Project lifecycle
Project Initiation
Project initiation can happen through a meeting, workshop or series of meetings and workshops, depending on the size of the project and the teams. The objective of this stage is to make sure everyone agrees the key details of the project. The success of the project is at risk if the Specification & Design stage is started without agreement of the following:
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Stakeholders and objectives.
A software project that does not support the underlying business objectives will ultimately be unsuccessful even if it is delivered on time, to budget and to specification. For this reason it is vital that we gain a thorough understanding of the objectives of the project, i.e. the measures that will be used to determine its level of success. We also want to identify the stakeholders (often whoever is providing the money!) and make sure that they agree the project objectives.
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Roles and responsibilities.
For each person involved in the project we agree what his/her role will be and for what s/he is are responsible, to make sure that nothing falls through the gaps.
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Project risks.
All team members are asked to list what they see as the major risks to the success of the project. These are discussed and ordered in terms of priority (this is determined by the chance of the risk happening and the effect of the risk on the project if it does happen).
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Practical details.
For example, exchanging contact information, scheduling further meetings and workshops.
Once a project is underway, it is essential that we complete each task using a best-practice approach. We ensure this by applying our methodologies.