PROJECT LIFE CYCLE VS PROJECT MANAGEMENT LIFECYCLE; PROJECT METHODOLOGY VS PROJECT MANAGEMENT METHODOLOGY
What is the difference between a Project Life Cycle and a Project MANAGEMENT Life Cycle? What about between Project Methodology and Project MANAGEMENT Methodology?
There has been some confusion among many practitioners, and this has led to some misunderstandings especially when they are being used interchangeably.
Let me shed some light on this.
PROJECT LIFE CYCLE (PLC)
By definition, a Project Life Cycle (PLC) is a sequence of Project Phases and describes a Road Map on how the project is created, planned for, and rolled out for use. At the end of every phase, there MUST be an output or deliverable; otherwise, the phase would have been a waste of time.
There are many forms of PLCs, adapted to suit the Industry, nature of the project, or even, the organisation. Some organisations follow standard PLCs, others create a unique PLC suited to there business processes, and possibly giving them a unique competitive advantage.
Here are 3 examples of Project Life Cycles:
In each PLC observe the flow. For example, in the third PLC above, the sequence of the project is clear. First the Business Need must be identified, ie, why do we need this project. Then we need to define the project that will meet this need. Once defined, we need to select the team before we start up the project. We then embark on the project work, which follows a iterative process of Plan, Organise, Implement and Control. If during the Control, we observe discrepancies or changes to the scope are introduced, we need to Manage these Changes and re-look at the Project Definition. We may need to get new people into the team. And the cycle continues.
Notice, the differences in the Phases identified. If you were to do an Internet Search, you would be inundated with hundreds of formats, shapes and styles, each one unique and customised to the organisation and the nature of projects they are used in.
PROJECT METHODOLOGY
Let’s examine the next term, Project Methodology. How is this different from Project Life Cycle?
Whereas the Project Life Cycle describes the sequence of steps you need to take to implement the project, the Project Methodology describes HOW the project is going to be implemented, what STRATEGY will be used. In some cases, it may not be associated with any Project Life Cycle.
The following are some examples of Project Methodologies.
The Waterfall method is a very traditional, sequential way of implementing the project. Each phase can begin only after the earlier one is completed. It is very useful in projects where the scope is very stable.
The Iterative method, is similar to the Waterfall method, except that the project goes through several cycles. Each cycle is a mini-project, each building on the output of the earlier cycle, until the final product/solution is achieved.
The Agile method, was created for software development where changing scope is very common, and in many cases, to be expected. Agile helps to quickly put out working applications into use and allows for the subsequent enhancement of these applications based on the changes requested.
It is very appropriate for projects with a very unstable scope, organisations are looking to adapt this methodology to their non-software environment.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT LIFE CYCLE (PMLC)/PROJECT MANAGEMENT METHODOLOGY
A Project MANAGEMENT Life Cycle describes how a project is MANAGED. It does not refer to the sequence of phases and/or tasks of the project. That is, it does not look at what phase needs to be done first or second. THAT is handled by the Project Life Cycle.
The terms Project Management Life Cycle and Project Management Methodology can be used interchangeably without any confusion.
The 2 most prominent PMLCs are the ones offered by the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), introduced by the US-based Project Management Institute (PMI), and PRojects IN Controlled Environments (PRINCE2) owned by the UK-based Axelos LTD, a joint venture between the UK HM Cabinet and Capita PLC.
PMBOK’s Project Process Groups
The 7 PRINCE2 Processes
At first glance you’ll notice that there are 5 processes in PMBOK and 7 in PRINCE2, but did you notice the similarities? They both have
1 Initiation / Initiating a Project
2 Planning / Directing a Project
3 Monitoring & Controlling / Controlling a Stage
4 Execution / Managing Product Delivery, & Managing a Stage
5 Closing / Closing a Project
So whatever PMLC you are using, they have processes in common.
So, what is the relationship between a PLC and a PMLC? Let me use the PMBOK approach first.
Let me use the following PLC as an example:
Let’s look at the first Phase.
We need to start this phase. The other word for “start” is “initiate”. We want to know eg, if the right people are present, if the right information is available, have necessary approvals and authority been given to start this, etc. Initiating.
Right. That’s settled. Now let’s plan how we’re going to conduct the Requirement Analysis. What tasks need to be done? Who’s going to be doing what? How long is each task you going to take and, therefore, how long will the project be? And so on. In other words, Planning.
Ok! We’ve got our plan. Now let’s carry it out. Executing.
We better make sure that we are executing according to our plan. Are we on track? Monitoring & Controlling.
We are now completed with the Requirement Analysis. And we have prepared our Business Requirements Document and we have obtained the sign off from the key stakeholders. We can now close this phase. Closing.
In this stage, we conduct a Post-Mortem of the phase to identify what we did well and what we could have done differently and better. These are archived for the future use of the team or any other team. On to the next Phase, System Design.
As you can see, the PMLC has been applied within a Phase of the PLC. In a similar way, it is applied to each Phase of the PLC. It is also applied to the project as a whole. That’s why I said, at the start, that the PMLC was all about how to MANAGE the project not about the sequence of tasks.
So, there you have it! The differences between Project Life Cycle, Project Methodology, Project Management Life Cycle and Project Methodology. If you who are reading this, have ever been confused about these terms, I hope I have helped to clarify them.
If you have any questions or you wish to share an opinion or thought, you are most welcome!
Please visit our webpage at www.prowiz.biz to find out more about the workshops we conduct and services we offer.
V Ravindran, PMP
Prowiz Asia Pte Ltd