2.2.1 Anatomy of a Project

2.2.1.1 Project Life Cycle

consists of all the work required to bring a product to the market / make service operational

Project life cycle stages and project manager's tasks

1. Starting
• Determine the need for the project 
• Determine the feasibility of the project
• Set project's goals
• Create a proposal
• Convince stakeholders (e.g. upper management) that the project is needed
• Decisions on resources, staffing and budget
2. Organizing and preparing
• Conduct research (on requirements)
• Design a prototype (for testing)
• Prepare and implement a schedule
• Identify targets
• Distribute tasks and resources to the team
• Adjusting project team members as needed
3. Carrying out the work
• Building / producing the product / service
• Getting materials for production
• Testing (quality and performance) and making necessary modifications
• Preparations for delivery
4. Closing
• Delivery to users (and maintainers)
• Completing all contractual commitments
• Transferring responsibilities
• Training personnel
• Rewarding the project team
• Reassigning team members to new work
• Transferring freed resources (to other projects or organizational divisions)

Characteristics of the phases

• Cost and staffing
• Uncertainty
• Cost of changes

Stage	Cost and staffing	Uncertainty	Cost of changes
1. Starting	Low	High	Low
2. Organizing and preparing	Increases	Decreases	Increases
3. Carrying out the work	Peaks	Decreases	Increases
4. Closing	Decreases	Low	High

Product life cycle

• Product inception and development
• Market introduction
• Market growth
• Market maturity
• Sales decline

2.2.1.2 Project Phases

Independent of project stages, will always depend on the type of project, what and how many project phases make sense. All phases together make up the 4 stages of the project, but phases and phase boundaries aren't same as stages. Usually phases deviate from stages in the stage 3. Carrying out the work.

Characteristics

• Sequential (but can overlap according to project situation, can be iterative)
• Distinct work
• Repeat processes
• End with handoff/transfer of deliverable (=output of a phase)
• Have natural end points (aka phase exit, phase gate, decision gate, kill point)

2.2.1.3 Introduction to Project Management Process Groups

PMBOK Guide describes a process as a

"set of interrelated actions and activities performed to achieve a pre-specified product, result or service."

So, they ensure right results.


Project management process groups

• Initiating processes
• Start a new project or new phase
• Collect information
• Define new ideas
• Obtain authorization to proceed with the project / phase
• Usually these processes do not iterate
• Planning processes
• Defines the plans
• Determines scope and objectives
• Establish a better idea of the project requirements
• If necessary, alternative courses of action can be planned
• Usually iterate
• Executing processes
• Work / Create the final output of the project
• Managing the project team
• Communicating information to stakeholders
• Typically uses most time & resources
• Usually iterate
• Monitoring & controlling processes
• Regulate and control the project's progress
• Monitoring, reviewing and identifying any problematic areas
• Initiating any necessary changes
• Interact with the four other processes throughout the project
• Usually are repeated throughout a project/phase, from starting to closing
• Closing processes
• Aim to finalize all activities and contracts for a project or phase

Definition: Iteration

"repeated feedback loops that allow additional analysis."

(PMBOK(r) Guide)