5 Fundamental Stages of Project Management

The world today is packed with so many applications which have made human life easy when compared to the yester years. Thanks to the advent of Information Technology a few decades back, we live a life which is fully loaded. Information Technology has not only given us a comfortable life but also has given a new meaning to the word Project Management. Every Project has to be managed through 5 fundamental stages. Let us have a detailed look at the same in the following paragraphs

The first phase of Project Management – Project Initiation

This is the phase when the customer who has a requirement for an application and the technical and sales people of the Company identified to develop the application meet. The customer communicates his expectations from the application planned to be developed. The development team tries to understand the complete requirement of the customer end to end. The development team then discusses with the sales team and the Management of the Company about the commercial aspect of the project. To summarize, feasibility analyses are done during this first phase which is Project Initiation

The second phase of Project Management – Project planning

Extensive work is involved in this second phase during which Project Planning happens. Project Planning is a simple word to be used here. Comprehensive assessment and planning is done on various aspects like duration of the project, its scope, approximate cost involved in the development of the project, communication protocols and modes to be established, resources availability and requirements pertaining to the same, and probable risks involved.

As a result of the planning carried out on various aspects of the project during this phase, many documentation requirements arise. Some such documents that are created during this phase are WBS, Developing realistic module delivery schedule, Milestone charts, GANNT charts that track the plan viz-a-viz actual performance, Resource availability check and estimation for training and hiring new resources if required, Milestone delivery dates and communication plan to interact with all the stake holders concerned and recording probable and unanticipated risks during every milestone planned. As far as the risk aspect is concerned, it has three stages namely

1. Identification and analysis of risks
2. Approaches to mitigate risks identified
3. Response planning for risks faced

The third phase of Project Management – Project Execution

This is the phase when all the plans done during the first two phases get executed. During this stage adherence to the plan that was mapped out is witnessed in an exquisite manner. The status of the project is updated to all stake holders through periodic meetings. Status Reports are updated periodically to be discussed in such status meetings. Performance Reports are prepared to assess the actual performance of the project viz-a-viz the initial plans. Human Resources requirement and performance are discussed in detail to assess possible risks in this area. Project Execution phase is a very important one since all the analyses done during this phase will clearly given an indication to all internal stake holders pertaining to the profitability of the project

The fourth phase of Project Management – Project Monitoring and Control

This phase runs parallel to the Execution phase and concerns mostly with monitoring the project performance with respect to plans. During this phase, the project team starts observing for any possible scope creep and scope verifications is done in a meticulous manner. The degrees of variation in the time and cost aspects are calculated. If any type of scope creep is found, appropriate corrective measures are taken to bring back the project on the planned track. All possible actions are taken to prevent project failure

The fifth phase of Project Management – Project Closure

This is the phase where a project gets completed officially. It is in this phase that the completion of project happens. The completed project is officially delivered to the customer. Many formalities like rewarding the team appropriately for completing the project successfully, relieving the human resources involved in the project in various capacities and meeting with all internal stake holders announcing the completion of the project takes place. All documentation formalities get completed.

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