CHAPTER 2:

2.0 PROJECT LIFE

CYCLE

2.1 Definition
TheProject Life
Cyclerefers to a series of
activities/phases that a
project passes through
from its initiation to its
closure.
http://www.uakron.edu/pmo/plc/

2.2 Diagram

2.3 Characteristics of Project

Life Cycle
Defines the beginning and end of the project.

Deliverables usually approved before work starts on the next phase.

Sometimes a subsequent phase is begun prior to approval of the previous phase.
This is called fast tracking.
Defines technical work and implementers.
Cost and staffing levels are low at the start, higher towards the end, and drop as
project closes.
Probability of project success is low at the start of the project and gets
progressively higher as the project continues.
Cost of changes and of error correction generally increases as the project
continues
http://itilcourse.blogspot.com/2010/04/characteristics-of-project-life-cycle.html

2.4 Phases
i. Initiation
ii. Planning
iii. Implementation
iv. Close-up

2.4.1 Initiation
This is the starting phase. Initiating
involves identification of projects,
generation and development of
project ideas, formulating a project
proposal, appraisal of the project
proposal chosen and getting the
organisations commitment and
authorization to commence the
project.

 The Initiation Phase answers the

questions of:
What type of project is being
initiated?
What will this project accomplish?
Will it be worth the effort and cost?
What is the relative priority of this
project in relation to other projects in
the portfolio?
Do we have executive approval to

 In the Initiation Phase, the project lead works

with the project sponsor (a department's
director or head) and stakeholders to define
the scope and deliverables, estimate costs
and resources, complete the project request
and obtain authorization to begin the
Planning Phase of the project. For projects
that meetthecriteria for the portfolio
planning process, this is handled
throughtheongoing project request
submission process.

 For projects that dont meetthe

criteria for the portfolio planning
process (also known as internal
projects), authorization and
documentation requirements come
from the project sponsor. Some of
the steps in Initiation may be merged
with steps in the Planning Phase for
internal projects.

 The Initiation Phase is critical to a

projects success. A thorough vetting
process conducted through the
Initiation Phase should result in
executive and stakeholder support,
clarity of objectives, understanding
of urgency, and commitment of
required resources for the project.

Project
Project
Project
Project

document
feasibility document
concept
charter

Project Document
The Project Documentation
includes information which was
acquired from project Feasibility
Document and Project Concept
Document.
Provide reference point throughout
the project
Includes: Project Goals, Scope,
Project Organization, Business Case
& Constraints.

Project Feasibility Document

Forecast the output of the project.
In accordance with predetermined needs
The most suitable solution to the needs
Legally, physically and socially compliant
Provide information about the cost.
Identify the risks and constraints
Within available budget

Project concept document

A concept paper is a proposal
document written to convince
potential funders to sponsor a
project.
To get fund

Preparing Request for Proposal /

Term of Reference
Purpose:
To state comprehensively and in detail
what is required from the customers
point of view to ensure that their needs
are addressed.
A good RFP allows contractors or project
team to understand what the customer
expects so that they can prepare a
thorough proposal that meet and satisfy
customers requirements.

Preparing Request for Proposal /

Term of Reference
Requirements include project scope,
objectives, budget, specification,
completion time, payment terms etc.
Content of RFP
Statement of work (SOW)
Customer requirements
Deliverables (tangible items to be
supplied)
Customer-supplied items

Preparing Request for Proposal /

Term of Reference
Content of RFP (Cont..)
Approval requirements
Type of contract
Payment terms
Required schedule for completion of the
project
Instructions for the format and content
of the contract proposals.

Preparing Request for Proposal /

Term of Reference / Tender Notice
Content of RFP (Cont..)
Due date by which the customer
expects potential contractors to submit
proposals.
Evaluation criteria for the contractors
proposals
Funds the customer willing to spend on
the project, where relevant.

