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Project life cycle

Definition of project life cycle: Exploring the 5 phases

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When you’re starting a big project, establishing a foundation for success is crucial. However, it can be tough to figure out where to begin. One key to success is understanding the project life cycle – a series of stages a project goes through from start to finish.

The project life cycle includes five main stages: initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and controlling, and closure. Keeping an eye on the completion of each phase helps ensure the project stays on time and within budget.

In this article, we’ll explore the definition of project life cycle in depth and show how tools like Jira can streamline and enhance each stage of the process.

What is the project life cycle?

The project management life cycle provides a structured plan for project managers to guide their projects to successful completion. It includes all the stages needed in a project – from the inception of an idea to the final implementation.

When project managers have a clear understanding of the various project management phases , they can see the big picture and better know how to handle each stage. These phases break the project down into simpler steps, making it easier for project managers to anticipate what’s coming next. This, in turn, helps them stay on track and ensure the project’s success. Using the right tools and methods also contributes to effective team management throughout the project life cycle.

The 5 project life cycle phases

The project life cycle outlines the different stages a project goes through from start to finish. It encompasses several key phases, each addressing different needs as the project progresses. This framework offers a high-level view of the project’s evolution, ensuring you hit important milestones along the way. There are typically five project life cycle phases : initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and controlling, and closure.

Initiation is where you define the goals, scope, budget, and timeline. Planning follows, focusing on creating a detailed action plan. Execution then carries out the plans to deliver the product. Once the project begins, you must monitor the project and control for any deviations from the plan. Finally, closure involves wrapping up tasks, obtaining project acceptance, and archiving records.

Even though the names and exact number of phases may differ, most project life cycles follow a similar pattern of planning, execution, and closure. The key is to have a structured approach that helps manage resources, timelines, and deliverables as the project moves from one stage to the next.

Throughout the phases, project managers monitor and control their teams' efforts, tracking progress and adjusting work as needed to keep the project on schedule and within budget.

Initiation phase

The initiation phase marks the beginning of a project, with the project manager defining the scope and objectives. During this phase, it’s vital to align stakeholders on common goals and lay the foundation for a successful project.

Next, the project manager creates a project charter , outlining the purpose, goals, and scope of the project. This charter includes the following key information:

Project purpose and justification
Main objectives and deliverables
Key stakeholders and team members

Initial schedule and budget estimates

The project manager also conducts a feasibility assessment to determine if the project is realistic and worthwhile.

Planning phase

During the planning phase, the project manager develops a detailed project plan and roadmap . This involves determining key scheduling details, resource allocation, and risks that could impact the project. The goal is to create a comprehensive map of how the team will execute the work.

Jira Product Discovery (JPD) helps gather and organize product ideas, features, and solutions, creating custom, up-to-date roadmaps that show which features the team will build, when, and why. JPD helps project managers identify and prioritize ideas or features that will have the most substantial impact on the project's success.

Execution phase

During the execution phase, the team puts the project plan into action. The project manager plays a key role in coordinating resources, including people, tools, and materials, while also ensuring the team is well-informed about their individual tasks and timelines.

Jira is a collaboration tool that helps teams track work activities and offers simplified project tracking and enable seamless project management across both software and business teams, all while accommodating each team's unique working style.

Jira provides end-to-end management of this critical stage. The platform handles the day-to-day demands of executing complex projects, freeing up teams to focus on delivering work rather than struggling with spreadsheets and disjointed tools.

With Jira, project managers can assign tasks, set deadlines, and automate reminders so nothing slips through the cracks. With all their work in one place, they can understand how each task impacts the timeline and budget. This allows for immediate adjustments to keep the project moving forward.

Monitoring and controlling phase

The monitoring and controlling phase involves regularly checking project progress and team performance to ensure everything adheres to the project plan.

During this phase, the project manager identifies any deviations from the plan and budget, determining the cause to take corrective action. Tools such as status reports, time tracking, budget reports, risk management plans, and stakeholder reviews make it easy to see the most important metrics and milestones. To make changes to the plan, team members should submit a change request for approval.

Closing phase

The closing phase marks the formal end of a project. During this phase, the focus is on getting final approvals and sign-offs, conducting a post-project review, identifying what went well, determining areas for improvement, and documenting lessons learned. These activities foster a culture of continuous learning and promote accountability and transparency.

Agile approaches to the project life cycle

In traditional project management, teams typically establish a fixed plan that does not change. Agile project management , on the other hand, allows for changes to the project plan. In the Agile methodology , teams engage in short, frequent check-ins and make adjustments. This approach focuses on iterative development, customer collaboration, and adaptability. The best methodology depends on the project type.

Scrum is a widely adopted Agile methodology in which Scrum teams work in time-boxed iterations, with daily stand-up meetings to discuss progress, challenges, and plans. In Kanban , another Agile methodology, teams visualize workflows using a Kanban board, allowing them to prioritize tasks and maintain a smooth workflow.

Benefits of effective project life cycle management

Effective project life cycle management streamlines processes in several ways:

Improved project visibility: Teams can proactively remove obstacles to ensure timely, high-quality results. This enables more effective decision-making.
Better risk management: Teams can spot risks early and find solutions. Regular risk checks ensure projects stay on time and avoid costly delays or failure.

Enhanced stakeholder communication: With regular updates, progress reports, and meetings, participants stay more informed and involved throughout the project life cycle.

Project managers can use Jira tools to organize and prioritize ideas, making it easy to create and share custom roadmaps with the team.

Jira breaks large projects into manageable tasks, tracks progress, and encourages teamwork across all teams and the organization.
Jira Product Discovery works with Jira, providing context for and visibility into software development projects, business tasks, and more.

Ensure a successful project life cycle with Jira Product Discovery

Jira, a popular project management tool, offers several features and project planning templates to streamline processes and provide context and visibility for projects.

JPD helps with planning, tracking, and managing project phases. With JPD, product teams can neatly gather and organize product ideas, opportunities, features, and solutions within a centralized tool. This helps in the prioritization of features to find those with the most significant impact.

Jira is effective project management tools that natively integrate with JPD, providing context for and visibility of all project tasks.

Project life cycle: Frequently asked questions

How does agile differ from traditional project life cycles.

Agile and traditional project life cycle approaches differ significantly in their approach to change and planning. Agile is known for its flexibility and iterative nature, embracing change and promoting continuous review and adaptation. As the project progresses, the team continuously gathers new information, insights, and feedback, allowing them to understand what works and what doesn't. This enables them to make dynamic adjustments to the project plan to make it more effective and aligned with the project's goals.

Traditional approaches are more sequential and rigid. Project managers conduct detailed planning upfront, and the team adheres closely to the plan. In this approach, change is challenging to accommodate.

Each approach has advantages, but Agile is better suited for projects where change is expected or necessary.

How does project life cycle management contribute to organizational growth?

Project life cycle management helps teams optimize the utilization of resources, including people and tools. This improved efficiency allows teams to complete projects on time, contributing to the success of the organization.

What are the potential challenges faced during the project life cycle?

Project management can be complex and challenging, requiring careful attention to potential obstacles, such as scope creep, resource constraints, and communication breakdowns.

Scope creep happens when project requirements expand beyond what the team decided at the start of the project, leading to insufficient resources, delays, and deviations from the project plan. Change control processes help eliminate scope creep. Project managers must check the project's scope often, communicate changes, and involve stakeholders to make sure any changes match the project goals.

Resource constraints can cause delays, jeopardizing successful project completion. To overcome these resource issues, check your resources early in the project planning . Create a backup plan ahead of time. This is how you can find potential problems and think of solutions, like getting outside help or shifting your resources.

Productivity suffers when there are communication breakdowns , which encompass insufficient communication, disagreements, and poor collaboration. Creating a culture where people are happy to share information within the project team and holding regular meetings, both formal and casual, can keep everyone on the same page and prevent communication breakdowns. Project management tools, such as Jira, simplify communication, track progress, and simplify information sharing.

Related resources

Project Management Resources
Project Planning Resources

Project Plan Template

Define, scope, and plan milestones for your next project.

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09 Feb 2023

Mastering the project life cycle: Your complete guide (+ examples)

Written by Jo Johansson

Icons representing the five stages of the project life cycle: initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, closure.

In this article 📖

The project life cycle , just like a good story, has a beginning, a middle, and (hopefully) a happy end. The beginning involves the ever-so-important planning; then comes the middle, where teams complete various tasks to move the project closer to completion; and finally, an end to review what went well and what didn’t.

This, in a nutshell, is the project life cycle: the phases a project moves through from start to finish. It’s a useful way to think about projects, as it helps teams successfully navigate them from initiation to closure, no matter how big or small the project is.

Of course, there’s quite a bit more to it than this. And so, in this guide, we leave no stone unturned, exploring almost everything you need to know about the project life cycle, including:

What is a project life cycle?

The project life cycle is a framework project managers use to help them plan and execute projects strategically and effectively to meet project goals.

Project life cycle definition

The project life cycle consists of a series of steps, phases, or stages a project goes through from beginning to finish—sometimes linearly and sometimes not. There are usually five phases of the project life cycle : initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, and closure.

Characteristics of the project life cycle include:

A start and finish with distinct phases
Project objectives defined at the beginning
A plan for achieving the objectives
Deliverables and tasks to be completed
Systems for managing projects
A list of stakeholders

Types of project life cycles

While the project life cycle stages are widely recognized, there are variations in how project teams use and follow them. Some follow them linearly, while others go for a more flexible approach.

There are different types of project life cycles teams can make use of depending on the type of project they’re working on.

Here are five of the most common types of project life cycles:

1. Predictive (or waterfall) life cycle

Also known as the waterfall or fully-plan-driven project cycle, the predictive life cycle is the most traditional and easiest to understand.

The plan is created upfront, with a defined schedule, scope, and costs. A single product or service usually gets delivered at the end.

The project follows a linear progression through the five steps of the project cycle: initiate, plan, execute, control, and close. The team moves on to the next phase only once the previous stage is complete—and performs each phase once.

This approach provides a solid project plan that’s easily replicated.

The linear and predictive waterfall model.

2. Iterative life cycle

The iterative life cycle also consists of the five project phases, but there’s no linear progression. Each stage in the cycle is performed as many times as needed. For instance, a project team may move between the execution and monitoring phases multiple times before moving on to closure.

This life cycle is ideal when the project scope is unclear, but the customer still wants the best solution. Customer feedback is received at the end of each phase and informs the next stage, so planning continuously happens throughout the project’s life.

