Topics Covered

 Project life cycle

 Project phase activities

 Significance of phases

 Planning, scheduling and control of

project
 Project life cycle
A project is by definition a unique
undertaking, which means it has its
own life cycle.
Project Steps
The PM process, over the course of this life
cycle, can be grouped into two sequential yet
overlapping steps
1. Planning
2. Accomplishment
 Project life cycle
Project Phases
The sequential steps can be further broken
down into four distinct phases in time through
which any project passes.

1. Concept
2. Development
3. Implementation
4. Termination
 Project life cycle
Project Stages and Tasks

In practice, on most projects, the four phases

need to be broken down into greater detail.

Each phase can be broken into a number of

stages and further broken down into tasks.
 Project life cycle
Macro
view Steps Two (Generic)

Phases Four (Generic)

Stages Five to Ten or More

(Industry Specific)
Tasks Many
Micro
view (Project Specific)

Generic means applicable to any sort of project

 Project Phase Activities
Concept Phase
The concept phase is when a need is
identified and background data are collected.
At this point in a project, there is an attempt
to determine if a problem exists.

Goals and objectives are developed during the

phase, and initial plans are developed as
well.
Some field work can be done in this phase i.e.
data collection
 Project Phase Activities
Concept Phase

Important Note:
It should be noted that the project can be
terminated within this or any other phase of
the project.

For instance, an environmental project could

be terminated at the concept phase because
contamination was not found at the site.
 Project Phase Activities
Development Phase
In development phase more detailed planning
occurs. By this point, the problem has been
identified and a need has been established.
The question at this point is:
What is the best manner to go about solving
this problem or satisfying our need?
Economic studies are often performed in this
phase, as well as an evaluation of
alternatives. Detailed design will also be
performed in this phase.
 Project Phase Activities

Implementation Phase

Construction activities often occur and the

detailed design plans are implemented in this
phase.
 Project Phase Activities
Termination Phase
The termination phase is the point where the
results of the project are documented,
resources are released, and responsibility for
the newly developed product is transferred.

For example, if the project were to build a

new chemical manufacturing plant, it is at the
termination phase that the plant would be
placed in the hands of the new operators.
 Significance of Phases
Having provided an overview of the phases of
a project life cycle, we can look at their
relevance to various management concerns.
The following slides focuses on phases and
the life cycle in consideration of:
 Level of effort
 Cumulative costs
 Potential for reducing costs
 Escalating cost to fix or change
 Quality of information
 Risk versus amount at stake
Project Life Cycle-Level of effort
 Significance of Phases
Level of effort
Effort can be thought of as total labour hours
per unit of time.
OR Total cost incurred per unit of time.
The effort starts at zero, before the project
has commenced, and ends at zero, after the
project has been completed. Between these
points, the effort over time curve has a
typically characteristic profile, which looks like
a pear sliced in half, resting flat face down,
with the stem at point zero.
Project manager’s level of effort curve
 Significance of Phases
Project manager’s level of effort curve
Project manager’s level of effort curve is the
mirror image of the curve for the entire
project.

The curve indicates that the level of

effort is highest during the initial
phases of a project. This is because the
project manager must spent a
significant amount of time in
developing the project plan.
 Significance of Phases
Project manager’s level of effort curve
Once the project moves into implementation,
the project manager’s burden will be reduced
or shifted to task manager.

The figure shows an increase in effort at the

very end of the project. This increase signifies
that the project manager will become very
involved at the end of the project in bringing
about the closure i-e project completion
reports.
Cumulative (collective) cost over time curve

In this case the curve looks like s shape (stretched) with the bottom
tail at time zero and the top tail at corresponding to project completion
Project manager’s Cumulative cost
over time curve
 Significance of Phases
Project manager’s Cumulative cost over time curve

This curve is very steep in the initial phases

and less steep in the implementation phase.
Finally, the curve becomes steep at the very
end of the project.

Note that this is in contrast to the cumulative

curve for the cost of the project as a whole,
which is very steep in the implementation
phase.
 Potential for reducing costs over time
The possibility of identifying a strategy that
has the potential for reducing overall costs
is greatest during the first two phases of a
project, conception and development. This
is because during the early phases:

 Alternatives are evaluated

 Economic analysis can be performed
 The lest amount of labor hours per unit of
time is required
 The least amount of money is invested
Potential for reducing costs over time
Even though the potential for reducing
costs is greatest in the beginning, many
customers and project managers for that
matter often choose to forego planning.
Why?
They prefer an attitude of “Let’s just do it”
This is because many people do not view
planning as work or accomplishing any
thing and there is a strong desire to see
something tangible towards project
completion.
Potential for reducing costs over time
 Significance of Phases
Escalating (increasing) cost to fix or
change over time
The cost of making changes is lowest in the
first two phases of a project. The cost to
change the scope of work then rises more
steeply as the project progresses.

An example is the construction industry,

where it has been said that the cost to make
a change increases ten times in each
succeeding phase.
Escalating cost to fix or change
over time
 Significance of Phases
Quality of information
Unfortunately, the quality of information is at
its lowest in the initial phases of a project.
This means that the planning must be
accomplished using limited information or
with information that is not known to have a
great deal of accuracy. As a project
progresses, more information is gathered.
During the implementation stage, for
instance, a great deal is discovered regarding
the quality of planning and construction
design.
Quality of information over time
 Significance of Phases
Risk and amount at stack over time
The quality of information is lowest in the
initial stages of a project. The lower the
quality of information, the greater the
uncertainty associated with the project.

Uncertainty is always directly correlated

with risk.

Uncertainty does not start to fall significantly

until implementation.
 Significance of Phases
Risk and amount at stake over time
The amount at stake, measured in terms of
resources invested (money spent), is
relatively low during the first two phases of
a project but it rises rapidly during the
implementation phase.

Note that even though uncertainty and risk

are high in the initial phases of a project,
the amount invested at this point in time is
relatively low.
Risk and amount at stack over time
 Significance of Phases
Risk and amount at stake over time
The period of highest risk impact occurs
during implementation. This is the point
where the accuracy of our planning is
discovered.
Here we discover if
• We developed an adequate budget
• Our scheduled time is sufficient
• Our characterization of the site is accurate
• Our remedial technology is going to perform well
 Significance of Phases
Risk and amount at stake over time

Even though risk involved is

highest during the initial phases,
the financial impact of this risk
may be revealed in later phases.
Environmental project management life cycle
 Discussion/

Questions and Answers