Projects are an important part of a variety of different businesses or companies. While it would be lovely if all projects went off without a hitch that just isn’t a reality for most companies. As a result, project management is important and plays a huge role in many businesses in a variety of industries.
Project management is, as you could imagine, all about managing products. This includes creating a team, communicating, planning, implementing and more. Without project management, projects could become unorganized, slow-moving and have a complete lack of structure or communication.
In particular, there are 5 different phases of project management that are important to know. If you don’t know them, you’re in luck. This blog post is going to look at each stage and what it entails.
1. The Initiation of the Project
This is the first phase and is where the actual idea for the project is conceptualized. The phase includes team members brainstorming ideas and researching if the project will be successful. This is often figured out by feasibility testing, and a ton of due diligence will be done on potential outcomes, challenges, and potential collaborations.
Stakeholders of the company and employees alike will then decide whether the project will occur or not. Once the project has been accepted and will happen, the team behind it will create a PID (which is a project initiation document). This document will include a ton of pertinent information such as the requirements for the project and its purpose.
2. The Defining and Planning of the Project
The next phase is focused on defining and planning the project. This is where the blueprint for the lifetime of the project will be developed. This will essentially be the outline that everyone will follow for the duration of the project, and must be well-written. This phase features making sure the team has all the funding and materials needed for the project, too.
Of course, setting goals for the projects and the different steps are also important. For years, companies used the SMART method for goal-setting. This meant goal was to be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. However, a new strategy has been making waves, is the CLEAR method. It takes into account the fast-paced modern style of business. CLEAR goals are collaborative, limited, emotional, appreciable and refinable.
3. The Execution of the Project
The execution phase is all about carrying out your plan and is what most people associate with project management. This phase features creating and updating deliverables, collaborating, having meetings and everyone doing their assigned tasks. A lot of things are beginning to happen and the project is starting to come together.
This phase of the project management cycle is made much easier by a solid plan, so be sure not to simply gloss over your plans. Everyone needs to be laser-focused on what they have to do, as your customers, clients or shareholders will likely want updates, and you better be able to give some to them.
4. The Performance and Control of the Project
This phase is all about controlling and monitoring the progress of the project. You want to ensure that everything taking place is in line with what was outlined in the plan. This is most often done by calculating and tracking key performance indicators and making sure everything is on track.
Also, be sure to use some of the various tools you have at your disposal. There are many tools out there that can keep everyone on track, allow for remote collaboration and communication and even help you identify errors in the project. For example, using centralized logging can help you search through thousands of log files to find and fix a particular error.
If you want to learn more about centralized logging and log management, check out this link: Configuring centralized logging from Node.js apps - Papertrail log management.
5. The Close of the Project
Once the project is completed, you have entered the closure phase. This phase generally involves a meeting in which everyone touches on what went well with the project, and what could have been improved. This phase will also look at the success of the project and how well the team stuck to the original outline and plan.
Unfortunately, many project managers might gloss over or entirely skip this phase, as they believe it is pointless. However, it is valuable to analyze what took place and how you can use this information to make your next project even better.
Hopefully, this article has been able to shed some light on the 5 phases of project management for you.
Project management is, as you could imagine, all about managing products. This includes creating a team, communicating, planning, implementing and more. Without project management, projects could become unorganized, slow-moving and have a complete lack of structure or communication.
In particular, there are 5 different phases of project management that are important to know. If you don’t know them, you’re in luck. This blog post is going to look at each stage and what it entails.
1. The Initiation of the Project
This is the first phase and is where the actual idea for the project is conceptualized. The phase includes team members brainstorming ideas and researching if the project will be successful. This is often figured out by feasibility testing, and a ton of due diligence will be done on potential outcomes, challenges, and potential collaborations.
Stakeholders of the company and employees alike will then decide whether the project will occur or not. Once the project has been accepted and will happen, the team behind it will create a PID (which is a project initiation document). This document will include a ton of pertinent information such as the requirements for the project and its purpose.
2. The Defining and Planning of the Project
The next phase is focused on defining and planning the project. This is where the blueprint for the lifetime of the project will be developed. This will essentially be the outline that everyone will follow for the duration of the project, and must be well-written. This phase features making sure the team has all the funding and materials needed for the project, too.
Of course, setting goals for the projects and the different steps are also important. For years, companies used the SMART method for goal-setting. This meant goal was to be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. However, a new strategy has been making waves, is the CLEAR method. It takes into account the fast-paced modern style of business. CLEAR goals are collaborative, limited, emotional, appreciable and refinable.
3. The Execution of the Project
The execution phase is all about carrying out your plan and is what most people associate with project management. This phase features creating and updating deliverables, collaborating, having meetings and everyone doing their assigned tasks. A lot of things are beginning to happen and the project is starting to come together.
This phase of the project management cycle is made much easier by a solid plan, so be sure not to simply gloss over your plans. Everyone needs to be laser-focused on what they have to do, as your customers, clients or shareholders will likely want updates, and you better be able to give some to them.
4. The Performance and Control of the Project
This phase is all about controlling and monitoring the progress of the project. You want to ensure that everything taking place is in line with what was outlined in the plan. This is most often done by calculating and tracking key performance indicators and making sure everything is on track.
Also, be sure to use some of the various tools you have at your disposal. There are many tools out there that can keep everyone on track, allow for remote collaboration and communication and even help you identify errors in the project. For example, using centralized logging can help you search through thousands of log files to find and fix a particular error.
If you want to learn more about centralized logging and log management, check out this link: Configuring centralized logging from Node.js apps - Papertrail log management.
5. The Close of the Project
Once the project is completed, you have entered the closure phase. This phase generally involves a meeting in which everyone touches on what went well with the project, and what could have been improved. This phase will also look at the success of the project and how well the team stuck to the original outline and plan.
Unfortunately, many project managers might gloss over or entirely skip this phase, as they believe it is pointless. However, it is valuable to analyze what took place and how you can use this information to make your next project even better.
Hopefully, this article has been able to shed some light on the 5 phases of project management for you.
