The project life cycle phases

the phases.

are initiate the project,

make a plan, execute and complete tasks,

and close out the project.

Great. Let's get back to the tasks

that need to be accomplished during each phase.

For this video, we're going to focus on

the first two project life cycle phases,

initiating the project and making a plan.

It's important to call out that the name or

tasks for each phase might change,

or may be a little different depending on the type

of project or the organization where you work.

At Google, we use a mix

of different project management methods,

which you'll learn more about later in the course.

But regardless of the method,

all projects share a lot of the same tasks

needed to get the job done. So, let's get into it.

The first step of

the project life cycle is to initiate the project.

During initiation, you'll organize all of

the information you have

available to you about your project.

This way, when you're ready to continue on,

you'll be prepared for

the next phase when you can create your plan.

Defining project goals makes the details of your project

clear so that you and

your team can successfully complete the project.

For example, if the project goal is to manage

a political campaign, then some deliverables,

which are specific tasks or outcomes,

might be to raise $5,000

or get 500 signatures

in support of your candidate's cause.

With this in mind,

you'll need to do some research to come up with

ideas that will help you meet your goals.

You'll also need to find out

what resources are available.

Resources can include people, equipment, software programs,

vendors, physical space or locations, and more.

Anything you need to actually complete

the project is considered a resource.

Now as a project manager,

you'll record all of

these details in your project proposal

and then get them approved by

a decision maker or group of

decision makers at your company

so that you can move ahead with your project plans.

Now in some cases,

you may be the decision maker

so be sure to consider the same set of factors when

initiating your project before moving to the next stage.

No worries, you will learn

all the details about how to create a project proposal.

We will be getting into more detail of what this

is and how to create one later in the course.

Voila, once your project is approved,

you'll move into the second step

of the project life cycle,

which is to make a plan.

In this phase, you'll create a budget

and set the project schedule.

You'll establish the project team

and determine each person's roles and responsibilities.

Let's pause for a second.

You may be thinking, "Why can't we just get started?",

but that's the thing with project management,

deliberate planning is critical to a project's success.

A crucial part of project management

is planning for risk and change.

An experienced project manager

knows that plans always change.

This ability to adapt is

all about thinking and planning ahead.

Scheduling delays, budget changes,

technology and software requirements, legal issues,

quality control, and access to resources are just some of

the more common types of risks and

changes that a project manager needs to consider.

So, it's important to keep in mind that planning is

key to reducing those risks.

But don't worry, if the idea of

risks seems a little overwhelming right now,

in later courses, we'll teach you

all about understanding risks.

Just know that it's really important not to

skip this step and to always make a plan.

Again, the success of your project depends on it.

Once you have a plan,

you'll communicate all of this information to your team.

That way, each member will know

which tasks they'll own and

what to do if they have

questions or if they run into problems.

You'll also communicate your plan with

others who have an interest in the project success,

so that they are aware of your plans and

your progress as the project continues to move forward.

Nice job, we've made it

halfway through the steps of a project life cycle.

Up next, we'll check out the remaining two phases,

executing and completing tasks

and closing the project. Catch you in a bit.

Welcome back. We just learned about the core tasks that need to be completed in the first two phases of the project life cycle, initiating the project and making plans. Now, it's time to put your plans into action. Remember, it's not your job to actually do all the tasks. Your primary job as the project manager is to manage the progress of the project as a whole. This means you'll oversee your team's efforts and make sure everyone understands what's expected of them, what tasks need to be done, and how and when to complete those tasks. It's also your job to help remove any obstacles and to alert the right people if it looks like there might be a delay to the project. This means you'll need to communicate with your team, and anyone else involved in your project through meetings, written communications like memos, emails or internal chat tools, and other working documents like task reports. Quick pro tip, if in doubt, err on the side of overcommunication. As your project progresses you'll make adjustments to the schedule, budget, and allocation of resources, clearly communicating updates all along the way. When all the tasks are complete and you've met the project goal, it's time to close the project. This phase is usually overlooked because it's easy to assume that once the project goal has been delivered, everyone can move on. But hold up, there's still a lot that needs to be done. First, check to make sure all tasks have been completed, including any work that was added along the way. Be sure any outstanding invoices have been paid, resources are returned and accounted for, and project documentation has been submitted. Next, and this is very important, get confirmation that the final outcome of your project is acceptable to the people you're delivering it to. It is crucial to your project's success that the person who asked you to manage the project is satisfied with the end result. Once your project has been accepted as meeting its goals, take some time to reflect on what went well and maybe what didn't go so well. This reflection is usually called a retrospective, and it's a chance to note best practices and learn how to manage your project more effectively next time, even if everything went great. The notes from your retrospective are also valuable to the people or organization receiving the end result of the project. That's because they can use that information to inform decisions about their business the next time they consider a project. Now it's time to collect all the project documentation that you created or collected along the way, including all of your plans and reflections, and share the final results of your project with your stakeholders. Remember, stakeholders are people who are interested in and affected by the project's completion and success. Depending on the type of project, stakeholders could include a department or organization's management team, clients or customers of your product or service, users of your new tool or process, or even the community at large if you're planning a community town hall meeting. Pro tip, stakeholders play a huge role in the development, and success of your project. You'll learn a lot more about these key players later on. But for now, just know that they're like the VIPs of your project. Next, take some time to celebrate the effort your team invested in the project. Celebrations help people feel good about the work they've done, and think of the work as uplifting and rewarding because it truly is. Some ideas for small celebrations are a company or team-wide email, thanking the team and acknowledging individual efforts. Now for big projects, you may even consider a company party to celebrate the team and the project success. To wrap up, you and your team can formally move on from the project so that you can pursue new projects in the future. Well, as you can see, being a project manager is a lot of work, but it's very rewarding, and it's all, well, manageable when you follow through with the project life cycle. You can see how the organization, communication, and improvements you add to various areas of a project can make the entire team more effective and efficient, and you can have an impact on many areas of a project in a way that's greater than if you focused on any one task on the project. Similar to a coach with a sports team, even though you aren't actually playing a direct role in the game, your guidance, your communication, and your team-building can make the difference in a happy, high-performing, and successful team. In later courses we'll discuss each of these project phases, and you'll learn methods, techniques, and tools to help you. For now, we just want you to become familiar with the general project management process, and we'll share some of the terms and concepts used in the field that you'll need to know as you develop your project management skills. Up next, we'll introduce you to two of the more popular project methodologies, Waterfall and Agile. See you soon.

Which of the following activities are part of the “execute and complete tasks” project phase? Select all that apply.

Confirm the acceptance of project outcomes Make adjustments to the project Correct Project managers make adjustments to the project as necessary. This can include updating the schedule, budget, and allocation of resources. In this phase, project managers also manage progress and communicate with the team and stakeholders. Communicate with the project team Correct Project managers should err on the side of overcommunication when sharing information with the team through meetings, emails, memos, and more. In this phase, project managers also manage project progress and make adjustments to the project as necessary. Manage project progress Correct To manage project progress, project managers oversee the team's efforts and make sure everyone understands what's expected of them and how and when to complete key tasks. In this phase, project managers also make needed adjustments and communicate with the team and stakeholders.