Four Stages of Project Design

Four Stages of Project Design -- Four Project Phases When designing a workplace project the designers must always embark upon the project with the aim of facilitating rather than stifling communication. A designer must of course proceed according to four basic steps of concept design, development, implementation, and finally 'close out' or follow up.

But while it is always tempting to focus upon the project's development and implementation from a technician's point-of-view, the designer and project managers and workers must keep in mind that communication with management and the project's eventual users is the best way to make sure the project meets required specifications. Also, should the project go over budget, management is more likely to be tolerant if given advance notice.

Regardless, all of the development and proper planning in the world will come to little if the project does not have a fully developed concept to back it up as a useful entity for the company. The project must perform a function, rather than exist as a beautiful design. To create a concept that addresses workplace needs, a project must deploy methods of communication that gleans verifiable and quantifiable data requiring management, employee, and company needs.

Concepts are often easier to integrate when the team is given a clear problem/solution statement regarding the purpose of the assignment. This is often most clearly accomplished "at the level of major milestones/project events" that is of work plan development, major deliverables, etc. (The Concept Phase, 2005) But ideally, even with less far-reaching projects, there should be a clear conceptual design that aims to solve a general problem currently suffered by the workforce that is caused by the current design.

This clear statement can be obtained partly through informal chat with the employees who will use the eventual application. This informal method is also useful in gleaning employee technical skills. But ultimately questionnaires directed to employees, management, and other users and affected personnel regarding workplace use and budgetary or efficiency goals ire a more effective way to gain data.

Combined with management conferences, the designers can then embark upon a project with a concept has a wide array of informational sources, some of which be analyzed in a numerical fashion to define the purpose of the project is most useful. The project must have a clear project statement to be effective from its onset, defined ideally from multiple sources. ("What is the project statement?" 2005) Also in an ideal scenario, checking back with the individuals who will use the application would be best at all states of the project.

All who will eventually use the project's output must take some responsibility for looking at the eventual progression of the project, as well merely pass judgment upon its results. This way, the users might make constructive input over the course of the development of the project, to avoid miscalculations in intent or confusion.

But if this is not possible, then some management personnel must be aware of the project concept as well as its timetable, to understand the overall purpose of the assignment, so as to not only act as a critic, but also proffer helpful, practical advice regarding the needs of the client.

Often identification of need may have arisen out of some management-oriented activity such as the development of corporate strategies, as well as more technical needs such as a review of current plant conditions, or simply from the aftermath of coping with a major incident. This need, usually affects multiple individuals, and the individuals who are affected might only become clear over the course of the project's genesis, thus communication is key. During the development phase, the concept must be clarified and specific applications designed to meet the needs.

Typical specific needs that a design project might aim to meet over the course of its development might be to reduce power costs, to reduce staffing numbers (for management), to reduce future capital requirements, to improve the level of customer service, to better avoid environmental incidents, to comply with regulators requirements, to obtain a competitive edge, or simply to replace an existing aging and outmoded system.

(Tek Soft, 1997) During the development phase, thus, depending on the concept that has been approved during the preliminary investigations, one must also discuss with management (if the aim is to reduce staff), legal counsel (if it is to comply with regulators) or with the accounting staff (if it is to reduce future capital requirements) to firm up on the scope of the project and to make sure the actual quantifiable goals of the project are being met in a systematic fashion -- for instance, if the design of a new system is to reduce electricity bills by a certain margin or to computerize certain human functions -- can the project feasibly meet these goals in due course? ("What is project management methodology? 2005) During development one must also identify the main technologies to be used, and gain agreement and approval of the potential users as well as those who initially demanded the system.

As a general rule, "sufficient work needs to be done to enable a cost estimate to be prepared that is accurate to within -30 to +50%. Similarly sufficient work needs to be done to establish the benefits of the system to enough accuracy to convince management to give approval to proceed to the next phase."(Tek Soft, 1997) It is important at this stage to firmly identify the benefits of the system, and to develop benefit realization plans. A time table must be established, and a budget that must be adhered to.

These elements must be written down and communicated to management. These plans should also identify exactly how the proposed benefits will be realized, for example, what changes will be made to existing processes in currently existing systems to achieve the intended benefits. Ideally, this will give management confidence that the investment is going to be worthwhile. Usually, considerable face-to-face contact is necessary at this stage, ideally on a weekly basis, to demonstrate how the project is systematically progressing.

Also, the release of work statements, to show that the project is meeting specific deadlines and specified goal dates, and not running into costly overtime is necessary. During the development and implementation stages, thus it is only natural to have more contact with management and superior staff members, rather than employees, when one's contact is likely to be more far-reaching. However, towards the end of the implementation stages, when the project begins to solidify in its technical elements, greater contact with employees may again be necessary, so it.