Project Phases for Business Analysts

Projects usually follow a standard set of phases. Usually, the five phases consist of:

– Project Initiation

– Project Planning

– Project Execution or Development

– Project Monitoring and Control

– Final Preparations for Closing the Phase.

Project Initiation Phase:

The first phase of a project involves justifying and initiating the project. This is where you research and present on why your organization should do this project and how it can benefit them. You’ll also be identifying all stakeholders involved with this project as well as developing the business case for the project.

– What do we want to achieve?

– How will we know when we’ve achieved it?

– How much risk is there in achieving these goals?

– What alternatives were considered, and why did we choose this alternative over the others?

– Who will own these decisions once they’re made, and what decision rights does that person have (and authority backs those decision rights)?

Project Planning Phase:

This phase starts with putting together a clear and concise plan for the entire project. This involves breaking down all of your deliverables into various components, developing a work breakdown structure (WBS), adding in all necessary tasks and dependencies, etc. In this phase, you’ll be determining who will do each task, when it needs to be done by, what resources are required to do that task well, etc. You will also be putting together a budget for the project as well as a timeline outlining deadlines and milestones. A formal signoff on the plan from an organization’s managing authority is usually required before you can move forward with execution of the project phase.

– What must I accomplish?

– How much time do I have to accomplish this?

– What resources, tools, and techniques will I use?

– How will the responsibilities be handled among team members or within my own role?

– Who will review, approve, and sign off on the plan before moving forward with implementation of project phase?

Project Execution or Development Phase:

This is where all of your planning comes together. This is when you begin building out your deliverables one by one. You might create drafts that need revisions or edits made to them. You might create actual versions of your deliverables (i.e., if it’s software) that are ready for release into beta testing. There are many different for what can happen during this phase.

– What tasks must I complete?

– What is my role in accomplishing these tasks?

– How much time do I have to accomplish this?

– What resources, tools, and techniques will I use?

– Who will anyone who needs or wants to view or work on these deliverables (i.e., stakeholders)?

Project Monitoring and Control Phase:

This phase is where you keep track of your progress towards achieving your project’s goals, as well as identifying possible risks along the way. It’s also where you’ll identify what could go wrong with your project (if anything) and put preventative actions in place to make sure they don’t occur. You’ll either be conducting regular meetings or updating documentation throughout this phase.

– What must I monitor and control?

– How will I know when something is out of the norm?

– How often do I have to check my progress?

– Who else needs to be aware of what’s going on in this project, and how will they learn about it (i.e., regular meetings with stakeholders or formal presentations)?

Final Preparations for Closing Phase:  

  During this phase, you’re essentially tying up lose ends in your project management by showing that all remaining work is completed, checking off tasks from your Project Plan, etc. You might also show any remaining deliverables to their intended audience(s) this time as well.

Project Initiation includes formalizing business needs while Planning is an evaluation of proposed solutions while monitoring budgets and resources. All this information comes together in the execution phase where requirements are realized by building or enhancing systems that will be delivered to users. 

Projects usually follow a standard set of phases. Usually, the five phases consist of: – Project Initiation – Project Planning – Project Execution or Development – Project Monitoring and Control – Final Preparations for Closing the Phase. Project Initiation Phase: The first phase of a project involves justifying and initiating the project. This is where…