Key Elements of Project Management
Summary of Chapter 2 - PMBoK:
Projects and project management are broader than managing day-to-day activities of the project. The second chapter of the PMBoK covers the key elements of project management, including the following:
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Project phases and project life cycle
Project stakeholders
Organizational influences
Key general management skills
Social-economical-environmental influences
1. Project phases and project life cycle
Because projects involve uncertainty, organizations divide them into project phases to improve management control and make links with the other ongoing operations. Collectively the project phases are known as the project life cycle.
Each project phase consists of one or more deliverables and ends when all of these are completed. At the end of each phase (phase exit/ stage gate/ kill point), both the key deliverables and the project performance to date are reviewed to 1) decide to move to the next phase or not and 2) detect and correct errors cost effectively.
The project life cycle defines the beginning and the end of the project. It determines which transitional actions are included and which are not (feasibility study, etc.). Since the project is divided into phases, deliverables from a phase has to be approved in order to move forward to the next phase. However, a later phase might start before the last phase has been finished if the risk is deemed acceptable. This overlap of phases is called fast tracking. The project life cycle defines: 1) The technical work in each phase (who works in which phase) and 2) who is involved in each phase. This can be very general or very detailed (project management methodologies). Project life-cycle differs from product life-cycle. There can be many projects defined within the product life-cycle.
Common characteristics of project life –cycles are:
1) Costs are low at first, get higher towards the end, and then drop rapidly.
2) Risk and uncertainty are high at first, and
Projects and project management are broader than managing day-to-day activities of the project. The second chapter of the PMBoK covers the key elements of project management, including the following:
12345-
Project phases and project life cycle
Project stakeholders
Organizational influences
Key general management skills
Social-economical-environmental influences
1. Project phases and project life cycle
Because projects involve uncertainty, organizations divide them into project phases to improve management control and make links with the other ongoing operations. Collectively the project phases are known as the project life cycle.
Each project phase consists of one or more deliverables and ends when all of these are completed. At the end of each phase (phase exit/ stage gate/ kill point), both the key deliverables and the project performance to date are reviewed to 1) decide to move to the next phase or not and 2) detect and correct errors cost effectively.
The project life cycle defines the beginning and the end of the project. It determines which transitional actions are included and which are not (feasibility study, etc.). Since the project is divided into phases, deliverables from a phase has to be approved in order to move forward to the next phase. However, a later phase might start before the last phase has been finished if the risk is deemed acceptable. This overlap of phases is called fast tracking. The project life cycle defines: 1) The technical work in each phase (who works in which phase) and 2) who is involved in each phase. This can be very general or very detailed (project management methodologies). Project life-cycle differs from product life-cycle. There can be many projects defined within the product life-cycle.
Common characteristics of project life –cycles are:
1) Costs are low at first, get higher towards the end, and then drop rapidly.
2) Risk and uncertainty are high at first, and