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Hi all – Project lifecycle has reared its head again, a question that I think we are repeating. But let me give it a try.
Perhaps partially in response to Stephen’s ‘provocative’ comment, I always like to start with a definition, which for lifecycle not surprisingly focuses on ‘living’ things: ‘the series of changes or stages in the life of an organism’. Since projects have a start and end point – the attribute that separates them generally from ‘business as usual’ – they have a lifecycle. Furthermore, they are about introducing a change to some aspect of the business of a parent organization.
And as with organisms, there are project stages. I think we all agree with this much, so the question with complex projects is about whether there are discreet stages or whether there is a methodology that applies in all phases – or both.
The project stages are often defined in different ways but they typically include the following 8 functions in a work breakdown structure (WBS): a requirement identification, a project set-up, an options analysis, an exploration and development of the selected option’s planned path forward, a cost and schedule assessment, an application of a solution methodology (e.g. development of a contract sourcing document, sourcing a supplier, and awarding a contract), the work to deliver the desired/contracted solution (including commissioning), a project close-out after delivery is complete. One function that I typically modify in the complex project’s WBS is cost and schedule deinition, which I show as continuous from its in its initiation early in the project across the entire lifecycle except ‘project close-out’.
The question we had already explored was whether and how complex projects differ than less complicated projects in terms of a linear execution of these stages or functions.
After our previous discussion, I summarized what I drew from our discussion and included it at the end of Annex B of the draft paper. I suppose that could now be modified, to include a somewhat unique complex project methodology: “probe, sense, make sense and act based on continuous risk scanning for emergence”. I would offer the following:
“When dealing with the significant emergence as is typical of complex projects, the operative word is ‘rework’ to some degree of the project’s discrete WBS functions, as required in response to emergent events/behaviours identified through the collective, continuous and integrated risk scanning activity done by all members of the project enterprise: probe, sense, make sense and act. Furthermore, significant emergence needs to be represented by showing that project cost and schedule definition/assessment is a continuous process of work that runs parallel with all project stages until the project close-out stage starts.”
With luck, I will BE ON TIME for the next Group meeting. Ian
