In reality, PRINCE2 Foundation course project management needs to be the focal point of the eye, rather than anything else. When we’re faced with the whole world and all of its potential problems, and the creativity that will solve them alone, it’s difficult to avoid the first thought that comes to mind: ” project management!” This is a key component of leadership, of change, of lack of change, and not only that, but it also is a key component of the personal development of any individual.
A project is a collection of individuals or groups that have come together to modify or accomplish something in a desired fashion. These “project management” groups aren’t work groups, or departments, and the focus of the individuals within those groups is not going to be their own individual interests but the group interests of the team members. But do you understand the idea of working in a team and not wearing a hat? Why have a ” hat ” on each of us? Let’s look at the basic, fundamental premise behind “project management”.
There are 3 basic phases that make up the project life cycle.
The very first step in the project life cycle is to decide what the project is going to be. This is attempting to decide on exactly what the project needs to deliver to the organization and fulfill the company’s objectives. The team will create this first project plan. The project plan of course will be utilized to create the next two phases and the make-up of the project deliverables. This will include whatever is taking the team from the goal setting of knowing exactly what the project needs to get to establishing the markets or customer groups in which the project needs to deliver.
The second phase will be to actually get work done to accomplish the project. The team has their work list and their list of tasks and they will most likely have assigned whoever is doing what to just that part of the work list. During whatever phase you take over there will be a constant movement of the team to the next phase. This process is very common to project teams and seems normal to a project manager. So why do I bring this up? The answer lies in knowing that this is where the very first step structure of the project life cycle comes into play.
The work list and the tasks that need to be accomplished to get from the work list to the final phase of accomplishing the project deliverables are not what will be discussed here.
The third and final phase will be controlled by the final project manager or the leader of the team, depending on whose in charge of the project. This phase can be referred to as the ” knowing what” phase.
We can see that each of the phases are independent of the others. In all 3 phases it is through one of the phases that the other phases are implemented transactionally. The project manager’s responsibility is totally to manage each of the stages. This is the crucial element in determining how effective the project management system will be to achieving the project objectives and goals.