3. Incremental life cycle

During the incremental life cycle, the project is delivered in multiple increments or sets. Each set consists of progressing through the five project phases linearly until completion. And each phase must be completed before moving on to the next.

At the end of each set, a deliverable is produced, with feedback informing the next set. This means that the cycle of moving through the five phases happens multiple times.

As with the iterative life cycle, the incremental one is ideal for unpredictable scopes and where timely delivery is crucial.

4. Agile (or adaptive) life cycle

Also known as the change-driven or adaptive approach, the agile life cycle combines iterative and incremental life cycles. This type of cycle is more open to change and adaptation and doesn’t follow a linear progression. The initial phase only happens once—with planning, execution, and control stages happening in iterations, usually multiple times.

Each iteration delivered is followed by feedback that informs the next iteration or set. This life cycle is ideal for projects where feedback is essential, timely project delivery is crucial, and the scope is unclear.

The agile model going through its stages iteratively.

The Agile model is more open to change and adaptation and doesn’t follow a linear progression.

5. Hybrid life cycle

The hybrid life cycle is a combination of project management approaches. An example is the agile life cycle, which combines iterative and incremental project management approaches.

Hybrids are ideal for when any of the other approaches aren’t suitable.

Okay, now that we’ve got the hang of different types of project life cycles, let’s dive a bit deeper into the phases and what happens in each.

The phases of a project life cycle

The diagram below shows the five stages of the project life cycle, which we will discuss in more detail next. Just keep in mind that not everyone uses five stages. Some choose to focus on a four-phase project life cycle while others may opt for something entirely different.

As we mentioned earlier, the choice mostly boils down to personal preference and the needs of the project. For instance, some PMs may prefer the 5-phase cycle because it’s more detailed, while others may pick four phases because it’s more straightforward.

If you’re dealing with a complex project, you might want to opt for the 5-phase cycle, whereas if you’re in a time crunch, you might want to opt for the 4-phase cycle.

An overview of the five phases of the project life cycle.

Phase 1: Initiation—kicking things off

Initiation is the project kick-off phase, to get the full download of information from key stakeholders. At a high level, this phase defines the problem, details what needs to be done, and is an opportunity to define all the stakeholders.

The initiation phase will vary depending on the size of the project. For a freelancer working with a client to write a few blog posts, the initiation phase may involve one brainstorming meeting to clarify the details.

For a project team working on a large project with many deliverables over months, this phase will be more comprehensive—and will probably involve producing a business case and feasibility study.

Regardless, these are the types of tasks you can expect to tackle during the project life cycle initiation phase :

Create a project charter that details the scope and project objectives
Identify the stakeholders , which includes the project team, project managers, project sponsors, and clients
Conduct a feasibility study to determine if it’s possible to tackle the project
Create a business case to see if the project is worth pursuing: analyze benefits, costs, and risks
Build an estimate of the project costs to guide budgeting

You’ll usually capture all this information in a Project Initiation Document (PID).

Phase 2: Planning—the foundation of your entire project

Once you have the green light for the project, it’s time for planning. Planning lays the groundwork for the rest of the project and helps you move intelligently through it.

You’ll detail all the work and how you plan on doing it. More specifically, the project life cycle planning phase involves :

Creating a project plan that includes project objectives, deliverables, timelines, project constraints, a project schedule, and project dependencies
Preparing a project budget by building a financial plan with cost estimates for labor, material, and equipment
Specifying resource requirements like labor and materials to help with resource scheduling and allocation
Managing risk by identifying potential problems and creating contingency plans
Creating a communication plan that details the information you’ll need, who needs that information, how often you’ll communicate, and how you’ll communicate
Setting quality targets and control measures via a quality plan
Listing the criteria for what customers deem a completed project
Detailing the processes, systems, and tools you’ll use to manage and track your projects . How will you manage and schedule your team? How will you track resource utilization to ensure you’re making the best use of those resources? Workload planning tools can help.

Workload planning tools for happier teams and smoother projects

The right workload planning tool like Resource Guru helps you identify, categorize, and better schedule resources by seeing who’s overloaded and underutilized. From there, you can:

Identify bottlenecks where demand (for people) is higher than supply, so you can plan ahead and hire more people if needed
Assign the right people to the right projects to prevent overload and burnout, while improving employee retention

It’s as simple as dragging and dropping to rebalance workloads. Et voila! Resource scheduling is done.

Resource Guru's flexible drag and drop schedule

Resource Guru’s flexible drag-and-drop scheduling tool.

Phase 3: Execution (or implementation)—getting the work done

The execution or implementation phase is where you put planning into motion. The aim is to complete deliverables to achieve the project objectives.

The project manager will typically carry out these tasks during the project execution phase:

Allocating resources and budget
Scheduling tasks
Briefing the project team
Coordinating and managing the team and schedule
Attending client reviews and regular team meetings to share progress

Phase 4: Monitoring (or controlling)—tracking progress against the plan

The monitoring or controlling phase goes hand-in-hand with the execution phase. It’s about monitoring the project’s overall progress to see if you’re meeting project objectives and are on track.

You’ll need to track performance metrics like budget, cost variance, resource utilization, and client satisfaction. Where there are deviations from the original plan, always first try to get the project back on course. If this isn’t possible and you need to modify the plan, take note of this, so you have a record to refer back to later.

Ways to track project progress , include:

Regular team meetings to get feedback on how things are going.
Client review meetings where you answer questions. This helps create a constant feedback loop that allows you to include client changes earlier, rather than later when it may be difficult to backtrack and can become costly. Make sure you compare these change requests against the initial project scope to control scope creep before it gets out of hand.
Using tools like resource management software to track resource utilization to ensure you’re getting the most out of your team and preventing team burnout .

Phase 5: Closure—wrapping things up

During this phase, the project winds down and comes to a close. You’ll spend time wrapping things up by handing over project documentation, releasing final deliverables, terminating contracts, and informing everyone that the project is complete.

You can also conduct a project post-mortem to assess what worked and what didn’t. This could be a wrap-up meeting with all stakeholders or a project report you deliver to everyone.

Regardless, use this information to learn from mistakes and build on the wins to ensure the success of future projects.

Advantages and disadvantages of project life cycle

Now that you have a thorough understanding of the phases of the project management life cycle, let’s look at the pros and cons.

Take note : The following is a high-level look at the pros and cons of the project life cycle and doesn’t involve a one-to-one comparison between the different types of project life cycle models.

Advantages of project life cycle

A reliable structure for managing and delivering projects helps teams navigate and deliver projects on time and on budget
The framework , which is usually visible to all, makes it easy to define roles , so everyone knows what to do
You can easily track the project’s progress against the phases . Everyone can easily stay updated on the project’s status
Clear steps, deliverables, and project goals foster better communication and collaboration
Planning for risks is easy so that you can minimize their impact

Disadvantages of project life cycle

The project life cycle consists of distinct phases, making it rather rigid . This rigidity is not suitable for all projects. It may be why there are different versions of the cycle to accommodate different project types
A rigid project approach can stifle creativity , particularly moving through the project linearly
Some teams overcomplicate the stages of the cycle , which leads to slow project delivery and unnecessary costs
Moving through the life cycle can be overly time and resource intensive
Teams can waste time, money, and resources if the need or problem isn’t properly defined

Critical success factors across the project life cycle

Specific and measurable project objectives . For instance, the objective of “increase total organic traffic by 20% by the end of August 2023” is much better than “increase traffic.” It provides a precise number for the increase, so you know what to aim for and you aren’t choosing a number arbitrarily during the project. It’s also measurable; you can pull stats to see if you’ve reached your goal. Finally, there’s a deadline, so you’re not aimlessly tracking a metric indefinitely.
Proper planning . Planning is the foundation of any project as it guides your actions. It includes your project plan, budget, communication plan, schedule, and systems for success.
Scope control . Scope control helps keep a project on track and on budget. Without it, you risk the project going beyond what was agreed. A real possibility considering that nearly 50% of all projects experience scope creep . Scope creep causes project delays, resource allocation issues, and budgeting problems. Control scope creep by having a clear project schedule and a change management plan.
Proper project tracking . Tracking progress against the plan helps you stay on track. Weekly status meetings can help steer the ship.
The right project management tools . The right tools help simplify project management, keep you organized, and help you stay on track. Use them for task scheduling, resource allocation , budgeting, and compiling cost estimates.
Proper communication . Regular communication between stakeholders ensures everyone stays aligned and is working together.
Management support and buy-in . Without management agreement that the project is essential, you’ll struggle to progress. Create a business case to get buy-in.
Resource allocation . Project success depends on allocating the right resources to the right areas and in the right amount. If you have too few resources, your team will be spread thin. Too many, and you may blow your project budget out of the water.
Strong leadership . PMs must be competent and effective leaders who inspire and can get the most out of their teams.
Risk management . No project is without hiccups. There need to be contingency plans.

Project life cycle examples

Below are two project management life cycle examples: one for a smaller project and another for a larger one.

Example 1: Website redesign

Initiation : A web designer (Joe) has a project kick-off meeting with a client to understand the problems with the existing site and the goal of the new one. One of the objectives is to modernize the site.

Planning : Joe completes the creative brief, which includes the scope, milestones, and costs. The milestones allow for client feedback. Both parties agree on the number of changes allowed at each milestone and what the definition of a change is, so there’s no confusion.

Execution : Joe produces wireframes and mock-ups for delivery at different milestones. Feedback at each checkpoint informs the next phase.

Monitoring : Joe uses the checkpoints to track project progress and control scope creep. For instance, at the first checkpoint, the client wants to change the placement of an icon. This change is minor, so scope creep is not a concern. For the remaining checkpoints, the project proceeds without a hitch.

Closure : Joe delivers the final prototype. The client is happy and signs off.

Example 2: Developing software

Initiation : A moving company wants to create an app to help price their moves because the team is making math mistakes that are costing the company thousands of dollars. A business case is created to detail the problem as well as the benefits and costs of the software. The project gets the green light, and a project manager (PM) is appointed.

Planning : The PM creates a project plan highlighting the costs, deliverables, timelines, scope, and resources. One new resource is a specialist app developer the team had not initially discussed. The PM flags this to the CEO, who approves the extra budget. They hire a developer to work in-house.

Execution : The PM works with the developer and implements checkpoints across design, development, and testing. After milestones one and two, the project is moving ahead as planned.

