Different Phases Of Project Management Lifecycle
In actuality, your system of managing the life cycle could be completely different from that of another agency or project manager. However, a lot of the fundamental ideas that underpin the project management procedures are the same.
What exactly is a project lifecycle?
Having a thorough knowledge of the Project Management life cycle, project stages, or process groups is crucial no matter what kind of project you are working on. A project’s successful completion is not a simple task. Before the project enters the completion phase, it requires a number of tasks to satisfy the needs of the stakeholders and the clients. Your ongoing tasks are kept more organized and feasible to carry out from conception to completion.
The series of stages through which a project moves is known as the project lifecycle. Initiation, Planning, Execution, Monitoring & Controlling, and Closing are all included.
A five-step framework:
A five-step framework called a project management life cycle was created to help project managers complete projects successfully.
- Project Initiation: Identifying the Work That Must Be Done
The purpose of the beginning phase is to take a project’s (sometimes vague) brief and determine what the project must do and accomplish in order to succeed.
You make the decision on the viability of delivering the business case during this project initiation step. The project’s objectives must be clearly identified, and you, as the project manager, must then provide a way to attain them.
Project Initiation’s Key Project Management Steps:
Make a project plan that outlines the initiative’s
Vision,
Goals
Purpose, and
Objectives.
2. Project Planning: Identifying What Must Be Done and How to Do It
Following the project’s approval in the Initiation phase, this phase starts.
A project plan that details the activities, tasks, dependencies, time frames, and costs are produced during the planning process. Creating plans for resources, quality, risk, acceptance standards, communication, and procurement is also advisable.
3. Project execution: the stage during which work is completed.
Task owners get to work, and the project manager makes sure everything gets done on time and smoothly.
As the project manager, you transition from discussing a project and producing paperwork to receiving approval to start the implementation phase. You are now supervising the team as they work toward delivery. Briefings, meetings, and reviews will occupy most of your time as you steer the project through the project life cycle.
This is the phase where preparation gives way to execution. The buildup of the project team. The responsibilities listed in the project plan are given to specific individuals and other resources. In order to finish everything as quickly as possible, the project work is carried out in the prescribed order.
4. Project monitoring and Control: Keeping a Project on Track
Keeping the project on schedule and making sure that goals and project deliverables are accomplished are the main objectives of this phase, which normally occurs concurrently with the project execution phase.
Monitoring and controlling (managing the work and finances) involve dealing with problems that will inevitably develop and need swift corrections as the project moves forward.
Now that you’ve completed four of the project phases, it’s time to proceed to the last stage of the project management life cycle: project closure.
5. Project Closure: Finishing a Project
Your project is largely over at this point in the project life cycle, and you are no longer the project manager. But the project is far from finished.
It’s helpful to arrange a post-project review meeting or post-mortem at this stage, before everyone forgets, to go over the project’s strengths and shortcomings, the team’s performance, what went wrong or didn’t go so well, and how to improve moving forward.
This can be one of the most satisfying phases of project management because it offers a wonderful chance to appreciate and thank important team members and celebrate accomplishments.
Conclusion: The project life cycle gives project managers a roadmap for navigating their work. At each stage of the project, it outlines where to begin and where to proceed next. You’ll always have a solid framework to fall back on and refocus on, no matter how crazy things get.