Generally it is thought that a project is a document where it appears, a set of activities, the project for some is in that document, however planning the project and making it tangible through a document is not necessarily the whole process that the project involves.
The project is a solution, based on a temporary effort or challenge that has a beginning and an end, and this is carried out to create a unique product or result, that is, there will be no other project like it; in some cases the result or product may be similar but it will never be the same. Projects go through different stages:
The beginning of the project is in the identification of a problem, to turn it into an opportunity for improvement, at this stage it is required to know who is going to benefit and who are going to sponsor the project. The deliverable is a document that contains the why and why of the project in addition to defining the technical team and the project management team.
The Formulation of the project is a planning process where a diagnosis is carried out, the problem is analyzed, it determines achievements, activities and indicators to be achieved, to solve the problem, it is limited according to a budget, resources and time, all this it is reflected in a document. The deliverable of this stage is precisely that Project Formulation or Planning document.
The execution of the project is to make what has been planned a reality, in this stage the planned activities are executed to achieve the objectives and indicators of the project. The deliverable of this stage is the final product of the project.
The control and monitoring is transversal between what is planned and what is executed to monitor the fulfillment of the activities within the determined deadlines. The deliverables are monthly reports and reports on the progress of the project.
The closure or end of the project involves meeting with the stakeholders, sponsors, technical team and management team to evaluate the entire process, issue a final report of the activities, the achievements and indicators achieved and the budget executed. The deliverable at this stage is an audit document of everything that has been executed according to plan.
Every company is in search of improvements, to be more competitive, it can count on collaborators with initiatives that propose new ideas, but if these ideas are not seen as projects they will remain as ideas, for them to become reality requires a technical team and management.
Mg. Milagros Coronado Calderón
Member of the International Community for Project Management of the Project Management Institute (PMI) and of the Inter-American Development Bank community in Project Management for Territorial Development (IDB-PM4R).
