Initiation Phase Review
The last step in the Project Initiation phase is the completion of a Phase Review. This review is undertaken to determine whether all the planning activities and tasks have been successfully completed and to request approval to proceed to the Planning stage of the project. The following diagram depicts the steps involved in undertaking this review.
Phase Reviews are completed at the end of the Initiation, Planning and Execution phases, to review the progress of the project to date and to seek approval to proceed to the next phase. There is no Phase Review at the end of the Closure phase, because approval to close the project is covered in the Project Closure Report.
The Project Manager documents the results of each Phase Review by using a Phase Review Form. In order to obtain approval, he or she will usually present the project’s current status to the Project Board for consideration. The Project Board, which is chaired by the Project Sponsor, may then decide grant approval to begin the next phase of the project, undertake further work in the existing phase of the project, or cancel the project.
The following steps describe the procedures involved in undertaking a Phase Review for the Initiation phase of the project.
Identify Phase Review Criteria
The first step in performing a Phase Review is to identify the review criteria. The criteria provide the basis for assessing the overall performance of the project to date. Examples of Phase Review criteria for the Initiation phase are provided in the following table:
Activities |
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Deliverables |
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Summary | Use the following performance criteria to identify the overall status of the project:
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Undertake Phase Review
You are now ready to conduct the Phase Review, to determine whether the above criteria have been adequately satisfied. The Project Manager leads the completion of the Phase Review, to ensure that the assessment is completed fairly and the result is accurately documented.
Complete Phase Review Form
The results of the Phase Review are collated by the Project Administrator and bound into a single documentation set. The Project Manager will then summarize the results of the review, by completing a Phase Review Form. Once completed, this form should be forwarded to the Project Sponsor for consideration by the Project Board.
Seek Approval to Proceed
The Project Manager will present the Phase Review Form at a board meeting held specifically to discuss the current status of the project and decide on its continuation. At this meeting, the Project Manager will present:
The original project vision, objectives, scope and deliverables | |
The deliverables completed by the project to date | |
The progress of the project against the delivery dates | |
Any areas of slippage, in terms of time, cost and quality | |
Any key issues and risks that require attention |
The Project Board will assess this information and reach one of the following conclusions:
Approve the project to proceed to the next phase of the project: Project Planning | |
Request that additional activities are undertaken within the existing project phase | |
Delay, transfer or close the project |
Completing a Phase Review is a critical step in delivering a successful project. If Phase Reviews are not undertaken formally within the Project Lifecycle, then the Project Board will have reduced control over the progress of the project, thereby increasing the level of risk to the overall project delivery.