be damaged as a result.
Executing also refers to implementing the project plan. It is amazing to find that teams often spend time planning a project, then abandon the plan as soon as they encounter some difficulty.
Once they do this, they cannot have control of the work, since without a plan there is no control.
The key is to either take corrective action to get back on track with the original plan or to revise the plan to show where the project is at present and continue forward from that point.
Monitoring and Controlling
These could actually be thought of as two separate processes, but because they go hand-in-hand, they are considered to be one activity.
Control is exercised by comparing where project work is supposed to be, then taking action to correct any deviations from the target.
Now the plan tells where the work should be. Without a plan, you don’t know where you should be, so control is impossible, by definition. Furthermore, knowing where you are is done by monitoring progress. An assessment of quantity and quality of work is made using whatever tools are available for the kind of work being done.
The result of this assessment is compared to the planned level of work and if the actual level is ahead or behind of the plan, something will be done to bring progress back in line with the plan.
Naturally small deviations are always present and are ignored unless they exceed some pre-established threshold or they show a trend to drift further off course.
Closing
In too many cases, once the product is produced to the customer’s satisfaction, the project is considered finished. This should not be the case. Many projects are indeed often terminated haphazardly as team members rush to the next project. A final lessons-learned review should be done before the project is considered complete.
Failing to do a lessons-learnt review and proper closure means that future projects will likely suffer the same headaches encountered on the one just completed.
A project termination plan is required to ensure a smooth disengagement of the team from the project. Many people in Zimbabwe are wondering at what phase the Copac project is in its life cycle.
l Peter Banda is the secretary-general and chief executive of PMIZ . Send your views & comments via email; [email protected] website link www.pmiz.org.zw