Preparing Request for Proposal /

Term of Reference / Tender Notice
Evaluation criteria for the contractors
proposals
The profile and background of the contractors
in relation to experiences in similar projects
The technical and financial capacities of
contractors
The proposed schedule
The costs estimates on materials, services
and the intended budget the customer has or
are available for the project

Soliciting Proposals
Through official announcements
The common ways open tender or
invitation to pre qualified tenderers.
Methods: Business advertisements- mass media-local
newspapers and business circulars
Customised contacts with regular contractors
List of approved contractors by the organisation /
government
Tenders and bids
Electronic media ( e-tender, tender directs etc)

Project Charter:
Used by the sponsor of a project to
announce a new project and to
demonstrate that management is in
support of this project. The Project
Charter Example provides the outline
for a new project and gives
management a sense of direction for
the project from beginning to end.

http://www.inc.com/tools/project-charter-example.html

Tender Notice: Requirements

What?
A formal offer in writing to offer a job or
request services in return for a stated
amount of money and by a stated date.
Announcement displayed and delivered
publicly by organisation to inform and
request interested contractors, suppliers
or firms to carry out project, or to cater
equipment or services for the
organisation.

Tender Notice: Purposes

To inform interested parties that there is a
job tender to be offered
To invite qualified parties to take up the
offer and provide services
To sell the document tender
Customers specification for the job
Tender document will form part f the
contract document at the later stage

Tender Notice: Contents

The name of customer's organisation and
its logo
The word Tender Notice or Invitation to
Tender and its tender number of
reference
Tender qualifications or pre qualifications
Tender description
Tender document fees and modes of
payment, date and time details
Request for site visit (Compulsory)

Tender Notice: Contents

Earnest money deposit (refundable if
unsucess)
Submission of tender and address
Clause of indemnity

Tender Notice: Types

Invitation to tender notice-open procedure
Invitation to tender notice-restricted
procedure
Invitation to tender notice-negotiated
procedure
Prior information notice
Periodic indicative notice
Qualification notice
Contract award notice

Planning
Planning is the process of deciding in
advance about the future course of
actions to be taken. In project
environment, planning consists of
defining all the works required to be
carried out so that all the project
participants will understand their role in
the project team and carry out the work
assigned to them. Planning acquires
greater relevance to projects since
projects consist of non-routine, non
repetitive tasks.

Project planning involves the following:

Defining the scope of the project in terms of the
product/services to be delivered by the project.
Forecasting and estimating the resources (men,
material, money, machines etc.,) required for the
project.
Breaking down the project into manageable
activities and arriving at the logical sequence
between the different activities. The logical
sequence between the activities is arrived at
starting from the terminal activity of the project
and working backwards towards the initial
activity, deciding in the process, the activities
that must be completed before the succeeding
activities can be taken up for execution.

 Arriving at an appropriate organisational

structure to implement the project .
Planning for the tentative project completion
time. This is done by preparing a master
programme schedule that gives the critical
dates of major events and control points.
Scheduling the activities in such a way that
the project is completed within the least
possible time by carrying out CPM / PERT
analysis.

 Preparing detailed cost estimates for

all the activities.
Determining the required resources for
all the activities.
Considering the possibilities of
adverse occurrences and keeping a
contigency plan ready that
gives the best cost / benefit results for
the given resources.

Work Breakdown Structure

(WBS)
Breaks a project down into
manageable processes or pieces to
ensure all works are identified in
order to complete the whole project.
The completed WBS can be used for
budgeting and personnel-selection
purposes as well as scheduling and
network diagramming.

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS):

Purposes
Define project team responsibility
Set out organisation structure
Allows coordination of activities
Allows control
Facilitates project scheduling
Facilitates costing
Facilitates risks analysis

Work Breakdown Structure

(WBS)
Project is broken down into the
following levels: The Total project
Process
Major activities-also called summary
tasks
Work packages (Also called tasks,
activities or work elements)

Work Breakdown Structure

(WBS)
WBS structure can be arranged in a
variety of formats. A WBS can have
as many levels as appropriate but
normally up to the sixth level.

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS):

Activity
A piece of work that consumes time.
A subdivision of a project.
It may consists of a subtask where
the activity is subdivided into
smaller meaningful pieces of work.

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS):

Work Package
The lowest level, a group of main or
key tasks or activities .
Project Manager will plan the works,
executes the works and control it in
the work package.
Criteria: Deliverable oriented
(Defining completion criteria),
granular (small and easy to control
with details) and defined in action
form (build, design, install, erect).

