Project Life Cycle:

Project life cycle is a collection of generally sequential and overlapping project phases. Project Life Cycle indicates that who should be involved in each project phase and technical work to be done in each phase. The life cycle provides the basic framework for managing the project.

Characteristics of the Project Life Cycle:

All projects have the following life cycle structure.

• Starting the project
• Organizing and preparing
• Carrying out the project work
• Closing

Costs and staffing are low at the start, higher in the middle and drop towards the end. Probability of successfully completing the project is lowest at the start of the project, and increases as the project progresses.

Product Life Cycle:

The product life cycle consists of generally sequential, non-overlapping project phases, e starts with the business plan, through idea, to product, ongoing operations and product divestment. In some application areas, such as new product development organization consider project life cycle as a part of product life cycle.

Project Phases:

Project phases are division within a project where extra control is needed to manage the completion of deliverable. Project phases are typically completed sequentially, but can overlap in some project situations.

Many projects have similar phase name with similar deliverables. Some will have only one phase some projects have many phases. Different phases have a different duration or length.

Projects vs. Operational work:

Projects are temporary in nature, create unique product and have a clear beginning and end. Operations are ongoing and produce repetitive products. Operations work does not terminate when its current objectives are met but follow new directions to support the organization’s plan.

Stakeholders:

Stakeholders are person or organization who are actively involved in a project or whose interest may be positively or negatively affected in the project. Stakeholders may also influence over the project, its deliverables and project team members. Project management team must identify internal and external stakeholders to determine the project requirements. Stakeholders have varying levels of responsibility and authority when participating on a project and these can change over the course of the project life cycle.

Stakeholder identification is a continuous process and can be difficult. Examples of stakeholders:

Ø  Customers/Users

Ø  Sponsor

Ø  Portfolio managers/portfolio review board

Ø  Program Managers

Ø  Project Management Office

Ø  Project Managers

Ø  Project Team

Ø  Functional Managers

Ø  Operations management

Ø  Sellers/ business partners