PMP Exam Nuggets - Project Life Cycle and the Organization

Project Life Cycles

o Projects follow a logical sequence of phases to completion. Phases are typically different from project to project, since the project work will differ from one project to the next. The point of segmenting projects into phases is to allow for smaller, manageable sections and to provide deliverables in support of the ongoing operations.

o The collection of the project phases, as a whole, is known as the project life cycle.

o Project life cycles define the beginning, middle, and end of a project. Projects have a greater risk and uncertainty in the early phases of the project life cycle than near their end. The project is also most susceptible to change, failure, and stakeholder influences at the beginning of the life cycle than near its end.

o In tandem, project costs and demand for resources are generally low at the beginning of the project, have a tendency to peak near the end of the project work, and then diminish.

Meeting the Project Stakeholders

o Project stakeholders are individuals, businesses, or communities that have a vested interest in the project’s outcome. Typically, project stakeholders are involved in the project process, and their expectations drive the project requirements.

o It is essential to scan for hidden stakeholders early in the project life cycle to eliminate the need for change when addressing stakeholder needs later in the project.

o There are several key stakeholders that have direct influence over the project. They are:

• Project manager Manages the project
• Customer Pays for the project; uses the project deliverable
• Performing organization The organization hosting the project
• Project team The collection of individuals completing the project work
• Project management team The collection of individuals that contribute to the management of a project
• Project sponsor Authorizes the project work and budget
• Influencers People who can influence the project for better or worse
• PMO May have direct responsibility for the project’s success

Identifying Organizational Models and Attributes

o Organizational structures have direct influence over the project. Organizational structures determine the procedures that the project manager must follow and the amount of authority the project manager possesses. A project office may oversee project management activities and provide additional support in any of the organizational structures. The organizational types and the level of authority a project manager can expect are shown in the following table.


o Beyond the concept of getting the work done, project managers must also consider the social, economic, and environmental influences that may sway a project. Specifically, the project manager must evaluate the project to see its social, economic, and environmental impact—as well as note the project’s surroundings. The project manager may have some external guidance in these areas in the form of standards and regulations.

o Standards are guidelines that are generally followed but not enforced or mandated. Regulations come in the form of laws and industry demands, which are enforced by various governing bodies.

Defining Key General Management Skills

o Management is all about key results. It is about the project team getting things done in the project.

o Leadership is about motivating, inspiring, and directing people to accomplish the project objectives and personal goals.

o Project managers spend the bulk of their time communicating information—not doing other activities. Therefore, they must be good communicators, promoting a clear, unambiguous exchange of information. Communication is a two-way street; it requires a sender and a receiver.

o Project managers must negotiate for the good of the project. In any project, the project manager, the project sponsor, and the project team will have to negotiate with stakeholders, vendors, and customers to reach a level of agreement acceptable to all parties involved in the negotiation process.

o Project managers have to work with stakeholders to influence the decisions within the project. This includes politics; tradeoffs; and managing requirements, changes, and issues within the project.

Chapter 10: Organizational Influences on Projects

In the previous chapters, we saw about the various stakeholders in a project and also about the most influential & important stakeholder of them all, you. In this chapter, we are going to take a look at the impact of organizational culture on a project and its operations.

So, lets get started!!!

Can an Organizations Culture affect a Projects Outcome?

A project is typically performed inside a company called the performing organization, which creates an environment for the project called the project environment. The projects are influenced by the project environment, which is shaped by many elements, such as organizational culture, organizational structure, enterprise environmental factors, organizational process assets, and the maturity of the organization.

To summarize, Yes the organizational environment within which a project is being executed can have a significant impact on the outcome of the project.

Understanding the Organizational Culture

Each organization often develops its own unique culture, which depends on many factors, such as the application area of the organization and the general management philosophy implemented in the organization.

The organizational culture includes the following elements:

1. Work environment - The organizational culture is reflected by work ethic and work hours. For example, do the employees work strictly from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, or is the timing flexible so that employees can change their work timings to cater to some of their personal commitments. Ex: If a persons wife is pregnant and is experiencing morning sickness, he would have to support his wife atleast for an hour or so in the morning and hence he may not be able to make it to work @ 8:00 AM sharp. Would the organization be flexible enough to allow him to come in late say 9:30 AM and let him work till 6:30 to compensate for it?
2. Management style - Organizational culture also reflects authority relationships. Do the managers manage by authority or by leadership? How much feedback is taken from the employees in making management decisions? How do the employees view the authority of the management?
3. Policies - The organizational policies, methods, and procedures also reflect the organizational culture.
4. Values and vision - A significant part of organizational culture lives in the set of values, norms, beliefs, and expectations shared within the organization. This may be impacted by the organization’s mission and vision. For example, a nonprofit organization will have different values than a for-profit organization. Furthermore, one organization may encourage an entrepreneurial approach while another organization may be rigidly hierarchical and take an authoritarian approach to making decisions about what to do and what not to do.

At the beginning of this chapter, I had said that an organizations culture can have a significant impact on a project. Now that we know what is part of an organizations culture, let us see how an organizations culture can influence an project.

Organizational culture influences multiple aspects of a project. Some are:

1. Project selection - The organizational culture will creep into the selection criteria for projects and programs. For example, a rigidly hierarchical and authoritarian organization may not be very adaptive to programs and projects with high risk.
2. Project management style - The project manager should adapt the management style to the organizational culture. For example, an authoritarian style may run into problems in an entrepreneurial organization with a participative culture.
3. Team performance assessments - While making the team performance assessment, the project manager should keep in mind the established norms and expectations within the organization.
4. Project policies and procedures - The project policies and procedures will be influenced by the organizational policies and procedures because both should be consistent with each other.

The culture of an organization is greatly influenced by its structure.

From the perspective of a project, there are two kinds of organizations:
1. project-based and
2. non-project-based.

The project-based organizations fall into two subcategories, those that derive their revenue primarily from performing projects for others and those that do in-house projects to deliver products or services for customers. Project-based organizations are well aware of the importance of project management and generally have systems to support project management. Non-project-based organizations generally have a low appreciation for and understanding of the importance of project management and often lack systems to support project management.

The point here is that the type of organization and the organizational structure have a great influence on how the projects will be managed inside the organization. This is what we are going to learn in the next chapter.

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