Project Management Life Cycle

The Project Management Life Cycle has four phases: Initiation, Planning, Execution and Closure.
Each project life cycle phase is described below, along with the tasks needed to complete it. You can
click the links provided, to view more detailed information on the project management life cycle.

 Develop a Business Case

 Undertake a Feasibility Study
 Establish the Project Charter
 Appoint the Project Team
 Set up the Project Office
 Perform Phase Review

 Create a Project Plan

 Create a Resource Plan
 Create a Financial Plan
 Create a Quality Plan
 Create a Risk Plan
 Create an Acceptance Plan
 Create a Communications Plan
 Create a Procurement Plan
 Contract the Suppliers
 Define the Tender Process
 Issue a Statement of Work
 Issue a Request for Information
 Issue a Request for Proposal
 Create Supplier Contract
 Perform Phase Review

 Build Deliverables
 Monitor and Control
 Perform Time Management
 Perform Cost Management
 Perform Quality Management
 Perform Change Management
 Perform Risk Management
 Perform Issue Management
 Perform Procurement Management
 Perform Acceptance Management
 Perform Communications Management
  Perform Project Closure
 Review Project Completion

Project management life cycle overview

The project management life cycle describes high-level processes for

delivering a successful project. For every $1 billion invested in projects
by companies in the United States, $122 million was wasted due to
lacking project performance, according to Project Management
Institute Research. Wasted money and resources can be prevented
with effective project management, as 57% of unsuccessful projects
fail due to communication breakdown. In the phases of the project
management life cycle, you come up with the idea for a project, define
its goals, plan for its execution, and guide it to completion.

4 phases of the project management life cycle

The project management life cycle is usually broken down into four
phases: initiation, planning, execution, and closure—these make up
the path that takes your project from the beginning to the end. Some
methodologies also include a fifth phase, controlling or monitoring.
For our purposes, this phase is covered under the execution and
closure phases.

To help you visualize the project management lifecycle, use this free
customizable template. It’s easy to edit and share with your team.
Project Management Life Cycle (Click on image to modify this template)

Use this free project management life cycle template

1. Initiation

In the initiation phase of the project, you identify a business need,

problem, or opportunity and brainstorm ways that your team can
meet this need, solve this problem, or seize this opportunity. During
this step, you figure out an objective for your project, determine
whether the project is feasible, and identify the major deliverables for
the project.

Instead of waiting to have the project strategy decided for you, Moira
Alexander advocates for a mental switch from being a project
"manager" to becoming a project "leader":
"Project managers must be able to sell business leaders on the
intrinsic value they offer to the business at a strategic level when they
are at the table from the start of strategic planning instead of after the
fact decision-making. Project managers effectiveness is drastically
muted when offering a "fix-it" or "workaround" once high-level
directional business decisions are made without their expertise."

Clearly it's worth it to do what it takes to make your voice heard early,
before the strategy is set in stone.
Project management steps for the initiation phase

Steps for the project initiation phase may include the following:

 Undertaking a feasibility study – Identifying the primary problem

your project will solve and whether your project will deliver a
solution to that problem
 Identifying scope – Defining the depth and breadth of the
project
 Identifying deliverables – Defining the product or service to
provide
 Identifying project stakeholders – Figuring out whom the project
affects and what their needs may be
 Developing a business case – Using the above criteria to
compare the potential costs and benefits for the project to
determine if it moves forward

You’ll also develop a statement of work or project initiation document,

which may include basic project life cycle flowcharts.
2. Planning

Once the project is approved to move forward based on your business

case, statement of work, or project initiation document, you move into
the planning phase. In this phase, you break down the larger project
into smaller tasks, build your team, and prepare a schedule for the
completion of assignments. During this phase, you create smaller
goals within the larger project, making sure each is achievable within
the time frame. Smaller goals should have a high potential for success.

Take a look at this example workflow diagram that you can use as a
template to plan your projects.

Workflow diagram template (Click on image to modify this template)

Use this free template

Project management steps for the planning phase

Steps for the project planning phase may include the following:

 Creating a project plan – Identifying the project timeline,

including the phases of the project, the tasks to be performed,
and possible constraints
  Creating workflow documents or process maps – Visualizing the
project timeline by diagramming key milestones
 Estimating budget and creating a financial plan – Using cost
estimates to determine how much to spend on the project to get
the maximum return on investment
 Gathering resources – Building your functional team from
internal and external talent pools while making sure everyone
has the necessary tools (software, hardware, etc.) to complete
their tasks
 Anticipating risks and potential quality roadblocks – Identifying
issues that may cause your project to stall while planning to
mitigate those risks and maintain the project’s quality and
timeline

The planning phase is also where you bring your team on board,
usually with a project kickoff meeting. It is important to have
everything outlined and explained so that team members can quickly
get to work in the next phase.
3. Execution

You’ve received business approval, developed a plan, and built your

team. Now it’s time to get to work. The execution phase turns your
plan into action. The project manager’s job in this phase of the project
management life cycle is to keep work on track, organize team
members, manage timelines, and make sure the work is done
according to the original plan.
Project management steps for the execution phase

Steps for the project execution phase may include the following:
  Creating tasks and organizing workflows – Assigning granular
aspects of the projects to the appropriate team members,
making sure team members are not overworked
 Briefing team members on tasks – Explaining tasks to team
members, providing necessary guidance on how they should be
completed, and organizing process-related training if necessary
 Communicating with team members, clients, and upper
management – Providing updates to project stakeholders at all
levels
 Monitoring quality of work – Ensuring that team members are
meeting their time and quality goals for tasks
 Managing budget – Monitoring spending and keeping the
project on track in terms of assets and resources

