Another trap for the unwary
A lexicon
A lexicon is a definitive list of words and their meanings. It’s similar to a dictionary, but in the case of a lexicon it’s limited to a particular body of knowledge (BOK). Lexicons are invaluable, to us in Project Management, just as the various other lexicons are essential everywhere else that a BOK exists, e.g. to practitioners in Information Technology, medicine, etc. Law tends to be out on its own a bit, because they seem to need a book to define each word, and no two lawyers seem to agree on anything.
The main purpose of a lexicon is to ensure that people who work in the same BOK (or are otherwise stakeholders of it) have reasonable certainty that when they use a particular term, other people who share that same BOK will understand exactly what is meant.
Clarity of terms is vital to a successful outcome in any professional field. Say for example, you are training in medicine, and attend an interview at a hospital. Then if a doctor on the interview panel says, “Please show us your testimonials,” you do not seriously embarrass yourself.
A thesaurus on the other hand, is a book that lists the many alternatives to a word (I wonder why there is no other word for “thesaurus”?). It lists words similar to each other in meaning, usually giving synonyms and antonyms, and is often used for cheating at crossword puzzles.
Of course a lexicon is only one of the tools we use in our profession, it is not sufficient in itself, as we need the knowledge to apply the words. E.g. last week I bought a PMP (don’t look at me in that tone of voice, I mean a Portable Music Player) and the manufacturer in China had obviously used just a dictionary to translate the user manual, so it lacked some of the knowledge required for English communication. Here are a couple of excerpts, directly from the user manual,
- “When a battery uses up almost, diagram the mark is central to change into the blank, at this time should on time recharge”
- “For example the name the song is ‘Pretty Boy.mp3′” – no comment
- “Any of the upgrading error can make the player can’t work. You should lock the user manual carefully. This operation is fit to people who have certain foundations of operation computer”. Yes I think locking the user manual is a good idea for some people (I think they mean “look”)”
The creation of a project management lexicon, was one of the goals in creating the original PMBOK. This has been largely successful (however they have a different word for it, they call it a glossary).
I say “largely” successful, because distilling the meaning of a recent BOK is never easy. Medicine for example has been around for thousands of years, but “modern” project management has been in use for a little over fifty years. The “youthfulness” of our profession means that significant groups of practitioners, all under the general heading of “project mangers” hold differing views on the meaning of many terms and concepts.
One of the areas this shows up in PMBOK, is the dual meaning of the word “phase”
Phase 1: the Project Lifecycle phases
The following diagram is from the PMBOK Fourth Edition (PMBOK) and shows the typical stages that a project might go through.
“A project life cycle is a collection of generally sequential and sometimes overlapping project phases whose name and number are determined by the management and control needs of the organization or organizations involved in the project, the nature of the project itself, and its area of application. A life cycle can be documented with a methodology.” PMBOK page 15
- Figure 2-1. Typical Cost and Staffing Levels Across the Project Life Cycle
So here we see a typical project life cycle (not to be confused with a Product life cycle, defined in the same chapter, on page 18), and PMBOK reminds us that all projects can be mapped into this four-phase model. The phases are:
- Starting the project,
- Organizing and preparing,
- Carrying out the project work, and
- Closing the project.
Phase 2: Project Phases
So far there are no problems, but note well section “2.1.3 Project Phases”, beginning on page 18.
Because, although we are still in the same chapter of PMBOK, these phases are NOT the same as the phases defined a couple of pages earlier. These phases are in effect, mini-projects within larger projects.
A project phase can have its own scope statement, WBS and so on, just like a regular project, and they are used to break down a larger project in more manageable chunks.
Your project may be to develop a completely new car for example, so you might initiate one project (a phase) just to perform the research on engine type to be used. Another mini-project (phase) may develop the actual engine, as a result of the research from phase 1. Another phase could be to develop the electronics, and so on, but all under the control of the main project.
Each project phase typically has a single deliverable that feeds into the main project. In fact, some large projects consist of a series of phases, the output of each phase being the input of the next. The completion (or failure) of a phase can also be a time when a decision is made whether on not the overall project should continue.
And just as with regular projects, the lessons learned and other Organisational Process Assets, should be recorded for the phase.
I hope you are not too fazed by all this
Jim Owens PMP
July 2009
PMPrepcast
On June 1, 2011 more than 15,000 PMP aspirants passed the exam with PMPrepcast.
To order, click the graphics or click THIS
Hi Jim,
Yes! According to PMBOK “phases” are subprojects with strong sequential dependencies. Phases have a project lifecycle because they may be considered projects in their own right. But …
Within PMBOK it is not clear how “phase” and “lifecycle” relate to each other. Naturally, within the general PM community, usage each of these terms has overlapping areas of meaning. However, within PMBOK hopefully these concepts stand in clear relationship with each other.
The following quotes from 4th ed. misuse the word “phase” to mean something other than the PMBOK definition. The lifecycle does not have phases.
• 1.5 “At each closeout phase,”
• 5.1 “project execution phase”
• 5.3.2.1 “Using phases of the project life cycle”
• 6.2.2.4 “start-up phase of a development project”
• 7.1 “For example, a project in the initiation phase could have a rough order of magnitude (ROM) estimate in the range of ±50%.”
• 9.4.2.5 “Successful projects require strong leadership skills. Leadership is important through all project phases of the project life cycle.”
• 12.4 “In such cases, each contract life cycle can end during any phase of the project life cycle.”
The following quotes are ambiguous. Does “phase” mean that the example project was broken up into multiple sequential sub-projects or is the contrast intended to be between, say, planning time and execution time?
“6.3.1.3 For example, during the early phases of an engineering design project,
the pool of resources might include junior and senior engineers in large numbers. During later phases of the same project, however, the pool can be limited to those individuals who are knowledgeable about the project as a result of having worked on the earlier phases of the project.”
6.4.2.2 It is frequently used to estimate project duration when there is a limited amount of detailed information about the project for example, in the early phases of a project.
David
Visual PMBOK Guide – On One Page
http://www.jospar.com
Hello, i came to this blog although trying to find some thing else, but to my joy i discovered this site. Keep performing what you might be doing, its excellent.