Phases of a Project Lifecycle - Assignment Example

 1. A poster illustrating the typical phases of a project lifecycle a project lifecycle has the following stages; Initiation phase This is the first phase in the project life cycle. It involves starting up a new project. It entails defining its objectives, purpose, scope, and deliverables to be produced. A project team is usually hired and the project office set. At the initiation stage, some steps are usually involved such as developing a business case, undertaking a business case, performing the project charter, identifying the project team, establishing the project office and performing a review of the phase. This is the most crucial phase (Wesland 99).Diagrammatically it is shown as below; Planning phase At this stage there is involvement of creating a suite of planning documents which help in guiding the team throughout the project management. The planning documents help in managing time, quality, change, risk, cost and issues. The steps involved in the planning phase are; creating a project plan, creation of a resource plan, creating a financial plan, creating a quality plan, creating a risk plan, creating an acceptance and a communications plan, then creating a procurement plan, contracting the suppliers and then finally performing phase review. This is the most challenging phase (Wesland 91). This is illustrated below; Execution phase At this stage, deliverables are built and presented to the customer for recognition. When deliverables are being constructed, a set of management processes are performed to monitor and control the deliverables being output by the project. Some of the management processes initiated at this stage are time, charge, superiority, amend, risks, issues, suppliers, consumers and communication. This is shown below; Closure phase This is the last phase. It involves releasing the final proposals to the purchaser, handing over project credentials to the business, terminating dealer agreements, delivering project assets and communicating project conclusion to all stake holders (Wesland 91). 2. Available resources that help the project manager People People usually act as internal factor influencing what the project manager would like to implement about the project. Equipment and facilities Some of the equipment used during setting out a project for example for a company such as IT Software Company is; notebook computer which is a very important tool .this is where the researched data is being entered and stored. Electronic mail and access to the internet is made available through a high speed modem Ruler, thickness gauge and dial caliper which are used to measure lengths and thicknesses Cameras which are used for taking photos Finance Financing the project can be provided by the company or even borrowing loans from other institutions. Project methodology Project methodology tells what is to be done in order to ensure efficient management of the projects. Project methodology steers projects in the right direction and keeps them on foot. Project management tools An example of management tool is the jobpro central. Jopro central is an asset of software tools that helps in managing the project workflow more effectively and efficiently. In addition to that it helps the project mangers in managing time and costs during the process (Wesland 89). 3 Issues affecting project management Changing external factors There are some changing external factors such as technology which sometimes become an issue in initiating project management. Technology is accessible, but the only problem is that it is rapid and changes very fast. Project managers should ensure that whatever inputs they initiate should be in line with the current technology. For example, the digital divide is one issue in terms of technology that is very challenging. Centers should also be constructed where people can be taught and provided with knowledge about information technologies Monitoring progress corrective actions Lack of monitoring progress corrective actions is also another issue affecting project management. Corrective measures are not being implemented. For example most IT projects are usually cancelled due to the fact that corrective measures are usually not taken into account. To solve this project mangers should ensure that correct mechanisms in planning, initiating and evaluation are implemented in the projects. Communications Situations may arise whereby there are communications breakdowns which cause unclear project goals and objectives. Managers may rethink their goals for a particular project and fail to communicate well with the appropriate team. Solution to this issue can be working with an up to date condition and communicating in an understandable manner. This will increase project success and it will help in project scope management. Project managers should enhance good communications for achievement of good results. Guidelines and legislation When managing projects, project teams fail to follow the guidelines listed down. The teams spend much time in designing and not testing Project management should detail the strategic business objectives and the guidelines and legislation of how to approach them. This can be achieved by ensuring that guidelines are followed to the latter. Project managers need to have foresights in delivering successful projects. Conflict Conflict can arise due to disagreements when implementing decisions. There are situations when project managers disagree among themselves and this could to ineffectiveness in results. Project mangers should plan strategically and make decisions amicably. They should also involve their juniors, in decision making to allow more options. Impact of project outputs and other systems Some systems could impact negatively on the success of a project. Project managers should evaluate these systems and ensure that they either have a positive impact on the development of the projects, if not they should be eradicated. 4. Some of the reasons as to why projects fail and possible solutions 1. Lack of knowledge; some employees lack knowledge on the basics of project management. Most companies employ people who have little knowledge or no knowledge at all. To curb this, training programs of project management can be initiated in colleges, and commercial levels to reduce this tendency of projects failing. 2 .Projects can sometimes fail due to lack of organizational policy. This may arise if accompany has not adopted a formal policy o managing projects. To curb this, companies should avoid inconsistent and informal approaches when making project plans. 3. Lack of enforcement of policy measures and procedures is also another reason as to why projects fail. When a policy has been established and not put into practice, in consistency arises. To minimize chances of a project failing when such a situation occurs, a company should ensure that there is an accuracy and uniform result by enacting and reinforcing a policy that has been devised. 4. Lack of consideration for the enormity and complexities of project management and attack it in piece meal. Sometimes people underestimate the degree of project management. For example in most situations project planning involves initiating work breakdown structures and dependencies which is an antecedent to estimating, setting up, exposure and control, reserve allocation is based on accessibility of competent people (skills inventory) and current project schedules; etc. There is a devastating number of software packages on the market attacking diverse aspects of project management, but very few addressing it is an integrated whole. 5. Failing to plan properly is also another reason why projects. People fail in projects because when an idea comes up, instead of scrutinizing the problem and coming up with the right solution, one quickly ignores the others without even evaluating. Whenever a project is urgent, proper planning should be initiated. 6. Ignoring the risks could also result failure of projects. Risks sometimes may be identified but not managed. Risks should be tested and proper plans initiated on the basis of objectives set in accordance to the plans layout in order to minimize failures of projects. Work cited Wesland, Jason. The project management life cycle. Great Britain: kogan page limited paper edition, 2006. Read More