Monitoring : The third milestone arrives, and the team needs to confirm if the app is ready for testing. But they need more development time and want to add an extra feature.

The PM, again, flags this to the CEO, who approves and agrees to a budget increase of $40,000. The PM adjusts the project schedule to account for the changes—and pushes it out by two months.

Closure : The team deploys the app and starts using it. The developer helps train everyone, so they understand how to use it. The PM conducts a project post-mortem with the team where they recognize they were flexible and adaptable but could’ve better defined the requirements.

The bottom line on project life cycles

Sure, the inflexibility of the life cycle makes it an unsuitable framework for certain projects. But it’s still a valuable way to think about them because it provides structure to otherwise chaotic projects.

Now, you definitely don’t need to follow this structure blindly—it’s not the be-all, end-all for project success. Instead, use the underlying concepts, ideas, and information from this guide and adapt them to build your own.

Maybe your projects will follow a more linear progression and closely resemble the traditional predictive cycle? Or perhaps you’ll lean toward a more hybrid model and embrace adaptability?

It’s your choice .

As a project manager, you know your project, resources, and team better than anyone else. So view these life cycles as an adaptable framework and apply them when needed—you know what’s best for your project.

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Jo Johansson

👋 I'm Jo, Senior Content Marketing Manager at Resource Guru. I spend my days creating educational content that helps people be more productive at work, so they can enjoy their time off work. Got any ideas or requests? Drop me a line at [email protected].

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If you’re just diving into the world of project management for the first time, you might feel intimidated by starting a new project. Fortunately, you can utilize the project life cycle, which is a set of stages that takes a project from start to completion. Read on to learn about each phase of the project lifecycle, its role in the success of the project, and how you can properly manage each phase for optimum results.

What are Project Phases?

Project phases are smaller portions of a project that represent distinct goals or milestones in the larger project lifecycle. Within the project lifecycle, there are 5 project phases, as defined by the Project Management Institute:

Project Initiation
Project Planning
Project Execution
Project Monitoring and Control
Project Closure

An entire project comes with a lot of requirements before it could even start, which are often gathered during the discovery phase or requirement phase. Once the project kicks off, each stage of the actual execution itself has another set of specific requirements of the project team, as well as key deliverables and action items that keep the project moving forward successfully. Mastering project phases is essential for keeping the project on track while completing essential tasks and checkpoints throughout the process.

example of the project lifecycle in stages.

Project Planning Phase

Once the expectations and success criteria are clear, the next project management life cycle phase focuses on planning each task the team needs to perform to cover the scope, achieve the deliverables, and meet the overall goal.

In the Project Planning Phase, the project team members dive into specific requirements, tasks, timelines, and actions. The project manager works with the entire team to create the design, enumerate the task list, and estimate the budget.

The project team builds the resource plan, the communications plan, and the initial project schedule. The project manager also establishes the roles and responsibilities of the team and stakeholders. The project scope is finalized depending on approved available resources and client priorities.

During the Planning Phase , the project team finalizes the Work Breakdown Structure, Project Plan, Requirements List, Communications Management Plan, and other relevant documents to iron out the workflow and coordination with involved parties.

The Project Plan is a key deliverable and contains a detailed work breakdown structure (WBS) or task list with start and end dates, and estimated effort and duration. It identifies milestones, resources, and the schedule. It also includes task dependencies that will allow the project team to use the critical path method if it chooses.

Other important deliverables are the Communications Management Plan, which helps facilitate effective communication with stakeholders, and the Resource Allocation Plan which identifies the schedule of project team resources as to their availability during the whole project life cycle.

Something PMs should keep in mind: As you discover more information, you may have to adjust your previous Project Plan and related procedures. More complex projects will require more back-and-forth approvals for every task created.

Project planning is an iterative process so the project manager should review, revise, and revisit all the plans at least once a month until the completion of the project. It is crucial for the project team to involve relevant stakeholders in this stage of the project life cycle as well.

Read more: Project Management Communication Plan

Project Execution Phase

The Project Execution Phase is where the project team executes and follows through on tasks based on the Project Plan. At this stage, the team spends most of its time coordinating with people, helping to ensure quality work, keeping track of resources, and updating stakeholders.

Sometimes called the Implementation Phase, this is the phase when the project manager tries to manage every task and aspect of project delivery to keep the project on track for the remaining duration of the project life cycle.

The project team focuses on achieving all the objectives set in the earlier phases. At this phase, the project leader likely uses project management software to assign every task to team members. Tools that centralize task information, along with resource availability and team communication can simplify and optimize the needed project management processes.

Quality Assurance documentation, meeting minutes, and Work Orders are some of the documents created during the Execution Phase of the project management life cycle.

It’s also likely that you’ll discover new information that will require a revisit and update of the initial project management plans. Be vigilant with change requests, and make sure that the necessary adjustments are managed.

Read more: Understanding Different Types of Stakeholders and Their Roles

Project Monitoring & Control Phase

The best way to ensure progress and improvement is by tracking and reviewing project performance.

Simultaneously during execution, the project team carefully tracks the progress of the project based on the Project Plan established earlier. Tracking the performance of the project through various metrics is crucial to ensure the project stays on schedule, within budget, and within scope.

The project team keeps track of change management documents, spending records, QA checklists, and team time tracking. They are able to measure where efforts and resources go throughout the project life cycle, crosschecking it with the Project Plan.

Both the Execution Phase and Monitoring & Control Phase are critical times that can determine project success. Aside from monitoring the progress of tasks, the project manager also tries to identify issues or risks, creates a mitigation plan with the team, and reports the project status regularly to stakeholders.

Being diligent in recording and measuring project progress puts the project team in a strategic position. They can identify bottlenecks and initiate essential discussions or project management process improvements.

Having a proactive approach will allow the project team to respond rapidly to any change in the plan. Consistent and appropriate status reporting will update interested stakeholders and provide them the opportunity to intervene in or redirect the project as needed.

If additional planning, time, or resources are needed, you’ll need to communicate them to relevant project stakeholders before it’s too late. You’ll also have the data and results to back up your requests, so you have a better chance of justifying your requests and maintaining their trust despite circumstances.

Read more: 10 Best Project Management Software Buyers’ Guide

Project Closure Phase

In the last project management life cycle phase, all the activities related to its completion are concluded. These may involve the submission of a final deliverable, fulfilling contractual obligations, terminating relevant agreements, and releasing project resources.

The causes of a project closure can be completion, cancellation, termination, or transfer to a new organization. The documentation required to complete Project Closure will differ depending on the situation.

In this phase, the project manager communicates the final project disposition and status to all stakeholders. This phase also ensures to inform participants and stakeholders of any follow-on activities or continuing product life cycle so they can communicate and coordinate with the people in charge.

Regardless of the outcome of the project life cycle, however, it would be good for the team to conduct a project retrospective. During this post-mortem activity, the project team can process new lessons and ensure the improvement of current project management processes for a future project.

During the project closeout, documents to turn over can include various project documentation, final meeting minutes, and other closure reports. These documents can identify and capture lessons learned and best practices for future reference and reuse.

It is a good idea to organize and store project materials in a shared team folder. These materials can provide reference during performance evaluation. The opportunity to continuously test, improve, or reinvent ways to manage the whole project life cycle can help grow the organization and its business.

Read more: How to Host a Good Project Post-Mortem Meeting

VIDEO: Recap of 5 Project Management Phases

Why Are Project Phases Important?

All projects go through each of the five phases regardless of their size.

The decision to officially divide a project into phases is an excellent way to manage the team’s focus, allocate resources, and align the entire project life cycle with clients and stakeholders.

By thinking in terms of phases, the project team ensures that deliverables produced at the end of each phase meet the project’s goals. Managing a project by phase also makes sure that the team is properly prepared for the next phase.

Project life cycle phases provide additional benefits. The approach provides a structured approach for project delivery. Defined activities, outputs, and responsibilities create a clear and common roadmap for the project team to follow.

Defined phases and defined roles show a visible framework easily understood by all team members and stakeholders. Assignment of responsibilities by phase clarifies what the team should only be doing in each phase and helps streamline communication.

Working on projects phase by phase helps track and link progress directly to each phase. Completion of each phase is easily recognizable by all involved.

Another benefit of project management by phase is the progressive evolution of the project. This helps identify areas that need greater attention for a particular phase. It also marks clearly the points and opportunities for structured reviews to support project governance.

Though equally important, they are not to be confused with the process groups outlined in PMBOK’s IPECC model , which also includes initiation, planning, execution, control, and closure but refers to a collection of activities needed to achieve specific goals. Process groups are sometimes considered part of project phases.

While PMBOK recommends assigning project phases according to a project’s life cycle, project teams can follow their own system depending on their industry, organizational policies, and other relevant factors. For example, teams and organizations focused on monitoring the usage of resources can use the critical chain project management methodology.

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What Is The Project Life Cycle: The 5 Phases Explained

I’m Ben Aston, a digital project manager and founder of thedpm.com. I've been in the industry for more than 20 years working in the UK at London’s top digital agencies including Dare, Wunderman, Lowe and DDB. I’ve delivered everything from film to CMS', games to advertising and eCRM to eCommerce sites. I’ve been fortunate enough to work across a wide range of great clients; automotive brands including Land Rover, Volkswagen and Honda; Utility brands including BT, British Gas and Exxon, FMCG brands such as Unilever, and consumer electronics brands including Sony. I'm a Certified Scrum Master, PRINCE2 Practitioner and productivity nut!

The project life cycle is comprised of 5 key stages. Learn more about initiation, planning, executing, monitoring & controlling, and closing, and why the life cycle is so important.

the 5 stages of the project life cycle arranged in a circle: initiation planning execution monitoring and controlling and closing

All projects have a beginning and an end. They go through the same project management steps of initiation, planning, and execution. Projects are temporary efforts, born to create value, and when that value has been delivered, the project ceases to be. This cycle of project birth, maturity, and closure is known as the project life cycle, or project management life cycle.

I'm going to explore each phase of the life cycle and how you can apply it to your projects today and future projects. A key aspect of successfully managing projects within the project life cycle is being equipped with the right project management software tools or apps that can support each phase of the project.

What Is The Project Life Cycle?

The project life cycle is the phases of a project that are necessary for the effective delivery of that project. It dictates the order of processes and phases a project goes through as it's completed, and describes the high-level workflow of the project.

The PMI (Project Management Institute) has defined these five project management process groups, or project management phases, which come together to form the project life cycle.

