The Process Continues

Your repository of Project Data is built up as each project steps through each aspect of this Life Cycle. The diagram below provides a generalized view of the life of the project. The two arrows imply that this process is continuous, without end. When you think about this continuous process, keep in mind that your organization probably doesn't manage one project from begin to end, and then it begins another. More likely than not, it manages 5, 10, 20 or more projects simultaneously. And each phase of each project overlaps a different phase of other projects.

So who works on each phase shown above? And who works on the pieces that fall between the phases above? I hope that at your organization this is not a single individual. I hope it is not you alone with your trusty pen or laptop. In most organizations a handful of people work on each and every project, subdividing the phases and tasks based on their expertise. Some projects may include scores of personnel, so that some phases or tasks in-and-of-themselves are completed by a group of people. So what do we have?

We have multiple projects in progress, overlapping each other at various points of completion. We have multiple personnel doing different things on each project. And during all this great work we produce, update and discover new information. Wouldn't it be best if we recorded the information when we discovered it? Wouldn't it be best if we associated the documents when we created them or received them with the associated project immediately?