THE GENERIC PROJECT LIFE CYCLE, which every framework describes with slightly different names and the same content: ┌──────────┬───────────┬─────────────────┬──────────┐ │ INITIATION│ PLANNING │ EXECUTION │ CLOSURE │ │ (concept) │ (design) │ (implementation│ │ │ │ │ + control) │ │ └──────────┴───────────┴─────────────────┴──────────┘ low rising HIGHEST falling effort effort effort/spend effort ── 1. INITIATION / CONCEPTION ────────────────────────────── THE QUESTION: SHOULD THIS PROJECT EXIST AT ALL? ACTIVITIES: · identify the need or opportunity · PRE-FEASIBILITY STUDY — a coarse screening · FEASIBILITY STUDY — technical, economic, financial, environmental, social and legal viability · define objectives and preliminary scope · identify stakeholders · preliminary cost estimate (±30% or worse) · appraisal by NPV / IRR / B-C ratio · ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (IEE or EIA), which in Nepal is a legal precondition for many project categories OUTPUT: THE PROJECT CHARTER (or approval document), which formally authorises the project and names the project manager. THE GATE: GO / NO-GO. THIS IS THE CHEAPEST POINT AT WHICH TO CANCEL A BAD PROJECT, and cancelling here is a success of the process, not a failure of it. ── 2. PLANNING / DEFINITION ──────────────────────────────── THE QUESTION: HOW EXACTLY WILL IT BE DONE? ACTIVITIES: · detailed DESIGN and specifications · WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE (WBS) — decomposing the scope · scheduling: CPM / PERT network, Gantt chart · resource planning and levelling · detailed cost estimate (±10%) and BUDGET / cash flow · procurement plan and tender documents · RISK REGISTER and response plans · quality plan, safety plan, communication plan · organisation structure and responsibility matrix OUTPUT: THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN AND THE BASELINE — the approved scope, schedule and budget against which all later performance is measured. WITHOUT A BASELINE THERE IS NO CONTROL, only observation. ── 3. EXECUTION AND CONTROL ──────────────────────────────── THE QUESTION: IS IT GOING TO PLAN, AND IF NOT, WHAT DO WE DO? THE PHASE THAT CONSUMES MOST OF THE MONEY AND MOST OF THE TIME. Two intertwined streams: EXECUTION: procurement and contracting, mobilisation, construction or production, quality control, supervision. MONITORING AND CONTROL, running continuously alongside: progress measurement, EARNED VALUE ANALYSIS, variance analysis, CHANGE CONTROL, risk monitoring, corrective action, reporting. THE ESSENTIAL POINT: CONTROL IS NOT A SEPARATE LATER PHASE. It runs concurrently with execution, because information about a deviation is only useful while there is still time to act on it. ── 4. CLOSURE / TERMINATION ──────────────────────────────── THE QUESTION: IS IT FINISHED, AND WHAT DID WE LEARN? ACTIVITIES: · testing, commissioning and acceptance · SNAG LIST / punch list and its clearance · AS-BUILT DRAWINGS and operating manuals · handover to the operator, and training · final accounts, retention release, contract closure · release of resources and team dissolution · POST-PROJECT REVIEW and LESSONS LEARNED · defects liability period, then final certification THE MOST NEGLECTED PHASE IN PRACTICE. By closure the interesting work is done, the team is being pulled onto the next job, and the lessons-learned document — the one output that would improve the NEXT project — is the first casualty. AN ORGANISATION THAT NEVER COMPLETES ITS CLOSURE REVIEWS REPEATS ITS MISTAKES INDEFINITELY, and this is the standard exam point about closure.

── THE THREE CHARACTERISTIC CURVES ───────────────────────── 1. EFFORT AND COST OVER TIME — the S-CURVE. Cumulative expenditure plotted against time is S-shaped: slow at first (design and mobilisation), STEEP IN THE MIDDLE (main construction), flattening at the end (finishing and closeout). THE S-CURVE IS THE STANDARD PROGRESS CONTROL TOOL: plot the planned S-curve as the baseline, plot actual spend against it, and the gap is immediately visible. A project tracking BELOW the curve may be behind schedule — or may simply be spending efficiently, which is why S-curve variance must be read alongside physical progress, never alone. 2. INFLUENCE VERSUS COST OF CHANGE — THE CROSSING CURVES, and THE MOST IMPORTANT DIAGRAM IN THIS TOPIC: high │╲ ABILITY TO INFLUENCE ╱ COST OF │ ╲ ╱ CHANGES │ ╲ ╱ │ ╲ ╱ │ ╲ ╱ │ ╲____________________╱ low │ ╱ ╲___ └──────────────────────────────────▶ initiation planning execution closure THE ABILITY TO CHANGE THE OUTCOME IS HIGHEST AT THE START AND FALLS CONTINUOUSLY. THE COST OF MAKING A CHANGE IS LOWEST AT THE START AND RISES CONTINUOUSLY. Moving a door on a drawing costs an eraser. Moving it during construction costs demolition and rebuilding. Moving it after handover costs that plus disruption to an operating building. THE MANAGERIAL CONCLUSION: SPEND DISPROPORTIONATE EFFORT EARLY. Front-end loading — investing heavily in feasibility and design before committing to construction — is consistently associated with better project outcomes, and it is exactly what pressure to "get on site" undermines. 3. RISK AND UNCERTAINTY — highest at the start, falling as information accumulates. CONVERSELY, THE AMOUNT AT STAKE RISES throughout. These two curves cross as well, and their product — risk exposure — is greatest somewhere in the middle. ── SECTOR-SPECIFIC LIFE CYCLES ───────────────────────────── CONSTRUCTION (RIBA-style stages): inception → feasibility → outline design → detailed design → tender → construction → commissioning → handover → defects liability → operation SOFTWARE: the SDLC of the software engineering subject — requirements → design → implementation → testing → deployment → maintenance, arranged as waterfall, iterative, spiral or agile. In NEPALI PUBLIC PROJECTS: project identification → inclusion in the periodic plan → DPR (DETAILED PROJECT REPORT) preparation → budget allocation → procurement under the Public Procurement Act → implementation → completion → audit by the Office of the Auditor General. NOTE THE DPR: IN NEPAL, A PROJECT WITHOUT AN APPROVED DETAILED PROJECT REPORT CANNOT PROCEED TO BUDGET, and inadequate DPRs are a frequently cited cause of implementation delay in Auditor General reports. ── PHASE GATES ───────────────────────────────────────────── Between phases sit GATES (stage gates, kill points): formal reviews at which the project is authorised to continue, sent back, or CANCELLED. THE PURPOSE OF A GATE IS TO MAKE CANCELLATION POSSIBLE. A project without gates can only be stopped by a crisis, which guarantees it will be stopped late and expensively. GATES ARE THE INSTITUTIONAL DEFENCE AGAINST THE SUNK COST FALLACY described in the cash flow topic.