Video summary

The Project Management Life Cycle - Project Management Training

Main summary

Key takeaways

Educational

Main Ideas / Concepts Conveyed

  • Clarify confusion: The video addresses a common misunderstanding where people mix up the delivery process and the project management process within the same project.
  • Two parallel “life cycles”:
    • Delivery process: Work primarily done by team members to build and release the project’s main components.
    • Project management life cycle: Work primarily done by the project manager to oversee, plan, monitor, control, and close the project.
  • Source/framework: The project management life cycle is presented “as documented” from the PMI (Project Management Body of Knowledge).

Delivery Process (What Team Members Do)

Team members are primarily engaged in delivery work, including:

  • Definition
  • Design
  • Development
  • Deployment
  • Departure (as the project wraps up)

Project Management Life Cycle (What the Project Manager Does)

The video describes project management activities occurring across phases, with a general flow:

1) Initiating

  • Project charter is the key deliverable.
  • Approval and sign-off for the project occur here.
  • Initiating is shown at the start of the project management life cycle.

2) Planning

  • Project plan is the key deliverable.
  • Planning includes defining:
    • Processes
    • Schedule
    • Milestones
    • Main deliverables to be produced during the project
  • Planning can begin early and continues throughout the project.

3) Executing, Monitoring, and Controlling

  • These activities begin as delivery work begins and continue during much of the project.
  • The project manager focuses on:
    • Producing performance reports
    • Assessing current status vs. desired status
    • Taking actions to control the project and get it back on track
    • Managing logs, including:
      • Issue log
      • Risk log
      • Change log
    • Monitoring deliverables being produced by the project

4) Closing

  • Occurs at the end, aligned with the departure of the delivery team work.
  • Responsibilities include closing out the project and finalizing key items, such as:
    • User acceptance
    • Approval of the project
    • Final reports distributed to stakeholders and team members
    • Change control board activities (as part of closure)
    • Project documents
    • Lessons learned

Key Takeaway / Lesson

  • They are interrelated but distinct: delivery work is mainly what the team does, while project management is mainly what the project manager does, including oversight and control activities (reporting, logs, monitoring, closure deliverables).

Speakers / Sources Featured

  • Jennifer Wit (Director, projectmanager.com)
  • PMI (Project Management Institute) / PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) (referenced as the source of the project management life cycle)

Original video