Project Initiation
Project Planning
Project Execution
Project Monitoring & Controlling
Project Closure

The PMI took what’s really common sense and called it the project life cycle. The PMI methodology is the de facto standard for project delivery, which you can find in their 370 page 7th edition of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) .

It’s a really long, and to be honest, deathly boring read, so here’s a condensed breakdown of each project management step, which contains all the important takeaways.

What Are The 5 Phases Of The Project Management Life Cycle?

Below, I go into each of the life cycle stages and explain what happens in each of the 5 phases of project management .

1. Project Initiation Phase

project initiation phase with the outcome of defining the parts of the project

Initiating the first phase of the project life cycle is all about doing a project kickoff meeting with your team and with the client, and getting their commitment to start the project.

You bring together all of the available information in a systematic manner to define the project’s scope , cost, and resources. The goal of the initiation phase is to take the (sometimes) loose brief of a project and understand what the project needs to do and achieve in order to be successful.

That usually necessitates identifying the project stakeholders and making sure they all share the same perception of what the project is and the specific business case—the problem that the project is trying to solve.

It’s during this project initiation phase that you also decide whether delivering the business case is feasible. As a project manager, you will need to conduct adequate research to determine the project goals and then propose a solution to achieve them.

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Key Steps During Project Initiation

Make a project charter : What is the vision, objective, and goal of this project?
Identify the high-level scope and deliverables: What is the product or service that needs to be provided?
Conduct a feasibility study : What is the primary problem and its possible solutions?
Ballpark the high-level cost and create a business case : What are the costs and benefits of the solution?
Identify stakeholders: Who are the people this project affects, how does it affect them, and what are their needs?

Typically for Prince2 or PMI methodologies, the above is summed up in a Project Initiation Document (PID) , but in an agency, the information is usually captured in an initial statement of work (SoW).

2. Project Planning Phase

project planning phase with the outcome of a roadmap

After receiving approval to proceed in the initiation phase, you can begin project planning, typically using a Gantt chart tool .

Planning is where you define all the work to be done and create the project roadmap that you follow for the remainder of the project. This is when you figure out how you’re going to perform the project and answer these questions:

What exactly are we going to do?
How are we going to do it?
When are we going to do it?
How will we know when we’re done?

During this project management step, you have to decide how you and your team will attain the goals of the project. It’s worth evaluating those goals with three criteria: what’s possible , passionate , and pervasive ?

Possible: Strive for something that is achievable. Ask yourself, does this solution match the budget? Does my team have the ability to do this? Do we have enough time? Setting unrealistic goals is setting yourself up for failure.
Passionate: Projects are tough, so you want a team that is emotionally engaged in the project. Ask yourself, is this a project that your team can be passionate about? Is it something that can bring them together to collaborate and achieve the same goal? Even though it might be their job to do what you tell them to do, no one is going to invest into something they don’t think is worthwhile
Pervasive: Does this have the potential to become a ground-breaking success? Is this something that is a complete solution to the problem that was given to you or is it really just a band-aid solution? Does it have the potential to be improved on, developed, and to become a permanent way of working?

I like this 3 Ps lens for goals, but you might also be familiar with the principle of setting CLEAR goals: collaborative, limited, emotional, appreciable, and refinable. Read more about CLEAR goals and their benefits over SMART goals.

The planning phase results in a project plan that outlines the activities, tasks, dependencies, and time frames, as well as costs. In addition, it’s prudent to develop a plan for resources, quality, risk, acceptance criteria, communication, and procurement .

Key Steps For Project Planning

Create a project management plan : Identify the phases, activities, constraints , and project schedule, and create a project timeline with a work breakdown structure (WBS) and Gantt chart .
Create a financial plan : Create a project budget and cost estimate, and a plan to meet your maximum cost, complete with allocations across resources and departments
Create a resource plan : Build a great team and recruit and schedule the resources and materials needed to deliver the project in your resource management software
Create a quality plan : Set your quality targets and measures
Create a risk plan : Identify the possible risks, assumptions , issues, and dependencies; assign an owner; and develop a mitigation plan for how you will avoid/overcome them
Create an acceptance plan : Assign criteria for what constitutes ‘done’ and ‘delivered’
Create a communication plan : List your stakeholders and plan the communication cadence in your project communications tool
Create a procurement plan : Find any 3rd party suppliers required and agree on terms

3. Project Execution Phase

project execution phase with outcome of tasks to be completed

This is the part of the project life cycle where you finally get to execute on your awesome project plan. You bring your resources onboard, brief them, set the ground rules, and introduce them to one another. After that, everyone jumps in to perform the work identified in the plan. Easy peasy (in theory).

As the project manager, you shift from talking about a project and creating documentation to getting the green light to proceed with the execution phase. Now, you’re leading the team and managing them toward delivery. You’ll spend your time in briefings, meetings, and reviews, and keep the project on track as it moves through the project life cycle.

Key Steps For Project Execution

Team leadership: Cast a vision for success and enable the team to deliver on it
Create tasks : Clearly define what needs to be done and the criteria for each project task
Task briefing : Ensure the team is clear about what they need to do, and when they need to do it by
Client management : Work with the client to ensure deliverables are acceptable
Communications : Ensure you’re informing and updating the right people at the right time through the right channel

4. Project Monitoring & Controlling Phase

project monitoring and controlling phase with outcome of understanding if you're meeting timeline, cost, quality, and success goals

This project management step involves reporting on performance and monitoring and controlling the project. (Our project status report roadmap guides you through the entire reporting process.)

That means ensuring the project is going according to plan, and if it isn’t, controlling it by working out solutions to get it back on track. As a project manager, you’ll be monitoring and controlling a project in some way throughout all of the project life cycle phases.

First, that means ensuring you capture the data (usually derived from timesheets and reports in your project management software) to track progress effectively against the original plan.

Second, it means taking the data and comparing overall project progress, milestone and task completion, budget spend, and time allocated in the original plan. By comparing the actuals against the plan, you can establish whether or not you’re hitting the objectives for timeline, cost, quality, and success metrics or key performance indicators (KPIs).

And when you realize that things aren’t quite going to plan (they rarely do), it’s figuring out the options for pivoting the project so that it still delivers something the client is happy with while meeting the budget, timeline, and quality constraints.

Pro-tip: usually that means reducing the scope of the project !

Key Steps For Project Monitoring And Controlling

Cost & time management : Review timesheets and expenses to record, control, and track against the project’s budget, timeline, and tasks
Quality management : Reviewing project deliverables and ensuring they meet the defined acceptance criteria
Risk management : Monitor, control, manage, and mitigate potential risks and issues
Acceptance management : Conduct user acceptance testing and create a reviewing system, ensuring that all deliverables meet the needs of the client
Change management : When the project doesn’t go to plan, managing the process of acceptable changes with the client to ensure they’re happy with necessary changes

5. Project Closure Phase

project closing phase with the outcome of a finished project

In the closing phase of the project life cycle, your project is essentially over and your job as a project manager comes to a close. But the project’s not over yet.

During this project closing step, before everyone forgets, it’s useful to hold a post-project review meeting or post-mortem to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the project and team, what went wrong or didn’t go so well, and how to improve in the future.

This can be one of the most rewarding stages of project management, as it’s a great opportunity to recognize and acknowledge valuable team members and celebrate successes.

Key Steps For Project Closure

Project performance analysis : This is an overall look at how well the project was managed, and whether the initial estimates of costs and benefits were accurate. Were there unforeseen risks? What issues arose and how well were they dealt with? Has the project plan been changed, and how?
Team analysis : Did everyone do what they were assigned to do? Were they passionate and motivated enough? Did they stay thorough and accountable? Was the communication within the project team healthy and constructive?
Project closure : Document the tasks needed to bring the project to an official end. This includes closing supplier agreements, signing off contracts, and handing in all the necessary project documentation.
Post-implementation review : Write down a formal analysis of successes and failure, resulting lessons learned , and suggestions for the future. At the end of every successful project, you will learn that room for improvement always remains.

the 5 phases of the project management life cycle laid out in order with text describing each one

Why Is The Project Life Cycle Important?

While the project life cycle might not sound that interesting, it is important because it’s what we as project managers lead and facilitate.

The steps involved in any project are generally the same: define a project’s objectives, create a project plan to meet the objectives, and then make stuff happen to accomplish it. Different project managers or agencies may use slightly different terms to describe the project life cycle phases in various projects, but fundamentally, they’re pretty much the same.

A project always has to start somewhere: the problem that needs fixing needs to be defined. A solution to fixing that problem and an approach to doing it then has to be created.

That plan has to then be put into action, and then that plan has to be tracked to make sure it does what it’s supposed to. The project is then deployed, performance is evaluated , and the project is officially over.

The project life cycle provides project managers with steps to follow throughout projects. It defines where to start, and where to go next at each stage in the project. No matter how crazy things get, you’ll have a reliable structure to go back to and regroup on.

When The Project Life Cycle Gets Complex

The project life cycle is simple, right? No, of course not! Like most things in life, projects are complex and involve a large number of variables, along with plenty of grey area.

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Blog Data Visualization What is The Project Life Cycle & its 5 Main Phases?

What is The Project Life Cycle & its 5 Main Phases?

Written by: Midori Nediger Oct 31, 2023

To an outsider, it might seem like the project management process is easy…just talking to clients, scheduling meetings, assigning tasks and reminding team members of deadlines.

But anyone who has managed a project will tell you it’s much more than that, which is why the project life cycle is so useful.

What is a project life cycle?

The project life cycle is a 5-step framework designed to help project managers guide their projects successfully from start to finish. The purpose of the project life cycle is to create an easy-to-follow framework to guide projects.

What are the 5 main stages of the project life cycle?

The project initiation stage : Define project goals, evaluate feasibility and establish the project’s purpose and stakeholders.
The project planning stage : Create a comprehensive project blueprint outlining tasks, timelines and resource allocation .
The project execution stage : Put the project plan into action, ensuring effective communication and coordination among team members.
The project monitoring & controlling stage : Track project progress, identify any deviations and make necessary adjustments to keep the project on course.
The project closure stage : Complete all project tasks, obtain client approval and conduct a thorough review to capture valuable insights for future projects.

Understanding and planning for the 5 stages of the project life cycle can help you manage, organize and plan so your project will go off without a hitch.

A project management life cycle will help:

Ease communication between project teams and stakeholders with the help of agile project management tools
Ensure goals are achievable with the available resources
Help mitigate risk and keep projects on track

But what does each stage of the cycle look like?

