Understanding the project life cycle

Exploring the phases of the project life cycle

The basic structure of a project is a project life cycle. The life cycle is a great way to guide your project in the right direction so that you and your project stay on track and end up in the right place. Most project life cycles have four major phases, each with their own set of tasks and concerns.

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Project life cycle

• Initiate the project
  • Define project goals and deliverables
  • Identify the budget and resources needed
  • the people involved in your project
  • Other details that can impact the successful completion of your project

Document all items under Initiate the project in one place to showcase the project’s value to get approval to move forward with it.

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• Make a plan

  • Have a budget.
  • a Breakdown of all the tasks that need to be completed
  • Ways to communicate team roles and responsibilities
  • a Schedule
  • Resources
  • What to do in case the project encounters problems or needs to change

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• Execute and complete tasks

  • The project team has the job of completing the project tasks
  • Project manager primary roles is to monitor progress and keep the team motivated
  • Remove any obstacles that might come p so that the tasks are executed well and on time.

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• Close the project
  • Celebrate all of the hard work!
  • Make note of what worked and what didn’t
  • Reflect
  • Connect with people outside the team who had interest in the project’s goal.

Phases in action: Initiating and planning

First step of the project life cycle is to initiate the project. During initiation, the project manager will organize all of the information you have available to you about your project.

Defining project goals makes the details of your project clear so that you and your team can successfully complete the project.

As a project manager, you’ll record all of these details in your project proposal and then get them approved by a decision maker or group of decision makers at your company so that you can move ahead with project plans.

Now, make it a plan, which we will create budget, and set the schedule. The project manager will establish the project team and determine each person’s role and responsibilities.

The key to project management, deliberate planning is critical to a project’s success.

Make a plan

• Create a budget
• Set the schedule
• Establish your team
• Determine roles and responsibilities
• Plan for risk and change
• Establish communication

A crucial part of project management is planning for risk and change. The ability to adapt is all about thinking and planning ahead. Scheduling delays, budget changes, technology and software requirements, legal issues, quality control, and access to resources are just some of the more common types os risks and changes that a project manager needs to consider.

Once there is a plan, the project manager will communicate all of this information to the team. That way, each member will know which tasks they’ll own and what to do if they have questions or if they run into problems. The project manager will also communicate the plan with other who have an interest in the project success, so that they are aware of the plans and the progress as the project continues to move forward.

Phases in action: Executing and closing

Execute & complete tasks

• Manage the progress
• Communicate
• Make adjustments

The primary job of a project manager isn’t actually doing the tasks, but rather to manage the progress of the project as a whole.

The project manager will over see the team’s efforts and make sure everyone understands what’s expected of them, what tasks need to be done, and how and when to complete those tasks. It’s is also the project manager’s job to help remove any obstacles and to alert the right people if it looks like there might be a delay to the project. This means that the project manager will need to communicate with the team and anyone else involved in the project through meetings, written communications like memos, emails, or internal chat tools, and other working documents like tasks reports.

Quick pro tip, if in doubt, err on the side of over communication

As the project progresses, the project manager will make adjustments to the schedule, budget, and allocation of resources, clearly communicating updates all along the way.

Close the project

• Ensure all tasks have been completed
• Confirm acceptance of the project outcome
• Reflect on lessons learned. Communicate results with stakeholders
• Celebrate completion of project
• Formally move on from the project

Be sure any outstanding invoices have been paid, resources are returned and accounted for, and project documentation has been submitted. Get confirmation that the final outcome of your project is acceptable to the people you’re delivering it to.

A retrospective is a chance to note best practices and learn how to manage a project more effectively the next time

Time to collect all the project documentation that you created or collected along the way, including all of your plans and reflections, and share the final results of the project with the stakeholders.

Pro tip, stakeholders play a huge role in the development, and success of your project.

Take some time to celebrate the effort of the team invested in the project. Some ideas for small celebrations are a company or team-wide email, thanking the team and acknowledging individual efforts. For big projects, consider a company party to celebrate the team and the project success.

Summary of the project phases

The project life cycle

Initiate the project

Questions to ask during this phase:

• Who are the stakeholders?
• What are the client’s or customer’s goals?
• What is the purpose and mission of the project?
• What are the measurable objectives for the team?
• What is the project trying to improve?
• When does this project need to be completed?
• What skills and resources will the project require?
• What will the project cost? What are the benefits?

Make a plan

Make a plan to get the project from start to finish

• Create a detailed project plan. What are the major milestones? What tasks or deliverables make up each milestone.
• Build out the schedule so you can properly manage the resources, budget, materials, and timeline. Here, you will create an itemized budget.

Execute the project

Put in the hard work of from the first two phases into action.

• Monitor the project team as they complete project tasks.
• Break down any barriers that would slow or stop the team from completing tasks.
• Help keep the team aware of schedule and deliverable expectations.
• Address weakness in your process or examine places where your team may need additional training to meet the project’s goals.
• Adapt to changes in the project as they arise.

Close the project

• Identify that the team has completed all the requested outcomes.
• Release the team so they can support other projects within the company.
• Take time with the team to celebrate their successes!
• Pass off all remaining deliverables and get stakeholder approval.
• Document the lessons you and your team learned during the project.
• Reflect on ways to improve on the future.

Takeaway: Summary of the project phases

Each phase of the project life cycle has its own significance and reason for existing. By following the project life cycle, you’re ensuring that you are:

• Capturing the expectations of the customer
• Setting the project up for success with a plan.
• Executing project tasks and addressing any issues that arise.
• Closing out your project to capture any lessons learned.

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