6B.  Sequencing the Work of the Project

1.

In many organizations, the Project Charter or Project Brief is a very important, proforma document that describes specific aspects of the proposed project.

As such, it requires sign-off by senior executive management before further work can proceed. A "Go/No-go" decision represents a significant milestone in the project's life span because a "Go" decision commits the organization to major corporate expenditures.

Thus approval of the Project Charter is a very significant decision point in the life of the project and constitutes an important part of the project's governance structure.

In other words, beyond this point a major part of the project's resources will be deployed and consumed in the actual achievement of the project's goals and objectives.

So, approval of the Project Charter provides the necessary authority for carrying out the work of the second two phases.

These two phases constitute the work of actual production and the closing of the project.

2.

Phase III.  In this third phase the real work will be done as planned and is called the Execution phase or some similar name.

This includes planning the physical work in detail before actually carrying it out to create the product.

3.

The work in this third phase is largely driven by the technology being used to create the actual product.

The output of this phase is called the "deliverable".

Depending on the technology, ranging from traditional construction to high-tech research, it will require a different and specific form of management.

Doing technology management is not the same as doing project management.

For doing technology management, you must defer to the "subject matter experts" (SMEs) and practitioners in the relevant profession or discipline.

4.

Phase IV.  The fourth and last phase requires special attention to complete the project so that it meets the established requirements.

This final phase sees the product of the project, the "deliverable", transferred to the "care, custody and control" of the product's client, customer or user, in such a way that everyone is satisfied with a job finished, well done and well received.

5.

In project management, we like to think that in this way the project's "Goals and Objectives" have been achieved "on target" effectively and efficiently and with satisfaction.

Well, that is the general idea though in the middle of many projects this may seem like a utopian dream.