Project Management Lifecycle: Stages, Stakeholders, and Contracts

This report delves into the project management lifecycle, dissecting its five critical stages: initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, and closure. The initiation phase establishes the project's foundation, while the planning stage outlines detailed procedures and risk assessments. The execution and control phase ensures proper implementation and addresses project challenges. The report also examines organizational structures, including functional, matrix, and projectized forms, and their impact on project outcomes. Furthermore, it emphasizes the importance of stakeholders and their influence on project success. The report concludes by exploring various contractual arrangements used in project management, such as Build Own Operate (BOO), Build Own Operate Transfer (BOOT), and Build Operate Transfer (BOT), highlighting their roles in project execution and management. This comprehensive analysis provides valuable insights into effective project management practices.

Running head PROJECT MANAGEMENT LIFECYCLE 1
Project Management Lifecycle
Name
Institution

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Project Management Lifecycle
The project management life cycle plays a significant role in assisting a team in preparing
for a project. It helps to analyze the process of the projects by focusing on the objectives for
purposes of ensuring that the project is delivered on time. Also, for the project to be completed, it
has to be within the budget and addresses all the challenges (Khan, 1995). All project
management cycle has five crucial stages: the initiation stage, planning stage, execution stage,
monitoring stage and closure of the project stage.
The initiation phase
This is the first step of every project which aims at providing an overview of the project.
It also focuses on the strategy that is proposed for to ensure that the job is completed (Barna,
2013). At the initiation stage is where the manager in charge of the project is selected. After the
manager is selected in his or her duty to choose a team which will assist in ensuring the objective
of the results is met. The manager is expected to have experience and skill to select a team that
will be able to oversee the whole problem with minimal challenges (Stentoft Arlbjørn, Freytag &
Thoms, 2015). To accomplish the objective of a particular project, there are various
technological tools that can assist a project manager in the project management lifecycle (Parker,
Parsons, & Isharyanto, 2015).
The Planning Phase
The planning phase of a project lifecycle is the most significant part of a project as it
relates to the breakdown of all the procedures including assigning of every task to the
responsible team. The planning phase provides details of the whole project from the begging to
the end (Lee, 2009). Among the things involved in this phase are risk assessment and detailed

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analysis of every phase to see the project complete. In summary, this phase will cover the
stakeholders, working processes, channels used and the reporting frequency (Zwikael, 2009).
The execution and control phase
This step is equally important to the project management cycle as it relates to checks and
balances of the whole project. It is necessary for any project manager to ensure that every
activity of the project is adequately executed as well as controlled. This is the phase that checks
whether the solution provided by the project specifically addresses the problem that it was meant
to solve. In most cases, the convergence of a project is measured by prototypes and reviews are
made regarding the outcome (Parker, Charlton, Ribeiro & Pathak, 2013).
The closure phase
This the final stage of a project management cycle and a manager should be checking
whether every aspect of the project is working according to the plan to mark the completion of
the project. During the closure phase, a report is drafted focusing on the acceptance of the
project, learning outcomes and notifications to the relevant stakeholders that the project is
completed.
The organizational forms and stakeholders strategies play an important role in project
management cycle. These two sections influence the development and verification of the
business cases (Medina, 2014).
Organizational forms and its impact on project management cases
There are several aspects of an organization that impact the result of a project. These
forms are related to layers of authority, traction, budgetary allocations and challenges arising

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during the operation phase. However, organizational challenges can be addressed through having
a clear understanding of the working environment. For purposes of having a better understanding
of the organizational structures and how they affect the project, the functional, matrix and
projectised organizational structure provides a basis in the following manner (Strait, 2006).
Functional organizational structure
This refers to those entities that are structured into functional sectors based on their
fundamental function such as engineering and construction, government and welfare financial
and business services as well as telecommunication, IT and software development. Functional
divisions of a firm operate independently where each division has a manager. The work of the
manager is to assign work and monitor the work through various performance evaluation
measures. Besides, the management of a division has a limited authority of since they have
assigned tasks to other team members. Functional organizations are meant for firms that have a
continuous business operation that support standardized goods or services (Prodan, 2017).
Matrix organization structure
In such organizational forms, the control of operations is normally shared. The managers
of a particular project share responsibilities with other functional managers. It involves the
delegation of duties and tasks to other staff members although the project manager makes all the
decision regarding the project. This form of organizational structure is applicable for those firms
that have a dual role such as a construction company that is tasked with maintaining and
constructing new infrastructure (Bharti & Thakkar, 2013).
Projectised Organizational structure

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This form of organization applies to a situation where the manager has complete control
over a project. For instance, a manager can have full control over setting important tasks,
allocating resources and ensuring that team members are assigned specific tasks (Graubner,
Pelzeter & Pohl, 2016). This is where all the members report to the managers directly. This type
of organizational form is common among firms that operate small and long-term project such as
those in the construction company (White & Patton, 2004).
Impacts of organizational forms
Impact of functional organization
In a functional organization setting, those that have single departments often do not have
problems (Carden & Boyd, 2011). However, those functional organizations that have divisions
have numerous management challenges as a result of the diverse role of the project manager.
Besides, the functional manager has to seek support and cooperation from other managers to see
a project completed (Ahsan, 2012).
Impact of matrix organization
The matrix structure offers both functional manager and project manager a seamless way
to delegate duties for purposes of improving working culture (Yamin & Sim, 2016). Besides,
there are bound to be numerous conflicts between the functional and project manages. This is
because all the other team member has two managers.
Impact of projectised organizational forms
The authority is often centralized in a projectised scenario. In this case, lines of
communication are reduced as a result roles removed from the functional manager. Therefore,

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managers in this category have the ability to make swift decisions. The junior teams in this form
of an organization often have a high-level of commitment and motivation (Del Mircea, & Luise,
2015). The team is also in a position to develop experience and skills to work for a long period in
a particular environment. A projectised form of organization makes it easier to manage projects.
Impact of stakeholder in Project management
Stakeholders are part and parcel of a project management and the project cannot run
without them. They are final decision makers on a particular project and the role or a project
manager is to ensure that stakeholders concerns are managed effectively in order to ensure the
output of a project is in strict adherence to the requirements of the stakeholder (Kloppenborg &
Tesch, 2015).
Contractual arrangements used in project management.
There are several contracts that can be drafted for purposes managing a project. Contracts
are often specific to the kind of project that they are meant to govern (Cullen & Parker, 2015).
Some of the common contracts used in project management include Build Own Operate (BOO)
where a group or an individual agrees to finance or construct a project that was originally owned
by a public authority (D'Vari, 2013). Another contractual arrangement is Build Own Operate
Transfer (BOOT) where a developer completes a project and manages the project for a specified
period then hand it over to the government. Also, Build Operate Transfer (BOT) is a contractual
agreement where the private developer constructs, operates and hands it over to the government
over a certain period of time. These contractual agreement states what the developer and other
stakeholders are supposed to oversee the completion and operation of a project (White & Patton,
2004).

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