If you have a properly documented process already in place, executing

the project will be much easier.
You can use swimlane diagrams to make sure team members clearly understand their role in a project.
(Click on image to modify online)

Use this free template

4. Closure

Once your team has completed work on a project, you enter the
closure phase. In the closure phase, you provide final deliverables,
release project resources, and determine the success of the project.
Just because the major project work is over, that doesn’t mean the
project manager’s job is done—there are still important things to do,
including evaluating what did and did not work with the project.
Project management steps for the closure phase

Steps for the project closure phase may include the following:

 Analyzing project performance – Determining whether the

project's goals were met (tasks completed, on time and on
budget) and the initial problem solved using a prepared checklist
[link to checklist template]
 Analyzing team performance – Evaluating how team members
performed, including whether they met their goals along with
timeliness and quality of work
 Documenting project closure – Making sure that all aspects of
the project are completed with no loose ends remaining and
providing reports to key stakeholders
 Conducting post-implementation reviews – Conducting a final
analysis of the project, taking into account lessons learned for
similar projects in the future
 Accounting for used and unused budget – Allocating remaining
resources for future projects
  By remaining on task even though the project’s work is
completed, you will be prepared to take everything you’ve
learned and implement it for your next project.

The Project Life Cycle

The project management life cycle provides a framework for managing
any type of project.

The Project Management Life Cycle

By definition, a project has a definite beginning and end. Between the

beginning and end points, the project can be divided into four phases...
 Project Initiation
 Project Planning
 Project Execution
 Project Closure

Let's take a closer look at each phase of the project life cycle.

Project Initiation
The purpose of the Project Initiation Phase is to define and authorize the
project.
The initial definition of the project can come from several places...
 Project Statement of Work (SoW)
 Business Case
 Contract

The project manager takes the information provided and creates a Project
Charter. The Project Charter authorizes the project and documents the
initial requirements for the project.

It generally includes information such as...

 Project purpose, vision, and mission
 Measurable objectives and success criteria
 High level project description, requirements, and risks
 Summary milestone schedule and budget
 Name and authority of the project sponsor

An important part of starting your project off right is performing

a stakeholder analysis. Understanding which people or organizations will
be impacted by or can influence your project is critical for ensuring your
project's success.

Project Planning
The purpose of the Project Planning Phase is to determine the approach
you will take and define all the details of how the project will be done.

Project Planning has two parts...

 Strategic Planning
 Implementation Planning.

During Strategic Planning you develop the overall approach to the project.
During Implementation Planning you figure out all the details of how the
project will be done.

A good way to visualize this is to think of your project as a family vacation.

 During Project Initiation you determine where you want to go (your
mission).
  During Strategic Planning, you decide whether you want to fly there
or drive (your approach).
 Let's say you decide to drive. In that case, during Implementation
Planning you would map out your route, identify which hotels you will
stay at along the way, determine how long each leg of the trip will
take, and so on (all the details).

Project Execution
The purpose of the Project Execution Phase is to carryout the activities
defined during the Project Planning Phase.

Project Execution is where most of the time, money, and people are used
on a project. This is where the action takes place.

During this phase of the project management life cycle the project manager
has to keep all the activities moving forward in a coordinated manner. This
means you will need to track the progress of each activity and adjust your
plans when the situation changes. This tracking and adjustment of project
activities is also known as Monitor and Control.

During the execution phase all of the agreed project deliverables should be
implemented and accepted by the customer. The customer can be an
internal customer or an external customer.

Project Closure
The purpose of the Project Closure Phase is to formally close the project.

During Project Closure, there are several key activities that need to be
performed...
 Verify that the completion criteria are met
 Create a project closure report
 Collect and archive project artifacts
 Perform a project postmortem

Many projects skip this phase. Once the Execution Phase is complete, they
simply move on. It's unfortunate since they really don't know if the project
objectives have been met, don't organize the project artifacts to be easily
found for future project's reference, and don't identify the key issues and
lessons learned by the project that can be applied to future projects.
Performing Project Closure will benefit both your company and your career.
If you do this well, you will set yourself up to lead high-visibility, business-
critical projects. So make sure your projects go through the full project
management life cycle.

PLIMCO

The company’s primary focus is to support customers to efficiently execute and manage the lifecycle
management phases to maximise the project outcome in line with the Compliance & Regulatory
requirements. Our primary aim is to support customers to achieve the positive outcome on the
project by our active mentoring, support & participation with the project teams at the key stages of
the project to achieve the following: - Project executed meeting all compliance and regulatory
requirements - The ability for the customer to retain the long-term benefit on the project though
achieving the optimised sustainable outcome (production capacities) The engagement model can be
provided as an end to end lifecycle management support commencing from Requirements phase
until completion of Qualification phase. We can also provide consultancy based on specific or
selected consultancy services based on a specific requirement of the customer. A High-level list of
services offered by Plimco are: 1. Lifecycle management / C&Q strategy development 2. Lifecycle
management / C&Q governance & project management 3. Lifecycle management / C&Q execution
Having experience from involvement in multiple projects across the globe and putting ourselves in
the shoes of the customer, we understand the standard customer pain points and empathise with
customer expectations. We also provide specific tailor-made support for a particular customer based
on their specific requirements. (not all services require full-time engagement from us) Contact us for
your needs and we will not disappoint you.