1. Project initiation stage: Define project goals, evaluate feasibility and establish the project’s purpose and stakeholders.

The initiation stage of the project management life cycle is when you meet with clients and stakeholders to understand their goals, motivations and hopes for the project.

During this stage the aim is to hash out the high-level goals that must be met for you to consider the project a success. There’s lots of research, discovery and discussion, but very little detailed planning in this phase.

The key project management steps for the initiation stage include:

Identifying project objectives and deliverables
Outlining project risks , dependencies, constraints and priorities
Establishing project scope based on deadlines and available resources
Submitting a project proposal for approval (our proposal maker can help you with that)

We’ve got a more detailed guide to writing a project management plan if you want more information. This covers project management basics along with all the elements that need to be included. You can also get PMP Certification to get specific training on how to do this.

I’ll go through the basics here.

Let’s take a look at what’s involved for each of these tasks.

Kick off the project management process by identifying project objectives and deliverables

Start by talking with your stakeholders or clients to get to know their needs. Try to tease out what’s important to them, what projects they’ve tried in the past and what they hope to see in the future.

From there, you can move on to building out the concrete objectives and deliverables that your team will be responsible for, given the scope of the project and the available resources.

Be sure to document the takeaways from these initial meetings…you’ll want to have a record of the agreed-upon deliverables when it comes to the project closure stage.

Pro-tip: Set S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound) goals. For example: “In 3 months, increase blog conversion rates by 5%”.

Outline project risks, dependencies, constraints and priorities

Once you’ve mapped out the high-level project goals, it’s time to explore all of the variables that might impact the progress of the project, including:

Risks: Factors that can negatively impact the cost, goals, timeline, or results of a project
Dependencies: Relationships between activities or tasks
Constraints: Limiting factors like technology, resources, time and cost

By identifying all of these variables early on you can nip a lot of potential problems in the bud, before they throw off your whole project timeline .

A risk breakdown structure , like the one below, can aid in identifying and assessing all of the risks in your project. A risk breakdown structure is a hierarchical representation of risks, starting with the high-level risks and then breaking it down into more granular risks. It can be an essential tool for project risk management .

Establish project scope based on deadlines and available resources

With a handle on all of the variables at play, you can start breaking the project down into more actionable steps. Set boundaries on project scope based on your deadlines and the resources at your disposal and think about what skill set your future team will need .

Mind maps and flowcharts can be helpful for organizing all of the moving parts to map out what’s reasonable based on project constraints.

Summarize the takeaways of the project initiation stage in a project proposal

All of the details that you establish during the initiation stage should be outlined in a project proposal, the only major deliverable for this initiation stage.

A project proposal is a report that details all of the goals, scope, requirements, budget, participants and deadlines of a project.

Not to be confused with a project plan , which includes a much more in-depth description of how the project will be executed, a project proposal should be no longer than a few pages.

Depending on the complexity of a project, an action plan one-pager, like the one below, might suffice.

Check out our job proposal templates , business proposal templates and consulting proposal templates for more options.

Either way, when you’re a few months into the project, trying to prioritize the work of your team and make decisions that impact the direction of the project, you’ll thank yourself for creating clear documentation of these high-level project goals.

Create a professional looking project life cycle visualization

Make sure your project life cycle visualization sits within your company branding for a truly professional looking design. Venngage Business users can use the My Brand Kit and see their company colors, logos and fonts automatically applied to Venngage templates.

Business users can also invite feedback directly to their design with the Venngage comment feature. Learn more about My Brand Kit, Comment Mode and more features of the Venngage Business account:

2. Project planning stage: Create a comprehensive project blueprint outlining tasks, timelines and resource allocation.

Once your project proposal has been approved, it’s time to move on to the project planning stage of the project life cycle.

The project planning stage is when you create a comprehensive project plan , which involves:

Translating your proposal into a series of actionable tasks and scheduling them in a project roadmap
Documenting processes or workflows that your team will use (you could try using a process infographic for this)
Creating measurable short-term goals from high-level project goals
Addressing potential issues that could derail your roadmap

This project plan will be the source of truth for your team when any questions, conflicts, or issues arise throughout the project.

Let’s dig into the most important major deliverable of the project planning stage: the project roadmap.

Create a project roadmap with project tasks and milestones

Creating a project roadmap is one of the more important project management life cycle steps, crucial for organizing your team and keeping work on track. A project roadmap outlines all of the start and end dates of every major project task (plus any big milestones you’re working towards).

Pro Tip: Use our roadmap maker to create professional, engaging roadmaps.

Gantt charts (like the one below) are a great tool for project roadmapping, because they can show the duration and timing of a number of dependent tasks. They’re perfect for planning and scheduling and eventually monitoring progress throughout the execution stage of the project life cycle.

The best thing about using a Gantt chart for your project roadmap?

You can show a number of concurrent timelines on a single chart , which makes it easy to account for task dependencies.

For example, this Gantt chart template shows project tasks for multiple teams over the course of a few months:

The visual format of a Gantt chart makes visualizing and adjusting for dependencies much easier than a spreadsheet. And because it’s visual, it’s easy for you team to see, understand and give feedback on their upcoming tasks.

Once your roadmap is in place, the last step of the planning stage is to assemble your team and hold a project kickoff, launching you into the next stage of the project life cycle: the execution stage.

Check out this blog post for more Gantt chart templates .

3. Project execution stage: Put the project plan into action, ensuring effective communication and coordination among team members.

The project execution stage is the true start of the project, when you carry out all of the tasks and activities you mapped out in the planning stage.

This is where the majority of the project work takes place and it requires constant monitoring. Expect to adjust your goals and roadmap as you get deeper into the project.

As a project manager, your main responsibilities of the project execution stage are to:

Monitor and control the execution process, reviewing the quality of the team’s output
Adjust and update tasks, goals and deadlines to meet changing conditions
Communicate between your team and the project stakeholders

Create status reports to communicate execution progress throughout the project management process

Although most of your time during the execution stage of the project management process will be spent monitoring and adjusting to keep the project on track, you’ll also need to keep stakeholders up to date with any changes to the project status.

Using a project status report template , like the one below, will help make sure you don’t leave out any pertinent details when you’re communicating with stakeholders.

For example, this status report includes an overview of project performance so far, plus up-to-date project milestones:

While this status report template is shorter, focused around an executive summary, but includes space for notes from every team representative:

KPIs and budget updates should also be included, if you have any.

4. Project monitoring & controlling stage: track project progress, identify any deviations and make necessary adjustments

The monitoring and controlling stage of a project is a critical phase that ensures project activities align with the predetermined objectives and milestones.

During this phase, project managers and stakeholders closely oversee project progress, assess performance and make necessary adjustments to keep the project on track.

Effective monitoring and controlling practices are essential for mitigating risks, identifying potential issues and ensuring the project’s timely completion within the allocated budget.

During the monitoring and controlling stage of a project, the key project management steps include:

Measure and assess the project’s progress against the project plan and key performance indicators.
Identify and manage potential risks that could impact project objectives, and implement strategies to mitigate these risks.
Monitor and evaluate the quality of project deliverables to ensure they meet predefined standards and client expectations.
Assess and handle any changes to project scope, schedule or resources effectively, while considering their potential impact on the project.
Maintain open lines of communication with stakeholders, keeping them informed about the project’s progress and addressing any concerns or issues promptly.
Identify and address any project issues or conflicts that may arise, aiming to resolve them efficiently to prevent delays or disruptions.

Create a quality control checklist to maintain consistent quality standards throughout the project lifecycle

To systematically evaluate each deliverable against established quality benchmarks can take a lot of time. A great tip for project managers is to use a quality control checklist to quickly identify any deviations or discrepancies and take corrective actions to maintain the overall quality of the project.

Quality control checklists help in maintaining consistent quality standards throughout the project. By defining specific quality criteria, project managers can ensure that all deliverables meet the same level of quality, thereby enhancing the overall project integrity and customer satisfaction.

These checklists enable the early identification of any deficiencies or discrepancies in the project deliverables. By detecting quality issues early in the project lifecycle, quality control checklists help in minimizing the need for rework and additional corrections.

Here’s a quality control checklist template you can use in the monitoring and controlling stage of your project:

5. Project closure stage: analyze results, summarize key learnings and plan next steps

Once you’ve achieved your project goals and the results have been signed off on by your stakeholders, it’s time for the project closure stage.

In the project closure stage of the project management process, you:

Hand off deliverables
Release team members and project resources
Analyze project performance in a project retrospective

A project retrospective is as much about reviewing the success of the project as it is about extracting learnings that can apply to future projects. Projects will never go without obstacles and there will always be things to learn that will ease the progress of other projects.

There are many ways to run a project retrospective meeting , but you should try to identify your biggest wins and losses and come up with solutions. If you’re an external consultant, you might even ask your client for feedback .

Keep track of your notes somewhere that will be accessible by your whole team, like a shared spreadsheet (or send out an email after the meeting):

Another duty of a project manager in the project closure phase can be to analyze the performance of the team, based on the quality of their work and how well they were able to meet deadlines.

These performance reviews can be delivered to team members (or higher-ups) in the form of an easy to read visual summary, like the one below:

But remember…your project isn’t complete until all of your documents have been handed over and approved by your client or stakeholder.

Use Venngage to communicate your progress throughout the project life cycle

Any project manager worth their salt knows that clear communication is the backbone of any successful project. Venngage helps you make your communication visual , so that you can wow clients and keep your team aligned.

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The Project Life Cycle Explained: 5 Phases of Project Management

There are many ways to run a project. But to run a project successfully, you have to consider all aspects of the project—from scope and budget to the tasks and conversations that take place after the project is launched and executed.

Traditionally, project management involves 5 key phases, and these stages form what is known as a project life cycle.

In this article, we’ll define the project life cycle and cover each phase of the project management process. We’ll also share resources and templates you can use at every step.

What is the project life cycle?

The project life cycle is a framework that represents the 5 key phases of project management: initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and control, and closure.

The project life cycle is important because it provides firm footing for effective project management. It gives project managers a clear structure for guiding projects successfully from concept to delivery, maturity, and finally completion.

5 phases of the project life cycle infographic

5 phases of the project management life cycle

As I mentioned, the project management life cycle is made up of 5 essential steps:

Project initiation & conception
Project planning
Project execution
Project monitoring & control
Project closure

In some ways, these stages show what goes on behind the scenes before a project might even come to a project manager’s attention.

