Project Management Tips

Three is the Magic Number, continued...

Three overarching phases to the project lifecycle

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Launch: Step Three in the Project Lifecycle

The launch step is the most difficult part of the project process. It must include a rigorous analysis of the final product. It is the point at which we must ask the hard questions, and make sure of our answers. Does our product meet the required goals? Does it match the documentation in every detail? Does every bit of functionality work, as it should? If the answer to any of these questions is 'no', then we need to get busy and change the answer to 'yes'. Finally, we must allow adequate time for this stage in our project schedule, because quality assurance testing and bug fixing is a very time consuming process. Sometimes the last ten percent of the work may take up 40% of the actual project time, and it has the power to make or break the project."

And so, with the three primary phases of the project process clearly outlined and summarily dealt with, the senior manager called an end to the meeting.

Conclusion

This story clarifies the cause and effect inherent to any project process and illustrates some of the more obvious pitfalls. As your projects move from step to step, communicate these project essentials to your team, and pass on the way each project piece is interconnected. The team will feel more confident, that a clear roadmap has been established, and the work will improve due to these basic steps. Using this framework to your advantage is what good project management is all about.



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