Project Management Steps
The success of a project is made possible through the following
structured project management steps:
1. Project Initiation -
This step marks the beginning of the project
and lays the foundation for its future success. The initiation
phase clarifies the need, defines the project objectives and expected
outcomes. Project stakeholders and their roles and influence in the
project are identified as well. During this stage organizations
evaluate their capacity to successfully implement the project.
Resources such as infrastructure, expertise, budget, manpower,
feasibility are examined to determine the project's future.
This stage leads to the planning stage.
2. Project Planning - One
of the most important project management steps is the planning of a
project. Many projects don't go well due to lack of proper
planning. Planning is the process of designing and
reviewing project frameworks and other planning documents that will be
used throughout the project. Planning identifies the specific
activities that will be carried out, their duration, their cost, the
tangible and intangable resources needed to carry them out,
team roles and responsibilities, indicators to measure quality etc. The
planning phase looks at the risk management aspect of the project as
well. The other project management steps such as Executing,
Controlling and Closing rely heavily on the quality of the
planning process.
3.
Executing/Implementation -The
Executing/Implementation step is where the project "action" happens.
This is the stage that makes the planning a reality. The
implementation stage is guided by the plan designed during
step 2 and ensures that all the project objectives
and benchmarks are met
accordingly. This
phase utilizes most of the project resources and it has the highest
cost
of all the project management steps.
4.
Controlling/Monitoring - The Controlling/monitoring step is about
measuring progress and comparing achievements with the plan. It is the
stage that any necessary adjustments, changes or corrections are made.
5. Closing/Evaluation - The Closing/Evaluation is the last
of the project management steps. This is the time when final project
achievements are evaluated against the plan. This stage is
the official ending of the project. It's important to not rush
it and carefully collect and analyze best practices and
lessons learned to be used for future references.
Related Articles:
What
is Project Management
Project
Management Basics
Project
Manager Skills
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