If this process feels too rigid for you, that’s okay! Pick up the fundamentals, understand how the steps are formalized, and adapt the process to fit your project, team, or organization.

Now, let’s take a closer look at each step of the project life cycle in more detail.

1. Project initiation phase

Project initiation is arguably the most critical phase of the project life cycle. That's because what happens here will set the tone and goals for what’s to come.

A project usually arises from a business need or goal aimed at solving a problem or exploring new ways to do business. For instance, if a company is looking to cut down the number of customer service calls they receive, they’ll investigate what’s driving the number of calls. That research will then inform what can be done to reduce the number of calls.

The best way to understand the challenges and objectives is through a project brief or charter that outlines the business case and provides a high-level overview of project details, such as goals, constraints, risks, and deliverables. This kind of background is invaluable to a team when kicking off a project. It’s also a great way to get all involved parties and stakeholders aligned on what’s to come.

While you can proceed without every detail documented, it’s a good idea to get buy-in on project objectives and intended outcomes during the initiation phase of the life cycle.

Key steps in the initiation stage of the project life cycle

Identify the why behind the project—usually the business case and goals
Conduct a feasibility study and/or SWOT analysis
Create a stakeholder register to identify key project players
Develop a project charter or brief
Hold a project kickoff meeting

2. Project planning phase

The project planning stage is where you’ll lay out the details of your entire project from beginning to end. The plan you create here will lead your team through the execution, performance, and closure phases of the project life cycle.

As part of your project management plan, you’ll want to consider these factors:

Project timeline : This should include deadlines for key project milestones (like deliverable reviews and meetings). Be sure to build in plenty of time for approval processes.
Project scope: Projects tend to go off the rails without some level of constraint or control. Clearly document how much time has been allotted for the project and what the deliverables include. You can always adjust the guardrails later if needed.
Project communication : Set expectations for how and when you’ll communicate as a team. Communication plans are particularly valuable for projects with cross-functional teams or external stakeholders.
Potential risks : It’s the project manager’s job to look out for risks and report them to the team. The best way to do this is to conduct a risk assessment that identifies foreseeable risks and how to avoid them.
Project estimates : Good estimation sets the stage for better project management because it’s easier to tell when things go off track. Consider using a work breakdown structure (WBS) to itemize tasks and estimate effort.
General workflow and process : This should include internal workflows for project teams, as well as how you’ll work with stakeholders, to ensure you get it all done on time and under budget.
Team roles and responsibilities : A responsibility assignment matrix can help you outline clear roles for everyone involved in the project.

Once you estimate the project’s time and effort , you can create a project plan that lays out phases, tasks, resources, responsibilities, milestones, and deadlines. Using a gantt chart tool like TeamGantt can truly help you to build a well-defined plan that’s easy to understand and update.

Explore our library of free project management templates , and save time on every aspect of your project plan.

Key steps in the planning stage of the project life cycle

Set SMART goals for the project
Define and document the project scope and requirements
Create a project roadmap with a detailed timeline of tasks and milestones
Estimate project time and costs
Assess resource availability and assign task roles and responsibilities
Catalog potential project risks and establish a contingency plan
Document expectations for project communication
Create a stakeholder engagement plan
Develop a procurement plan for third-party suppliers and tools
Outline a financial plan that fits the project budget

Lay a clear path to success with a visual plan that’s easy to understand, and keep everyone in sync with flexible workflows and team collaboration.

3. Project execution phase

In this phase of the project life cycle, the team is off and running! The project execution stage is typically the longest in the project management process because it’s when the actual work is done. You’ll find teams collaborating, reviewing work, presenting to stakeholders, and revising.

In the previous phase, a project manager does a lot of heavy-lifting. During project execution, a project manager guides the team—and stakeholders—through a series of tasks and milestones.

In this life cycle step, a project manager typically oversees the project budget, timeline, resources, and risk. That’s a lot to be responsible for! So how do project managers handle all of it? They stick to the plan.

All of the documentation you create during the planning stage comes together to form a holistic project management plan. Use those documents as your source of truth to guide decisions and create efficient workflows during project execution.

Don’t forget to stay tuned-in to what’s happening with the team. This can be done through regular team check-ins, status updates, timeline review, and budget tracking.

Having a single platform to track your budget, timeline, resourcing, and communications certainly makes managing a project easier. Lucky for you, TeamGantt does it all .

Key steps in the execution stage of the project life cycle

Provide easy channels for team collaboration
Establish streamlined workflows for your team
Schedule and lead regular project meetings
Send project status reports to stakeholders
Facilitate reviews and approvals of project deliverables
Clear blockers that get in the way of progress

4. Project monitoring & control phase

The monitoring and control phase is all about making sure the project runs smoothly and things go according to plan. This step of the process typically happens alongside project execution.

As part of the project monitoring stage, you should keep an eye on:

Budget and timeline : Keep a close eye on milestone completion and whether time spent on tasks aligns with your estimates. That way you can spot delays and overages early and adjust your plan before things get too far off track. TeamGantt makes it easy to track and monitor progress with simple visualizations built into your gantt chart.
Project goals : Use those goals to help make decisions about design, functionality, and any new requests. Sometimes it’s okay to stray a bit. Just be sure to keep the lines of communication open with the stakeholders, and bring new ideas to the table with enough time to rework them as needed. (Yup, it happens!)
Quality control : Be the person who not only manages the process, but also cares about the work. Consult with leadership on quality standards, and review all deliverables before they’re sent out or presented for review. Your team and stakeholders will love you for it. 😍 ‍
Risk management : Risk is a conversation you want to keep going throughout the project. Report on project risks in weekly status updates to keep them top-of-mind and allow the team to provide input. ‍
Team performance : As a project manager, your role is to look out for the project. But the success of a project depends on the team working on it. If you see someone slacking or unintentionally dropping the ball, address it. Just be empathetic, and find the right avenues to handle performance issues with team members.

TeamGantt’s Project Health Report makes it easy to monitor team performance and stay on top of deadlines by showing you which tasks are falling behind before your project goes off the rails.

Example of TeamGantt's project health report for monitoring and control phase

Key steps in the monitoring stage of the project life cycle

Review timesheets to ensure hours logged stay within budget
Track task and milestone completion
Compare actual progress against the plan to spot potential delays
Track baselines and report on project health
Monitor and manage scope creep and other risks
Manage change requests and adjust the plan as needed

5. Project closure phase

When your project is complete and everyone is happy with what’s been delivered, tested, and released, it’s time to wrap up. In the project closure stage, the team will complete the steps needed to close tasks, hand off the project to stakeholders, finalize any reporting, and celebrate the project.

Many organizations move from one project to the next and don’t take time to properly close down a project. It’s a smart move to take a few hours to properly close, reflect, and even celebrate a project.

Here are a few steps to consider in this final stage of the project management life cycle.

Conduct a project retrospective: Schedule a project debrief, and discuss what went well and what didn’t as a team. Record the outcomes, and share the notes to improve teamwork and performance on future projects.
Create a project closure report: Write a 1-page report that recaps project goals and results. This document should outline the date of initiation, original deadline and budget, and actual date of delivery and budget used. You might also want to include team members and stakeholders involved, project issues and pain points, and project wins in your project closure report.
Celebrate the project: ‍Organize a small party over lunch or after work to get the team and stakeholders together to acknowledge the hard work done and the great product produced. 🎉 If there’s no budget, that’s fine. A high-five or thoughtful email works really well when it comes to team morale.

As the project manager, the more you can be a cheerleader for your team, the better experience you’ll have working with them.

Key steps in the closing stage of the project life cycle

Secure final approval and hand the end product off to the project sponsor or client
Hold a post-mortem meeting to review project wins and hiccups
Store all the final project documentation in a centralized archive
Send final payments to contractors and suppliers

Put the project management life cycle to work for you

Processes and frameworks are great to have in your back pocket. But remember, every organization runs differently.

You have to consider the people, organizational history, challenges, and existing practices before you roll something out.

Motivations and empathy are everything in project management. So carry on, attack those projects, and do what’s right for everyone involved.

Simplify your project management process

Want to take the pain out of project management without sacrificing your hard-earned gains? TeamGantt makes every project step a whole lot easier. (Heck, we’d even call it fun!)

Spend less time in spreadsheets and more time giving your team high-fives for all the awesome work you’re doing together. TeamGantt provides clear visibility into the details with easy collaboration for the whole team every step of the way.

Give TeamGantt a free try today!

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6 Stages of the Project Management Life Cycle

Written by: Mark Ankucic

Every successful project follows the project life cycle — even if it was never explicitly outlined.

That’s because the project management life cycle is universally effective.

By following each step of each stage, you could do anything, from organizing a kids’ soccer team to coordinating change management across a global corporation.

In this article, we'll walk you through the six stages of the project management life cycle. We've also included templates for each stage to help you better plan, execute and manage your projects.

What is the project management life cycle, stage 1: project initiation, stage 2: project planning, stage 3: project execution.

Stage 4: Monitoring and Controlling

Stage 5: Project Closure

Stage 6: post-project optimization.

The project management life cycle (or, the project life cycle) is a framework that helps project managers oversee projects from start to finish. It's made up of 6 key stages:

Monitoring and Controlling
Post-Project Optimization

The infographic below summarizes the important aspects of each stage.

Traditionally, there have been five steps to the project management life cycle. But that’s been in dire need of an update for at least the last 5 years.

Because while the five steps are logical, coherent and analytical, there’s a piece missing right at the end that ensures the next project is even better: post-project optimization.

These six stages keep the project on track, hitting standards of quality — and most importantly — support stakeholder buy-in by answering these questions:

Why are we doing this?
What do I have to do?
When is it due?

To answer “why are we doing this?”, you need to kick off your project initiation.

At this stage, you’re working on the “what” and the “why” of the project, where your responsibility is to prove the project is both valuable (has a worthwhile return of investment for undertaking the project ) and is feasible (aka achievable).

During the initiation stage, the project manager is responsible for meeting with the client and stakeholders, and better understand the goals, feasibility and requirements of the project. Only then will they be able to assemble the right team for the project and plan for it accordingly.

Project managers can organize all of this information into a document called a project charter. As the guiding document for the project, a project charter covers:

Goals of the project
Positions and responsibilities of stakeholders
Constraints of the project
Budget for the project
Timeline of the project

Let's take a look at these items in more detail:

1. Goals of the Project

The most important item to include in your project charter and to identify during the initiation stage are the high-level goals and objectives of your project. This is a statement of:

What you want to achieve,
To what specific benefit, and
To whom it benefits

By detailing these three aspects, you’re able to definitively show at what point your project has been a success or reached its conclusion.

