The Phases of Project Management
Given the necessity of all four phases of project management, which phase do you believe to be the most important to a project's success? Why?
I believe that the defining and organizing the project is the most important step of the project management process and leads to a project’s success. When initiating a project, several factors have to be taken into account. The most important is the need for the project and if it is going to solve a root problem that the organization is facing. If the project is going to solve any need, the project isn’t going to be as valuable as one that solves a root cause.
If the project is going to solve a root cause, defining the scope and objectives of the project are the next most important aspect. Having a clear foundation, meeting the needs of the stakeholders, and defining roles are critical to rest of the project management process. If the project is not clear, the rest of the project may not meet the needs of the organization or the project can go out of scope. The vaguer the project is to begin with will lead more vagueness or assumptions later on. The defining and organization stage also helps define the roles of the team, the project charter, and the path of the rest of the project.
Hi Lisa! Thanks for your comments! To your point the planmning and organizing parts of the PM process are indeed crucial because they clarify expectations and resources, and set the stage for performance results.
Jay Hollowell
ML115 Facilitator
I believe all phases play an integral role in the success of a project. Closing phase may be little less important, then other three phases :-)
Hi Abdulaziz! Thanks for your comments. You're right, they are all crucial from inception to planning to implementation to closure; perhaps closure is a little less crucial as long as the evaluative or assessment component is there and that the right people receive the final communications.
Jay Hollowell
ML115 Facilitator
I have to agree here. I think preperation for the project is the most important part. In every project I have been in charge of, I have tried to focus on the variables ahead of time, plan for the most likely points of failure, and have at least rough ideas for solutions ahead of time. More often than not, I have found the most likely failure happens, and the project was preppared for it.
All of the phases play a role in the success of a project from conception to execution. The four phases that you generally progress through when managing a project are defining and organizing; planning; executing; and closing. Although the phases seem linear, they can often overlap. When you work on a project, collabatively as a group, toward a common goal it is critical for all members to understand the process in order to be successful. The process can break down during any phase and in order to stay on track the goal must be clear, attainable, and measurable.
All the four phases of project management are important and pivotal to its success. It has to follow its natural and consecutive process, which are executed in this order:
1. Defining and Organizing the Project: The key to success that we can term “most important†is defining and organizing the project. This will help the project manager and his team to clearly identify the business needs, the objectives of the project and clarify all the competing demands as well as its scope, roles and responsibilities of members, it will also create the project charter, and timeline to complete the project, milestones and cost estimates. When the defining and organizing the project phase is ascertain, then the
2. Proper Planning of the Project is embarked upon: This is also a critical process that will involve critical assembling and reviewing of the team’s skill sets available within the team and assignment of tasks based on their background and skill sets. If team members are not properly placed on their core areas of competence within the project activities, then a problem may be looming. At this juncture a realistic budget, scheduling; and communications plans (line of reporting, which will involve all the key persons concerned, e.g. project sponsor(s)) will be developed and agreed upon by the team members.
3. Executing the Project: This third phase, which is executing the project, is very critical to the success of the project. It includes the launching of the project with team members; monitoring and controlling progress in terms of cost, time, and quality; and the mitigating of the envisaged risks speedily.
4. Finally the Closing down the Project: This final phase will involved the project team evaluation of the team's performance; archiving documents related to the project; reviewing of the lessons learned; and celebrating the project's completion. Also an independent evaluator (outside the team) will equally review the project to ascertain if it met its goals and objectives.
Lisa: I align with your position that the "defining and organizing the project is the most important step of the project management process and leads to a project’s success." It is the key to success that we can term “most important†- defining and organizing the project. This will help the project manager and his team to clearly identify the business needs, the objectives of the project and clarify all the competing demands as well as its scope, roles and responsibilities of members. It will also create the project charter, and timeline to complete the project, milestones and cost estimates.
Thanks Ted and Lisa! Though all of the steps or phases in the project management process are important, as you mention, defining and organizing the project may be the most crucial since it definitively captures objectives, scope (what's included and what's not), identification of stakeholders and resources, expectations, overall cost and funds authorization. If these are not addressed, further budgeting and work breakdown structures, implementation and accomplishment are ineffective.
Thanks so much for your comments!
Jay Hollowell
ML115 Facilitator
Thanks, Ted, for your observations. I have found that in the implementation phase, often mitigating the risks and employing a contingency plan if needed are often overlooked. Would you agree? Do you think it might be due to the fact that a lot of project managers do not effectively analyze the environment to assess risk and then are hard pressed to give up on the established plan (I forget what it's called - escalation of commitment)?
Also in the closing phase, I have found that appropriate communication to all of the stakeholders may sometimes be lacking. Do you think that it's because the channels were never clearly identified, or just because the project leader did not communicate period? Your thoughts?
Jay Hollowell
ML115 Facilitator
Thanks and yes, Jay I totally agree with you that “during the implementation phase, often mitigating the risks and employing a contingency plan if needed are often overlooked.†Part of the issue(s) is that some team members may be so much in a hurry to jump-start the project and earn their income based on their projected or agreed salary or commission that they forget to plan for the unexpected risks and plan strategies to mitigate them. For instance, in the current project that I am handling with my team, a couple of them want us to collect our retainer fee and start the project without mitigating the anticipated risks and employing contingency plans. They are not alone on this mindset as many project team members globally do go that route but it is not the best practice.
