Every project requires the same phases to create a successful project or valuable product. Keeping these phases the same and consistently helps ensure the project is finished with the requirements and expectations met. Putting these phases together is called the project lifestyle. It helps keep you on track, monitors cost and other resources, have more control, and deliver higher quality projects or products and services.
Here are the five phases to small business project management to know about:
Initiation: Getting Starting
This phase is where you get prepared by gathering information and important resources. Believe it or not, this is the step where most projects fail as important information goes missing due to poor communication. You can't develop a detailed and successful plan if you don't understand why, you are doing the project in the first place. This is what the initiation phase to project management is all about. Be sure you know who the project is for and why.
Planning: Outlining and Organization
The next phase to project management includes organizing and scheduling all the information you gather and confirm in the preliminary phase. This means creating realistic deadlines for the deliverables and tasks needed to finish the project objective. A proper plan keeps you organized, focused, and determined to finish on time and with quality.
Execution: Taking Action and Delivering
The third project management phase is all about following the plan you detailed. This required proper time management and commitment to execute the tasks needed to meet the deadlines. If you don't follow or execute the plan, you won't deliver a successful project or finish on time for your customers.
Monitoring and Control: Keeping Track and Updating
The next or fourth and critical phase of project management includes risk management and elimination and monitoring the deliverables and available resources. Keeping track of these resources ensures you execute the plan and get the necessary work done to meet the project owner's expectations.
Closure: End and Celebrate
Finally, the closure phase is more critical than many project managers and businesses realize. This phase includes reviewing your work to ensure you met all the requirements and then sending it to your stakeholder to close the project. In addition, it is always vital to perform a post-project review to evaluate what went right and wrong. This information can then be used to update important systems to deliver better work.
If you have yet to follow a specific process when running project management, you are likely to do it wrong and not see the results for which you are hoping. However, you can turn your project management system into a powerful tool that grows your business and keeps your customers satisfied every time with these five phases.
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