2. Positions and Responsibilities of Stakeholders

A big part of the project initiation phase is assembling a team for the project, and assigning roles and responsibilities to each team member.

You’ll want everyone involved in your project to know what their part is, what’s expected of them, and what they’ll be held accountable for.

You might want to create a project organizational chart like the one below:

A project team organizational chart template available in Visme.

The more buy-in and understanding you have with allocating positions and responsibilities, the less likely there’ll be confusion or finger-pointing later on.

3. Constraints of the Project

Anything that limits your project is a constraint. For example, you might have a limit of time for certain parts of the project (for example, you might only have access to a subject matter expert for two days.)

Knowing your constraints gives you the chance to organize your timeline and budget around them.

4. Budget for the Project

Your project budget is the estimate of all the expenses that go into making your project successful. You’ll have to consider where it’s being drawn from, where it’s going and how you can get the best possible outcome for every dollar spent.

When budgeting, you should think about both the best case and worst case scenarios, and plan accordingly.

5. Timeline of the Project

At this stage, you don’t need to get granular on how long every task involved in the project should take. Instead, try to create a high-level timeline of the major parts, phases, or milestones of the project, and estimate the time between each.

Here's a timeline template you can use for your own projects:

At the end of the initiation phase, you should bring all the relevant stakeholders to go over the charter. You’ll be able to get feedback early, make tweaks and adjustments where necessary, and get valuable buy-in.

In the way that initiation is the “what” and “why,” project planning is the “how.”

This is where you’ll be spending the majority of your time. A well-written project management plan will get you to your project’s goal on time, under budget and hitting the right level of quality.

Consequently, a badly laid plan could have you running enthusiastically in the wrong direction.

Here's a ready-made project plan template from Visme you can use right away:

A software project plan template available in Visme.

Your project plan should include some key elements:

1. Communication Strategy

Poor communication can undo even the best laid plans, so it’s vital that you have a communication strategy ready. This will involve things like:

Setting up the when and how you’re going to check in (e.g. with weekly reports online or daily catch ups on Slack)
Keeping track of workflows (like with a plain spreadsheet or visual task management tool)
Use Amazon six-pagers when sharing your strategy or updating major stakeholders.
Preparing different communication plans to deal with any situation (like crisis communication, stakeholder communication, and internal communication)

Here's a communication plan template you can use for your own project:

2. Project Roadmap

A project roadmap is a combination of the timeline and project milestones you’re attempting to meet during the course of the project. It's literally a "roadmap" of the journey your project will take to completion.

Below is a roadmap template you can use for your next project:

Unlike the documents you prepared during the initiation stage, your project roadmap will go in more detail into the specific deliverables, deadlines and milestones of the project.

3. Scope Limits

Limits on exactly what the project will and will not cover will (hopefully) prevent scope creep . The more your project expands, the less likely you’re going to hit your targets, and the more likely your goals will become unwieldy.

4. Budget Allocation

Knowing where your money is going, who it’s going to and who is spending it before the project begins makes it easier to keep your project’s spend predictable and even flexible.

Below is a budget template you can use as part of your project planning process:

Make sure you include everything in your budget, from variable and operating costs to materials to labor to fixed costs. It will be useful to compare these budgeted costs with your actual costs at the end of the project to analyze and improve in the future.

5. Resource Allocation

Where budget is about money, resource is about time. It should be clear to all stakeholders how much time should be given to the project, whether that’s in work hours or in access to the products, materials and space needed for it to be successful.

6. Quality Agreement

To avoid being handed work that’s less than exemplary, you should invite stakeholders to set and agree to their own standards of quality. This gives them the chance to take responsibility in their areas and the motivation to achieve them.

7. Risk Assessment

Knowing what might go wrong gives you an advantage if it does go wrong. Your risk assessment plan should note what might interfere with the project’s success, as well as how critical that interference is, and ways you can overcome them if they eventuate.

Once you’re confident in your project plan, you’re ready to execute on your project.

This is where thinking becomes action, and stage 3 (execution) and stage 4 (monitoring) happen simultaneously.

Project execution is specifically about getting things done. Ensuring that tasks are completed as planned and on time is a key responsibility in your role as a project manager.

Below are some of the things you'll be in charge of during this phase:

Providing vision and guidance: Keeping the goal squarely in mind for your stakeholders and maintaining their path to achieving that goal.
Determining understanding: Checking in with stakeholders to ensure they understand what is expected of them and when it’s expected to be delivered by.
Managing internal and external stakeholders: Stakeholder management is how you grease the wheels of your projects, ensuring that everyone has what they need to feel confident the project is progressing effectively.

Stage 4: Monitoring and controlling

Where project execution is about things to be done, monitoring and controlling are about assessing and acting on the things that have been done.

As mentioned above, this stage will happen simultaneously with the execution stage so the any issues can be fixed early and the project direction can be pivoted as needed.

Here’s what you’ll be monitoring and controlling as a project manager:

Budget Flow: Your budget can tell you a lot about the health of your project. When reviewing spend, timesheets, and expenses, you should note any abnormalities or room for optimization. From there, you’ll be able to investigate and act.
Time Management: Like budget, time is another indicator of your project’s health. Good project time management will ensure that items are delivered on time and that progress is being made in the right direction. Strong time management will also allow you to be flexible if and when an event disrupts the progress of your project.
Quality Management: Performed either by spot-checks or formal reviews, quality management is about assessing and adjusting based on pieces of the project as they come to you. This manages poor quality work affecting the entire outcome of the project down the track. If you’re not an expert on the work you’re assessing, it’s important to get experienced eyes across it to ensure that what you’re working on is good stuff before it goes out.
Risk Management: During your regular meetings or catch-ups, you can ask about any risks your stakeholders think they might encounter. This might be internal, like overspending or not delivering a project on time, or external, like weather or other factors outside your control. Again, knowing your project risks as they might happen gives you a head start to manage them and take appropriate action if they do happen.
Client and Management Maintenance: If your project is for a client or involves higher-ups in your company, you should be keeping them confident in the course of the project. The best way to get their confidence and maintain it is honesty - let them know of any risks or setbacks, but be sure to also inform them how you’re planning to solve them.

We recommend asking your project lead for a consolidated project status report monthly, quarterly or weekly to stay updated with your team's progress.

Here's a project status report template your project team can use:

Project status reports could be provided in either document or presentation format, depending on what you, the client or the stakeholders prefer.

Effective project closings are about reflection and analysis, where you assess how the project went, what went wrong, what could do better, and how to prepare better for next time.

During your project closing, you should take care of the following:

1. Get Final Sign Off

Those accountable for specific tasks or outcomes for any project should sign off on the work they’ve provided. It can be formal, like signing a written document, or informal, with a reply to an email or a quick ‘yes’ in a Slack channel.

2. Conduct a Holistic Performance Analysis

This is the retelling of the story of your project, covering:

What happened
What changed
How you adapted
What risks you encountered
What you learned
Who stood out

It serves as a summary that you or others can learn from when running future projects.

Here's a KPI report template you can use for evaluating your projects:

3. Survey Internal & External Stakeholders

Asking everyone involved in the project how they felt about its execution, and what they think could be done better, will identify gaps you might never have thought of.

There’s a few key things to keep in mind when surveying stakeholders:

Segment your questions: You don’t want to ask an external client and an internal team the same things.
Think about what it is specifically you’d like to know: Did they feel it was competently handled? Did they feel stressed? Were they confident they were going to succeed?
Do group and 1 on 1 surveys: People will say different things in different places, and 1 on 1 interviews gives a more human touch to understanding.

Make sure you visualize your survey data to understand the results and interpret them effectively and accurately. Below is a survey results template you can use to visualize your survey data:

But after sign-off, review and getting back your survey data, there’s one crucial thing left to do…

It’s good to learn from your project so you’re better prepared for the next one.

But it's even better to act on it before the next project begins.

Post-project optimization is all about implementing the changes that will improve the success of your future projects. Here are a few examples of post-project optimization in action:

Scenario 1: You faced continuous risk with a tool that one of your teams used. It caused multiple delays and stressed out the team that was using it. Instead of accounting for that in your future projects, you should aim to either fix the tool or replace it before the next project begins.
Scenario 2: In their project closing interview, your client said they felt every first draft they saw of the work being produced made them anxious. Instead of promising better results for first drafts for the next project, you sit with the teams to review the work and see what processes could be improved to improve first draft quality.
Scenario 3: You found there was a lot of budget and time that went into a particular team. Instead of allowing more budget and time for that team in the next project, investigate why it was the case and put in place measures of improvement and efficiency.

Post-project optimization sounds simple, but the reality can be challenging.

At the end of a project, it’s likely you and every other stakeholder will be tired and want to cruise at work for a while.

But if you can maintain their energy into post-project optimization, you’ll find yourself working towards positive changes instead of hitting the same problems.

Keep Your Projects Aligned With Your Brand

If you’re looking for an easy way to keep every team, every report, and every document look, feel and live on-brand during your project management life cycle, check out Visme .

It’s a tool even the most data-obsessed spreadsheet wrangler can use to make professional, on-brand reports and documents.

Learn more about Visme’s brand management tools and features .

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About the Author

Mark Ankucic is a growth marketer and content consultant at CopyPlaybooks.com. Obsessed with finding the words and feelings that trigger conversions, you’ll most likely find him sorting voice of customer data, tweaking funnel journeys, and plugging gaps in messaging.

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The Easy Guide to Understanding the Phases of Project Management Lifecycle

Updated on: 5 January 2023

Keeping your project on track from beginning to end while preventing the misuse of resources, time and money depends on how well you manage the project lifecycle phases.

Now, based on the type of project and its requirements, the number of phases of project management lifecycle may change; but in this post we will discuss all five of them and the steps you should follow during each.

What is Project Life Cycle?

The project life cycle is a process that project managers follow through when completing a project. It includes a sequence of phases that a project goes through from its initiation to closure.

What are the Five Stages of the Project Life Cycle?

Breaking down projects into several stages actually makes it easier to manage and control it, and work on improving its quality.

Project Initiation

The first phase of initiation will lay the foundation for the next few stages of project management. This is where you will define the project at a broad level.

