Project Management in 5 Phases: Embedded Instructions / Samples / Forms

The Five Phases

Typically, a project is proposed by an individual who identifies a project-worthy need or opportunity. The Identification phase of the IT Project Management Framework involves evaluating and deciding if a proposed project should be undertaken, based on the studying of factors like costs, benefits, risks, and etc.

Identification phase

The Identification phase is initiated by the project sponsor, who generates the need for an IT project and is responsible for the project proposal, or sometimes referred to as a business case. The project proposal is a document that describes what needs to be done, why is the project worth doing and the overall strategies that enable the project to be accomplished.

If the proposal failed to justify the project, the project sponsor will cancel the project. If the proposal is approved, this ends the Identification phase and begins the Initiation phase.

Activities and deliverables

The table below lists the major activities of this phase and the deliverables (i.e. process documents) output from the activities.

Activity	Description	Deliverable
Cost-Benefit Analysis	The assessment of cost and benefits related to each solution	Cost-Benefit Analysis
Risk Assessment	To assess the risks associated with the project. A project with high risk may imply a higher chance that it will end with a failure, which is a factor to consider in approving the project proposal.	Risk Assessment
Initial Project Complexity Assessment	To determine the complexity of the project by answering a questionnaire. This process helps you understand not only the scale of the project but also the readiness of the team in conducting the project.	Project Complexity Assessment
Develop a Project Proposal	Develop a project proposal, which is a document that describes what needs to be done, why is the project worth doing and the overall strategies that enable the project to be accomplished	Project Proposal
Approve/Reject Project Proposal	Project sponsor decides or denies the project proposal

Initiation phase

The Initiation phase of the IT Project Management Lifecycle involves the assignment of the project manager, who is responsible for managing and completing the project on behalf of the project sponsor. The project manager will then define the overall project scope and develop the project charter, which formally authorizes the existence of the project.

Activities and deliverables

The Initiation phase begins when the project proposal developed in the Identification phase is approved.

• The first thing that will happen in the Initiation phase is the assignment of the project manager. The performing organization appoints a Project Manager to lead the project team and manage the project.
• He or she will develop the project charter, which is a document that formally establishes the existence of the project and the value it hopes to deliver to the organization.
• The project charter document will then be approved by the approving authority and project sponsor. Their approval formally empowers the project manager to expend resources on the project and continue with the planning phase of the project.

The table below lists the major activities of this phase and the deliverables (i.e. process documents) output from the activities.

 

Activity	Description	Deliverable
Assign Project Manager	Assign a project manager to lead to the team in completing the project
Revise Project Complexity Assessment	The project manager will revise the project complexity assessment performed in the previous phase. Unlike what was done before, part of this activity involves the selection of project management scheme, which determines the activities to be conducted in subsequence phases	Project Complexity Assessment (Updated)
Develop Project Charter	The project manager will develop the project charter document	Project Charter
Approve Project Charter	The project charter will be reviewed and approved by the approving authority and project sponsor.

Planning phase

The Planning Phase is the third phase of the IT Project Management Lifecycle.

It begins after the project is initiated. In the Planning phase, various planning activities will be conducted, which includes the planning of work, schedule, budget, resources, staffing needs, and etc.

Activities and deliverables

Those planning activities are performed to ensure the project will be completed on time and within budget. The project being planned progresses to the Execution and Control phase of the life cycle.

The table below lists the major activities of this phase and the deliverables (i.e. process documents) output from the activities.

Activity	Description	Deliverable
Conduct Planning Kick-off Meeting	Set expectations with the team by conducting a kick-off meeting with all the participants of this phase.
Define Project Activities (Using WBS)	Define project activities using a Work Breakdown Structure.	Work Breakdown Structure
Schedule Activities	Identify the schedule of each work package and their inter-dependencies.	Project Schedule
Perform Resource Planning	Determine the type and amount of resources needed to complete the project.	Resource Plan
Perform Staffing Planning	Document the staffing plan, which ensures the appropriate human resources with the necessary skills are acquired.	Staffing Plan
Perform Budget Planning	Summarize the expenditures and source of funding for the project during the life of the project.	Budget Plan
Perform Project Performance Planning	Identify the performance goal for each of the business objectives.	Project Performance Plan
Perform Risk Management Planning	Identify how risks can be identified, mitigated, managed and controlled.	Risk Management Plan
Identify and Record Project Risks	Identify project risks by following the risk management approach described in the Risk Management Plan.	Risk Register
Perform Change & Configuration Management Planning	Identify the project components that are governed by the change control process and the documentation of the change process.	Change & Configuration Management Plan
Perform Procurement Planning	Describe how the various aspects of procurement will be managed from the beginning to the end of the project.	Procurement Plan
Perform Communications Planning	Describe stakeholders’ information needs and how the needs can be satisfied.	Communications Plan
Perform Quality Management & IV&V Planning	Plan product and project-related quality assurance activities.	Quality & IV&V Plan
Develop Project Plan	Combine individual planning documents into a Project Plan.	Project Plan

Execution and Control Phase

The Execution and Control phase is where the project team build and produce the deliverables required. It begins after the approval of project plans and the allocation of the resources necessary for executing the tasks. During this phase, the project team builds the physical project deliverables. The user test and approve the work.

