ABSTRACT
In this chapter we describe the process perception on projects. We describe project processes and describe different forms of life-cycle, including the product, project and management life-cycle models. We liken the process to an algorithm. An algorithm is a process that defines rules that tell us how to take the next step towards our solution, and that is how we view the project process. The nature of the project processes will differ for different types of projects, in particular in which quadrant of Figure 1.7 the project sits. For projects in the bottom left quadrant (well-defined goals, well-defined methods, traditional engineering projects), the process will be very deterministic. We will slip quickly into activity-based planning. This is of course traditional project management for which the tools of the Optimization Perspective were designed. For projects in the top-right (poorly defined goals, poorly defined objectives, such as organizational change projects), the process will help us solve the problem of identifying the methods and identifying the ways of achieving our objectives. Now we have only a hazy idea of what our solution looks like and where it lies. But the process (algorithm) helps us identify the first step to take towards the solution. Having taken the step, we have a clearer idea of what the solution looks like, and where it lies, but also of what the next step should be. And so on until we reach the solution (or abandon the project because the process has shown us it is not feasible – either the solution is not realistic, or not achievable, or both). This is very much what the project processes are like, using guidelines to take steps closer to the solution and improving your understanding of it.