Work Breakdown Structure

(WBS)
The detail of the levels to put into a
WBS depends on:- The level at which a single
individual or unit can
assigned responsibility and
accountability in accomplishing
the work package
- The level at which the organisation
wants to control the budget and
monitor the collect cost data during
the project.

Project

Process
Activity/
Task
Work
Package

SCHEDULE CONTROL
The key to effective project control
is the report.
Reporting maybe daily, weekly or
monthly depending on the
complexity of the project and it
duration. The shorter the reporting
period, the better the chance of
identifying problems at and early
stage.

SCHEDULE CONTROL
In each reporting period, the
information need to be
collected:

Data on actual performance: the

actual time the activities
started and finished, and the
actual costs expended and
committed.
Information of any changes to
the project scope, schedule or
budget, and any other problems
that arise.

SCHEDULE CONTROL:STEPS
(1) Analyse the schedule to
determine which areas may need
corrective actions
(2) Decide what specific corrective
actions should be taken
(3) Revise the plan to incorporate the
selected corrective actions
(4) Recalculate the schedule to
evaluate the effects of the
planned corrective actions.

Fund Allocation
The financial resources required are
to be arranged. This shall be done in
such a way that availability of
financial resources for the execution
of the project are timely and
adequate.

Risk Management
the identification, assessment, and
prioritization of risks followed by coordinated
and economical application of resources to
minimize, monitor, and control the probability
and/or impact of unfortunate events.
Risks can come from uncertainty in financial
markets, project failures, legal liabilities,
credit risk, accidents, natural causes and
disasters as well as deliberate attacks from
an adversary.

 Risk Identification:
1. identify, characterize, and assess threats
(SHO)
2.assess the vulnerability of critical assets to
specific threats
3.determine the risk (i.e. the expected
consequences of specific types of attacks on
specific assets)
4.identify ways to reduce those risks
5.prioritize risk reduction measures based on a
strategy

Managing Risk:
include transferring the risk to
another party, avoiding the risk,
reducing the negative effect of the
risk, and accepting some or all of the
consequences of a particular risk.

 Procurement Planning
Procurement planning is the process
used by companies or institutions to
plan purchasing activity for a specific
period of time.
The procurement process is essential
to cutting waste in construction.
Plan when to hire and when to buy.

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-procurement-planning.htm

Implementation
Activities
Execution f a Project:
Executing is the process of carrying out the
project activities as per the plans. Though the
project execution shall as far as possible be
done according to the plans originally
envisaged, changes / modifications required, if
any, are to be incorporated wherever
necessary. Since projects are dynamic in
nature, flexibility is essential in execution of
projects so that the overall objectives of the
project are achieved.

 Project Control:
Controlling is the process of comparing project with the
planned performance. In other words, it is checking up
whether the project progresses exactly in line with what was
planned and discovering deviations, if any. (The deviations
are often called variances). Once deviations in terms of
time, resource and quality parameters are noticed, they
must be analyzed, the reasons for the deviations are to be
identified and suitable remedial measures are to be taken to
correct the deviations and to put the project back on the
right track. It must be noted that the three important
factors over which control is exercised are time, resource
and quality. the actual performance of the

 Handle Changes
A project is not rigid in its life span.
Changes occur throughout the life span of
a project as a natural outcome of many
environmental factors. The changes may
vary from minor changes which may have
very little impact on the project to major
changes which may have a big impact or
even may change the very nature of the
project.

Close-up
Projects are temporary endeavors.
Hence, they have a beginning and an
end. A project comes to an end when the
execution is completed and the project
objectives are fulfilled. For every project
there must be a formal process called
closing for declaring the closure of the
project. This formal process of closing
consists of the following sub-processes.

 Studying and ensuring that the project gives the

planned output.
Closure of contracts, settlement of amounts due to
contractors and resolution of any outstanding issues
with them.
Administrative closure which includes passing of
information about closure of the project to all the
stake holders, employees, executives and to all
others who are involved in the project.
Reallocating men and available material resources,
if any to other projects or departments as the case
may be.