A Project and its Life Cycle

A project

The best and the most simple way to define the term project  is;

"A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result. "

  (PMBOK , 2008)

A more descriptive definition for a project is stated in project management book by field and Keller (1998), quoted from APM (1993);

The simplest form of a project is a discrete undertaking with defined objectives often including time, cost and quality performance goals. All the projects evolve through a similar life cycle sequence during which there should be recognized start and finish points. In addition the project  objectives maybe defined in a number of ways and the project goals are defined and the project is finite.

 Based on the above definitions, the understanding that can be derived is that a project is a planned set of activities that  drives towards to accomplish a goal or a set of goals through a planned timeline with the use of limited resources.


Project Life Cycle

As explained at the lecture, a project life cycle  is followed by a product life cycle, and at the end of every product life cycle there is a project life cycle, that is due to the stage of maturity in the prduct life cycle where  introducing a product requires a project, and when the product reaches its maturity, in order to compete in the market, another project to introduce a new product would take place.

As depicted by Egan (2006), the project life cycle is often confused with the project management life cycle. Project life cycle refers to the development phases while project management life cycle is on Initiate, Plan, Execute, control and close.

Figure 03: A Project Life Cycle

It is further elaborated, that the phases that a project would go through changes with the nature of the project and is tailored to suit the needs of individual projects.  Therefore the phases shown in figure 03, might change  from one project to another.

Factors that triggers a project

The need for a project can arise through market demand, a business need, based on a client request, due to a technological development, a legal requirement or a social need.


The success Vs The Failure of a project

It is understood that the success of a project cannot be guaranteed, only the process of it can be guaranteed. A project that fails to meet either of the following would eventually fail;

Figure 02 : The project Triangle (Triple Constraint)

The only way to guarantee on the success of a project by meeting the scope, time, cost an quality is through effective project management.



References

Egan, B.D., 2006. An Introduction to PMI's Project Life Cycle. White Paper.

Field, M. & Keller, L., 1998. Project Management. The open university.

PMBOK, 2008. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. 4th ed. Newtown Square: Project Management Institute, Inc.