Activities and deliverables

The Execution and Control phase is usually the longest phase in the project management life cycle. This phase ends only when the deliverable has met the customer acceptance criteria established in the project plan and a user acceptance document has been signed off.

The table below lists the major activities of this phase and the deliverables (i.e. process documents) output from the activities.

 

Activity	Description	Deliverable
Conduct Execution Kick-off Meeting	Conduct a kick-off meeting with all the participants of this phase, to inform the team of the scope and expectation of this phase.
Perform Project Communications Management	Communicate project status to stakeholders.	Status Report, Meeting Agenda, Meeting Minutes
Manage Project Procurement	Document the items procured and keep records for any procurement documents.	Procurement Log
Track and Manage Project Risks and Issues	Track and manage the project issues and risks identified	Risk Register (Updated), Issues Log
Conduct Project Change Management	Execute the change management process for each of the change requests initiated.	Change Control Request, Change Request Log
Accept Project	Perform acceptance testing with the user and to obtain a formal acceptance sign-off, signifying that the project has met the objectives and requirements.	User Acceptance Report

Closeout Phase

The Closeout phase, the project team documents the lessons learned from the project and transfers the deliverables to operations staff, who will use and maintain the deliverables as an on-going activity.

Activities and deliverables

Part of this phase involves having the project manager captures the lessons learned from the project, and developing a Lessons Learned document. This document will serve as an input for similar projects in the future, allowing these projects to run more smoothly. Another document to develop is the Project Closeout Report, which consists of studies of variances between the actual and baseline performance goals, project cost and schedule. It also includes a description of the on-going operation and maintenance plan.

The table below lists the major activities of this phase and the deliverables (i.e. process documents) output from the activities.

Activity	Description	Deliverable
Conduct Closeout Meetings	Conduct closeout meetings with different project participants in collecting and discussing their feedback so that lessons learned are captured. These meeting also helps the project manager in developing a plan for project transitioning.
Develop Lessons Learned	Develop a Lessons Learned document that describes the things that went wrong and well throughout the project lifecycle, and with recommendations.	Lessons Learned
Develop Closeout Report	Develop a Closeout Report which documents the variances from the baseline plan.	Project Closeout Report
Archive Project Documents and Artifacts	Ensure all project documents are properly stored for future access.
Conduct Transitioning Activities	Transfer the deliverables transferred to the operations staff.

Challenges! No Budget for a Project Manager? Too Much Documentation?

• Hard to get a project started and well managed. It involves a lot of upfront investment, training, and additional resources.
• Staff does not have confident or enough maturity to properly kick start business project initiatives.
• The deliverables of the IT projects didn’t align with business goals and objectives.
• As a result, the proliferation of many different but isolated and ad-hoc initiatives is developed randomly without following any guidelines, standards or procedures.
• Produce the deliverables required by a standard is often tedious and very time-consuming.
• The one-size-fit-all solution, process, tool or software is often not efficient for dealing with different sizes or complexities of projects.

Manager Projects with Automated Project Management Tool

Now your team can kick-start any size of IT projects easily with our automated guide-through process that embedded step-by-step instructions, input references, and samples and develops deliverables incrementally and collaboratively with your team members.

Visual Paradigm can significantly enhance and streamline the entire process and allowing your term work collaboratively and effectively with automated task management and notifications with task manager in both desktop and/or over the cloud environment.

• Visual Paradigm s unique Guide-Through Process provides all the instructions, samples, steps, input references for performing analysis, and incrementally developing, classifying and achieving deliverables automatically in a documentation repository.
• The Guide-Through Process provides a step-by-step path for you to navigate back and forth within each development phase and to traverse around different phases using the process navigator. The progress indicator lets you know exactly where you are and what needs to be done in the next steps.
• Follow the well-tested project management process (compatible with PMBOK^®, PRINCE and ITIL) with easy visual modeling language support, enables stakeholders from different domains (project owner, business analyst, enterprise architect and IT professionals) to collaborate easily and effectively.
• Follow the auto guide-through process, all the information filled, diagrams drawn and analysis performed will be summarized into nicely formatted deliverables.
• Project Management Guide-Through includes an “Identification” phase to determine a project’s complexity for adopting the most suitable process scheme.

Automated Project Management Lifecycle

The Project Management Lifecycle, which defines an IT project’s life cycle as five distinct phases. Each IT project progresses through the five phases, completing the activities required, and producing a set of related document outputs.

Step-by-Step Project Management

Follow through the process guide to conduct project management activities. Just dive into a project phase and start performing the activities within. Detailed instructions, samples and project management tools required are embedded inside these activities so that your team can focus on the real work instead of frequently referring back to any standard manual and procedures.

Crystal Clear Instructions and Samples

Instructions and samples are embedded right within the project management activities that you are going to perform, saving your time from searching around the Internet for what it is and what has to be done.

Form-filling

A large set of pre-made project management forms are there for you to document your plan. The information entered will be summarized in forming reports.

Bunch of Diagrams and Tools Integrated

Besides form filling, the project management toolset also features a set of project management diagrams and tools like Organization Chart, Work Breakdown Structure, BPD, PERT Chart, etc.

Auto-generated project reports

As you progress phase by phase and works have been done step-by-step incrementally, the information will be collected from your work in the background in forming different project management documents, known as deliverables. All these deliverables will be generated, versioned and archived in a well categorized visual File Cabinet.