Project Management
According to Kerzner (2009), "A project can be considered to be any series of activities and tasks that have a specific objective to be completed within certain specifications, have a start/end dated, and have funds, human/non-human resources, and are multifunctional.” All projects have a beginning, the embryonic stage and at some point they come to an end which is the death of a project. However before a project can reach the final stage of death there is a life cycle that occurs which will be discussed as the understanding of a project is the focus of this paper.
The life cycle of a project undergoes five major phases, and in order for a phase to be reached it must move in a sequential order. The five life cycle phases are conceptual, planning, testing, implementation and project closeout. The initiation phase also referred to as the conception of the project is the first of the five phases. The initiation phase in its most simplistic definition is starting the project. At the start of the project there are key elements that are identified such as the basics of who, what, when, where, and the proposed budget. The scope of work would also be presented at this conceptual phase.
The second phase is the planning phase is basically a recap of the first phase but focuses more on the fine details. Those details would include but not limited to project milestones, how the resources will be allocated, the financial plan, how the communication will take place, the documentation that will serve as the project reference material. Resources and time are key elements to any project, therefore estimating how much time and man power will be needed for a project is important as both can affect the profitability of a project. An execution schedule is vital to keep the time of a project measurable and allow the implementation with a clear target date. A