Project Management Life Cycle (PMLC)

Approved project requests go through these steps:

Project Management Life Cycle (PMLC)

An overview of this process in PowerPoint can be viewed here: PM Guide to PMLC_Executive Version.pptx 

Initiation

The initiation phase encompasses all the activities necessary for the Project Manager (PM) to start a project after it has been approved by IT Governance (ETSC).  During initiation, the PM develops the project charter the official document that formally establishes a project and facilitates the formal authorization to start a new project.

During Initiation:

• Define initial scope of work, goals, and success factors
• Develop project charter
• Meet with project sponsors
• Establish core team
• Identify stakeholders
• Obtain sponsor approval of the project charter
• Create Confluence project space
• Conduct project kickoff meeting with all stakeholders
• Key deliverable:  Approved Project Charter

Obtain sponsor approval of the Project Charter to move to the next phase (Planning).

Planning

The purpose of the planning process is to document how the PM will manage scope, tasks, schedules, costs, risks, quality, and resource needs.  This process includes all the activities necessary for the PM to establish a project baseline for scope, schedule, cost, and resource needs.  Planning sets the foundation for success.

During Planning:

• PM starts development of the Project Management Plan (PMP)
• Further define the statement of work using a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) 
• Develop the initial project schedule
• Review budgetary needs
• Establish project controls including issue and risk management, and change control
• Start regular project status reporting
• Depending on the type of project, start System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) activities 
  • Analysis, Requirements Gathering, Test Planning
• Depending on type of project, determine appropriate SDLC methodology (Waterfall, Agile, etc.)
• Key deliverables:  PMP, Project Schedule

Obtain sponsor approval of the PMP to move to the next phase (Execution).

Execution

The purpose of the execution process is to execute the tasks described in all the plans, processes, and procedures summarized in the PMP.  The PM will oversee project resources as the detailed system requirements are defined, and the system is designed, developed/configured, tested, implemented, and transitioned to maintenance and operations.  This is where all the work put into planning during the project will be executed.

During Execution:

• Adjust project plan and schedule, as needed
• Facilitate team meetings, receive status updates from project team
• Maintain project space on intranet
• Solution is designed and developed (custom application) or implemented (purchased application)
• Stakeholder feedback is gathered through recurring demos as progress is made (when Agile methodology is used)
• Execution of test plan includes system testing and User Acceptance Testing (UAT) test phases
• Key deliverables:  Project Documentation (i.e. Functional Requirements, Technical Requirements, Executed Test Scenarios, Executed UAT, System Documentation/As-built Documentation)

Obtain sponsor approval of the system/application to move to the next phase (Closure).

Closure

The Closing process consists of those processes performed to conclude all activities across all project management processes to formally complete the project and/or contractual obligations.  The project closure phase represents the completed project. Final deliverables are handed over at this time, vendors who were hired for project-specific work are terminated, and valuable team members are recognized.

During Closure:

• Phase ends when post implementation activities have been completed
• Ensure final documents reflect project changes
• Finalize document revisions
• All project documents are moved to final location
• Project-level retrospective (continuous improvement) provides an opportunity to review project successes and challenges
  • We review the outcome of the project to analyze what we did well and what we could have done better
  • Suggested changes to project management process will be reviewed by cross-district governance team

Obtain sponsor approval to complete the Closure phase.

Monitoring and Controlling

• Monitor and control the project team's execution of the SDLC
• Monitor scope, time, budget, and quality
• Review project deliverables for updates
• Maintain project space on intranet
• Provide project status updates