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Projects Tell a Story

July 22, 2008 | Author: admin | Filed under: Project Lifecycle Phases, Project Management for Beginners

Projects Tell a Story (#4 in the series Project Management Big Picture)
By Joseph Phillips

If you don’t like photography maybe you’ll like stories.
Projects, like a good story, have a beginning, a middle, and a satisfying end. Think back to any project you’ve managed or worked on. Can you recall the beginning, middle, and a Hollywood ending?

The story for all projects is that they move through five process groups to get from start to finish. Within each process group there are key activities which help a project move along. The project flows through the five process groups.

Initiate a project

This process group starts all the fun. In this group the business need for the project is identified, some initial solutions may be proposed, and the project manager is selected.

The most important document to come out of this group is the project charter. The project charter authorizes the project work and assigns the project manager the power to complete the project on behalf of the project sponsor. The project sponsor is typically someone high enough in the organizational hierarchy to have power over the resources that need to be involved in the project. (Having a weak sponsor for your project can also, unfortunately, lead to cheap tequila.)

Planning the project

In order to plan the project manager must know what the project will create. The project manager and the project stakeholders - the people that have a stake in the project outcome - have to determine what the desired future state is. A dreamy wish list won’t work. The project demands exact requirements. If you don’t know what the project should create how will you ever get there?
Once the project requirements have been agreed upon then the project manager, the project team, and in some instances the project stakeholders will create a plan on how to achieve the project objectives. This isn’t a one-time process. Planning is an iterative process that happens throughout the project duration. Planning is a cornerstone of project management - skip planning or do it half-heartedly and the project is doomed.

Executing the Project

Ever hear the quip, “Plan your work and then work your plan?” This is the working part. The executing process group is the project team executing the project work according to plan — and the project manager working with any vendors that may be in involved in the execution or support of the deliverables needed for the project completion.

Controlling the Project

Control freaks need not apply. Controlling isn’t about micromanaging - it’s about compliance with the project plan. There’s balance between execution and control. The project manager works with the project team, not over them, to ensure that they’re doing the work as it was planned. And if not? Then the project manager makes corrective actions to get the project back in alignment with the project plan.

Controlling is also about balancing the time, cost, and scope constraints as the project moves along. The project manager has to measure, compare, and adjust controls within the project to ensure project success. If we do not measure we cannot improve.

Closing the Project

Aaah - closing. This process group centers on closing out the project accounts, completing final, formal acceptance of the project deliverables, finalizing any time, cost, or quality reports, completing the project’s lessons learned documentation, and finalizing any financial or procurement audits. The project manager may have to complete a review of each team member, a review of the vendors, and a review of their own actions in the project.

Project closure also involves some rewards and recognition. For some, this means bonuses, vacation time, or other rewards. If this isn’t appropriate or available in your organization the project manager should at least verbally reward the project team for their hard work and a job well-done (assuming the project was done well).

Joseph Phillips is the author of five books on project management and is a, PMI Project Management Professional, a CompTIA certified Project Professional, and a Certified Technical Trainer. For more information about Project Management Training, please visit Project Seminars.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008 and is filed under Project Lifecycle Phases, Project Management for Beginners. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 person has left a comment

Joseph,

I enjoyed the article, and the movie analogy. I would, however, argue that micro-management may be called for from a PM if a key deliverable is at risk of missing its deadline.

From my experience, project sponsors usually want up to the minute details, like I’m CNN, if the project is teetering on busting schedule.

-chris

chris wrote on July 22, 2008 - 9:26 pm | Visit Link

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