On your second question, Jay I think that appropriate communication to all of the stakeholders may sometimes be lacking because the channels might not have been clearly identified in the first place, and/or that the project leader did not communicate period. Some project teams also may be eager to get out of their current project to start a new one that they forget to communicate, which may not earn them a repeat business at the long run.
Enjoy…Ted
Hi Ted!
I really enjoy your VALUABLE discussions and thank you for your participation in the forum!
Interestingly, in both cases that we reference, planning tends to be the key - planning for the contingencies and planning (establishing) the actual communication channels in the first place!
Jay Hollowell
ML115 Facilitator
Project management methodology identifies five project phases in which project management practices should be utilized from the inception until the culmination of the project’s campaign. Unfortunately, many project managers may place relevance, focus, and fulfill total phase execution on one or maybe two of the five phases resulting in great peril to the success of their projects. Therefore, a question of which of the five phases is most important, makes me totally uncomfortable, because, the omission, over emphasis of one project dynamic/phase, or executing a project control that impedes progress instead of aiding the project progression are all examples of disproportionate project management practices. We must always recognize and respect the importance of all five project management phases and place enthusiastic energies in the wholehearted and holistic utilization of all phase components.
Critical Success factors for a successful project lie in stakeholder satisfaction, business alignment, tiered project approach, and a project procedural organization. Standardizing the organizational policies and processes by aligning them within the consistent, repeatable parameters of project management methodology will optimize corporate allocations of project time, budget and resources. Therefore, once the project management team outlines the project success criteria, costs, and quality expectations for the project, alongside stringent planning, quality assurance, and project controls, the project process will drive the project from the customer perspective, ultimately delivering a competent, business supportive product. This is why planning can be one of the initial, significant, and fundamental factors that can posture a project for successful completion.
During the planning phase, the document outputs, such as the project management plan, the communication plan, etc. set the ground rules, the framework, and basic project principles that underpin the activities of the remaining project phases, the execution, monitoring/controlling, and the project closing process. Nevertheless, while planning provides the foundational baseline and heartbeat of the entire project, the vital nature of planning does not distinguish it as a principal or utmost phase which ensures project success. Mainly because, my experience has allowed me to observe many well-planned projects with superbly prepared project plans, flounder due to shoddy project execution. Therefore, the planning, however important and noteworthy, did not guarantee project success. Consequently, I am not comfortable stating that any of the five project phases is foremost in importance, yet the essential nature of establishing sound planning activities and planning cannot be denied. Lastly, be aware that the project team should always embrace a constantly evolving project planning process, improvise though trial-and-error preparation procedures, and incorporate the input, recommendations, and ideas from all corporate departments and management levels.
Assuming the scope is clear then planning. If the scope is not clear then defining the requirements is key to success. Statistically I read the lack of definition causes the most project failure.
Hi Dray! Thank you so much for your comments! Your observations, particularly in your emphasis that no particular phase is more important than another, is the valuable type of feedback that the question is designed to elicit, particularly from those, such as yourself, with a considerable amount of project management experience. I too have seen the best project plans sit on the table due to ineffective execution of the ongoing, and necessary, project management process.
I particularly like your focus on driving the process from the customer perspective - the customer, perhaps, being the most significant stakeholder of all.
Two particular phrases caught my attention - " tiered project approach" and " a project procedural organization."
Given successful project execution is contingent, as you address, upon standardization of consistent policies, identification and availability of resources, alignment to mission and core values, quality control, communications, etc., I would be interested to hear, at your discretion, a bit more as to how you envision the "tiered" project approach and any further characteristics you consider crucial to an organization that is truly project procedural.
Thanks again,
Jay Hollowell
ML115 Facilitator
The four phases are defining and organizing the project, planning the project, executing the project and closing the project. There is a temptation to focus on execution, especially for "get it done" types of folks. I think the most important phase is the planning. Without good planning, nothing good happens. The old saying "failing to plan is planning to fail" is very apt in the case of project management. Of course it must also be said that defining and organization is also critical, but organizing is part of planning. Defining the overall scope of the project and setting objectives are two steps that must be revisited several times during any project. Things change, including trends, technology, economics, priorities. So stakeholders must be constantly in the loop and project scope and objectives reconfirmed. So I would say there are two most important steps, organizing and planning. All the rest is just work.
I agree. I think it is very hard to consider a single phase or step as the most important. This would be a generalization, and would not consider the scope and importance of the project, the complexity of it, nor the skill sets and competency of the personnel involved. Experience also enters into the equation.
Dray, this is a very comprehensive response and reminds me that project management does follow the basic responsibilities of management. They are planning, organizing, staffing, developing, evaluating and controlling. I see similar patterns running through this course. Also, there was an excellent text written decades ago by Kepner and Tregoe, "The Rational Manager" that set forth an excellent and still relevant model for problem-solving.
I believe, as stated earlier, that all of the phases are necessary and need deliberate focus. However, even though I have not had to manage many projects, I also believe that the defining of the project and its scope are crucial to be competent in effectively following through to the desired outcome. I have seen projects around me that become disorganized and lost because of creep. This appears to me to happen because the original scope of the project is modified from a lack of true understanding of the original need or a lack of understanding of what is required to accomplish the goals assigned.
