Understanding the Lifecycle of Project Management

 

Project management is essential for every job you take as it syncs workflows to maximize productivity. It also enables project managers do a thorough quality control and reduce costs. It sets realistic goals and objectives, as well as aligns strategies. With the help of project management software like oracle primavera cloud, you can calculate risks, minimize uncertainty, and consider all possible progress scenarios.

 

Project management comes with a lifecycle. It provides your project with structure and tools to make sure you have the best chance of being successful. As a project manager, here are some steps you will want to know well:

 

Initiation

This is the phase that involves defining the project. Here, you will organize scope, resources, and goals of the project. You will determine the roles necessary on the team and what stakeholders expect from the project. What is the project aiming to achieve and would it give the team a clear direction?

 

This is a critical phase to the success of the project. The project runs the risk of not meeting the expectations of the stakeholders and achieving the desired results without clarity of what must be accomplished.

 

There are documents and tools such as oracle primavera cloud used in the initiation phase. These include:

 

RACI chart. This helps assign roles and responsibilities of members on a project team.

Project proposal. This defines the project and outlines the requirements, goals, key dates, etc.

Project charter. It is a definitive document that defines the project and important information to reach its goals. This may also include benefits, key stakeholders, potential risks, and constraints.

 

Planning

While the initiation stage is assembling the troops, the planning stage is deciding what to do with them. In this phase, you will determine the steps to accomplish the goals of the project. These are the “how’s” of project completion.

 

You need to establish the milestones, budgets, timelines, and source materials and documents. This phase also includes predicting and calculating risk, defining communication protocols, and putting change management processes into place. if you are using project management software like oracle primavera cloud, it will make this task much easier to do.

 

Execution and Completion of Tasks

This is the phase where you put your plan into action and keep your team on track. It involves managing quality, mitigating risk, tracking progress, and utilizing data to inform your decisions.

 

Steps for executing and completing this phase include:

 

Keeping team members motivated and focused on the given task

Recording costs

Responding to risks when they occur

Using tools like oracle primavera cloud to track progress on tasks

Incorporating changes via requests

Informing stakeholders of progress

 

Close Projects

In this closing stage, you will conclude the progress of the project. You will evaluate the things that were successful and what failed. Overall, it is time to acknowledge and celebrate the hard work of your team.

 

In this phase, the tools you will usually use are:

 

Project closeout report. This comprises a summary of the accomplishments of your project, and key learnings for future reference.

Impact report. This report consists of a series of metrics that show how your project made an impact. You also present this report to your stakeholders.