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2 - PROJECT LIFE CYCLE AND ORGANIZATION

• Stable vs. interim. Many organizations create a new project team for each software project and
disband the team when the product is delivered. For ongoing maintenance, enhancement, and support of
software products, it is beneficial to keep cross-functional teams together over time so that knowledge
is retained, team interactions and learning are maintained and improved, and teams maintain high levels 2
of performance. Another benefit of stable teams is that project performance throughout the organization
typically becomes more predictable.

In practice, organizations may have to make trade-offs among these considerations. A detailed exploration of
software project teams is included in Section 9 of this Software Extension.

2.3.2 Collaborative Teams

Software projects benefit from project team structures that improve collaboration within and among the teams.
As presented in Table 2-1, collaborations are intended to boost productivity and facilitate innovative problem
solving. Formation of a collaborative team sometimes incurs initial costs, which are recovered over the duration of
the project.

Although the benefits of collaboration also apply to predictive life cycle teams, collaborative teams are
often critical to the success of adaptive life cycle projects because adaptive teams require a collaborative work
environment to accommodate dynamically evolving project work.

2.4 Project Life Cycle

Software project life cycles and software product life cycles are distinct concepts. A software product life cycle
includes an initial software project life cycle but also includes the processes for deployment, support, maintenance,

Table 2-1. Attributes of Collaborative Teams

Attribute Goal

Dedicated Resources • Increased focus and productivity
Multi-Skilled Teams • Accelerated integration of distinct work activities
• Incorporation of frequent wide-band feedback
Colocation • Better communication
• Improved team dynamics
• Knowledge sharing
• Reduced cost of learning
Generalists and Specialists • Dedicated expertise and flexibility of work assignments
Stable Work Environment • Simplified human resource planning
• Preservation and expansion of intellectual capital

©2013 Project Management Institute. Software Extension to the PMBOK Guide Fifth Edition 25
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