Week_3_Blog_3_Project_Definition_Phase

Definition Phase
By James Montgomery – X00120274
The Project definition phase provides the groundwork for project planning. Describe the key activities and outputs from this phase and explain the risks that this activity minimises.
Below is a diagram of the 5 Phase Project Life Cycle:

1. Conceptual Phase – carefully examine the idea to see if it will benefit the business and if so in what way. This is were a lot of the decision making is made and looks at whether the project is actually feasible or not are we being realistic and can it be done?
2. Definition Phase – this is the planning stage and sets out the charter or scope of the project in writing showing where the business is going and how to actually get there. This section also looks at the budgets, schedules and resources so that the project process runs smoothly from conceptual to divestment.
3. Production Phase – in this section the tasks are distributed so that everyone knows what to do and what part they play. Project teams will be made up and everyone will know what they are responsible for.
4. Operation Phase – this phase checks the status and progress that the project is making or not making. It sees if the project is on schedule and if any adjustments are needed to get it back on track.
5. Divestment Phase – In this final stage it is confirmed whether all tasks are completed and if the project gains the clients approval. The business can then look at the successes and failures of the project in order to learn from their mistakes for future projects.


After a product is approved a business then moves on to the second stage of the process the project definition phase which looks at what exactly the project is and identifies the expectations that the project must meet, what requirements the business must meet to succeed the project and everyone that will be involved in the process along the way.
A good memory aid when approaching this phase is:
• Preconditions
• Functional Requirements
• Operational Requirements
• Design Limitations
You must also be aware that collaboration is quite vital at this stage.
The key activities of this phase are:
A) Identify the end user Requirements – identify the user requirements, what are their needs and how to satisfy these needs, perform a gap analysis in order to identify changes that need to be made to the system.
B) Identify Quality Requirements – how well the system will carry out its functions. Explain how requirements will be tested, each requirement will be tested separately and prioritise the requirements by high, medium and low.
C) Conduct the Requirement Analysis – the process model technique understands defining and precisely representing the process involved in developing an application. The Event model enables the project team to understand the events that trigger a process.
Risk Avoidance
The project definition phase allows businesses to avoid risks such as:
Identify – identify the actions to prevent the risks from ever occurring.
Actions – List contingent actions to reduce the impact of any potential risks.
Scheduling – schedule actions within an acceptable timeframe.
Monitor – monitor the status of each risk throughout the project.
Credit: Wouter Baars - The Project Management Hut
            Project Insight
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