Here you will,

Evaluate the value and the feasibility of the project in order to decide whether to move forward with it. During the feasibility study you will look into whether you can meet the project requirements with the available resources and develop a business case .
Identify the stakeholders of the project. Here you will conduct a stakeholder analysis to identify them and their needs and prioritize them based on their influence.
Identify the deliverables of the project. You can use milestones to break complex deliverables into smaller parts, so it’s easier to track.
Define the purpose and requirements (such as the resources, budget and time needed) of the project. Create a project charter or project initiation document including this information. It should also list down the business needs, objectives, stakeholders and project risks.

Project Charter Template - phases of project management

Useful Resources

The Easy Guide to Stakeholder Management

9 Visual Tools to Gather Requirements for Your Software

Project Planning

In the planning phase of the project management life cycle, you will work out a strategy for performing the project steps or in other words determine what exactly needs to be done to achieve the goals you have defined earlier.

Here you will,

Start with clearly defining the goals of the project and the project scope. You can use the SMART criteria which guides you to set goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely.
Layout what needs to be done and create a work breakdown structure that will help you break down the project into manageable tasks based on project deliverables.
Creating milestone charts or Gantt charts where you can display the key milestones and product roadmaps outlining the project timeline and the project milestones for the team

Project schedule template

Product roadmap template

Estimate and allocate the necessary resources and put together a competent team and clarify their roles and responsibilities.

Create a risk management plan by identifying the potential risks that could hinder the progress of the project and outlining the steps you need to take to mitigate them.
Create a communications plan specifying your communications strategy for stakeholders.

Communications Plan Template - phases of project management

Do a cost analysis to make sure that everything fits within your budget. And establish performance measures based on project scope, cost and schedule to assess progress and ensure that the project will stay on track.

Useful Resources;

The Visual Guide to Planning a Project

The Ultimate List of Visual Risk Management Techniques

The Easy Guide to Creating an Effective Communications Plan

Using Gantt Charts and Flowcharts in Project Planning

Project Execution

In the execution phases you implement what you have planned. The job of the project manager here is to keep an eye out for errors and supervise the team while making sure that everyone sticks to the original plan.

Create workflow diagrams or process maps that outline the steps the team/ individual needs to take to complete each milestone and procuring the resources that are required.

Hold a project kickoff meeting where you can run through the workflow diagrams, milestone charts, work breakdown structures etc. that you have created with your team. Help them understand what exactly is expected of them.
Communicate project updates to stakeholders and hold status meetings as necessary
Track progress and update project schedules and make changes to project plans as required

The Easy Guide to Workflows | With Editable Workflow Templates

Project Monitoring

This phase requires the project manager to monitor the project performance and communicating the status to stakeholders.

You can use Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) such as sticking to the timeline, keeping the budget under control, successfully delivering project outcomes etc. to measure the progress.

As needed, come up with ways to optimize the performance and make changes to the project management plan to make sure it brings out the best performance.

Project Closure

This phase marks the closure of the project when the final outcome is delivered. You can leverage the lesson learnt to optimize the project processes and team efforts during future projects.

Here you will,

Release the resources that were used for the project and allocate them including what is remaining of the budget for future projects.
Assess the success of the project and share the reports with the stakeholders. Identify what worked and what didn’t and properly document the information for future reference.
Evaluate how the team has performed and brief them on where they need to improve and recognize them for their success.
Formally terminate any contractors who were hired for the project.
Together with the team create a plan to finish the tasks that were not completed during the project

The end of the project life cycle can be marked with a closing meeting or a party to celebrate the success and congratulate the team.

What’s Your Project Management Strategy?

Every project, big or small, simple or complex goes through these few phases. It’s the job of the project manager to have a solid project lifecycle management strategy in place to keep everything on track.

What’s your strategy? Do share your experience with us in the comment section below.

Join over thousands of organizations that use Creately to brainstorm, plan, analyze, and execute their projects successfully.

Download our all-new eBook for tips on 50 powerful Business Diagrams for Strategic Planning.

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3. The Project Life Cycle (Phases)

Adrienne Watt; Merrie Barron; and Andrew Barron

Click play on the following audio player to listen along as you read this section.

The project manager and project team have one shared goal: to carry out the work of the project for the purpose of meeting the project’s objectives. Every project has a beginning, a middle period during which activities move the project toward completion, and an ending (either successful or unsuccessful). A standard project typically has the following four major phases (each with its own agenda of tasks and issues): initiation, planning, implementation, and closure. Taken together, these phases represent the path a project takes from the beginning to its end and are generally referred to as the project “life cycle.”

Initiation Phase

During the first of these phases, the initiation phase, the project objective or need is identified; this can be a business problem or opportunity. An appropriate response to the need is documented in a business case with recommended solution options. A feasibility study is conducted to investigate whether each option addresses the project objective and a final recommended solution is determined. Issues of feasibility (“can we do the project?”) and justification (“should we do the project?”) are addressed.

Once the recommended solution is approved, a project is initiated to deliver the approved solution and a project manager is appointed. The major deliverables and the participating work groups are identified, and the project team begins to take shape. Approval is then sought by the project manager to move onto the detailed planning phase.

Planning Phase

The next phase, the planning phase, is where the project solution is further developed in as much detail as possible and the steps necessary to meet the project’s objective are planned. In this step, the team identifies all of the work to be done. The project’s tasks and resource requirements are identified, along with the strategy for producing them. This is also referred to as “scope management.” A project plan is created outlining the activities, tasks, dependencies, and timeframes. The project manager coordinates the preparation of a project budget by providing cost estimates for the labour, equipment, and materials costs. The budget is used to monitor and control cost expenditures during project implementation.

Once the project team has identified the work, prepared the schedule, and estimated the costs, the three fundamental components of the planning process are complete. This is an excellent time to identify and try to deal with anything that might pose a threat to the successful completion of the project. This is called risk management. In risk management, “high-threat” potential problems are identified along with the action that is to be taken on each high-threat potential problem, either to reduce the probability that the problem will occur or to reduce the impact on the project if it does occur. This is also a good time to identify all project stakeholders and establish a communication plan describing the information needed and the delivery method to be used to keep the stakeholders informed.

Finally, you will want to document a quality plan, providing quality targets, assurance, and control measures, along with an acceptance plan, listing the criteria to be met to gain customer acceptance. At this point, the project would have been planned in detail and is ready to be executed.

Implementation (Execution) Phase

During the third phase, the implementation phase, the project plan is put into motion and the work of the project is performed. It is important to maintain control and communicate as needed during implementation. Progress is continuously monitored and appropriate adjustments are made and recorded as variances from the original plan. In any project, a project manager spends most of the time in this step. During project implementation, people are carrying out the tasks, and progress information is being reported through regular team meetings. The project manager uses this information to maintain control over the direction of the project by comparing the progress reports with the project plan to measure the performance of the project activities and take corrective action as needed. The first course of action should always be to bring the project back on course (i.e., to return it to the original plan). If that cannot happen, the team should record variations from the original plan and record and publish modifications to the plan. Throughout this step, project sponsors and other key stakeholders should be kept informed of the project’s status according to the agreed-on frequency and format of communication. The plan should be updated and published on a regular basis.

Status reports should always emphasize the anticipated end point in terms of cost, schedule, and quality of deliverables. Each project deliverable produced should be reviewed for quality and measured against the acceptance criteria. Once all of the deliverables have been produced and the customer has accepted the final solution, the project is ready for closure.

Closing Phase

During the final closure, or completion phase, the emphasis is on releasing the final deliverables to the customer, handing over project documentation to the business, terminating supplier contracts, releasing project resources, and communicating the closure of the project to all stakeholders. The last remaining step is to conduct lessons-learned studies to examine what went well and what didn’t. Through this type of analysis, the wisdom of experience is transferred back to the project organization, which will help future project teams.

Example: Project Phases on a Large Multinational Project

A U.S. construction company won a contract to design and build the first copper mine in northern Argentina. There was no existing infrastructure for either the mining industry or large construction projects in this part of South America. During the initiation phase of the project, the project manager focused on defining and finding a project leadership team with the knowledge, skills, and experience to manage a large complex project in a remote area of the globe. The project team set up three offices. One was in Chile, where large mining construction project infrastructure existed. The other two were in Argentina. One was in Buenos Aries to establish relationships and Argentinian expertise, and the second was in Catamarca—the largest town close to the mine site. With offices in place, the project start-up team began developing procedures for getting work done, acquiring the appropriate permits, and developing relationships with Chilean and Argentine partners.

During the planning phase, the project team developed an integrated project schedule that coordinated the activities of the design, procurement, and construction teams. The project controls team also developed a detailed budget that enabled the project team to track project expenditures against the expected expenses. The project design team built on the conceptual design and developed detailed drawings for use by the procurement team. The procurement team used the drawings to begin ordering equipment and materials for the construction team; develop labour projections; refine the construction schedule; and set up the construction site. Although planning is a never-ending process on a project, the planning phase focused on developing sufficient details to allow various parts of the project team to coordinate their work and allow the project management team to make priority decisions.

The implementation phase represents the work done to meet the requirements of the scope of work and fulfill the charter. During the implementation phase, the project team accomplished the work defined in the plan and made adjustments when the project factors changed. Equipment and materials were delivered to the work site, labour was hired and trained, a construction site was built, and all the construction activities, from the arrival of the first dozer to the installation of the final light switch, were accomplished.

The closeout phase included turning over the newly constructed plant to the operations team of the client. A punch list of a few remaining construction items was developed and those items completed. The office in Catamarca was closed, the office in Buenos Aries archived all the project documents, and the Chilean office was already working on the next project. The accounting books were reconciled and closed, final reports written and distributed, and the project manager started on a new project.

Text Attributions

This chapter was adapted and remixed by Adrienne Watt from the following sources:

Text under “The Project Life Cycle (Phases)” was adapted from “ The Project Lifecycle ” in Project Management by Merrie Barron and Andrew Barron. Licensed under a CC BY 4.0 licence .
Text under “Project Phases on a Large Multinational Project” adapted from “ Project Phases ” Project Management From Simple to Complex by author whose name has been removed at the request of the original publisher. Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence .

3. The Project Life Cycle (Phases) Copyright © 2014 by Adrienne Watt; Merrie Barron; and Andrew Barron is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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What Is the Project Life Cycle?

There are many different types of projects, but interestingly, they all have one thing in common. They all go through the same cycle, known as the project life cycle, or project management life cycle.

The 5 Project Life Cycle Phases

The project life cycle is made up of five project stages: project initiation, project planning, project execution, monitoring & control and project closing. Each of these phases is necessary for the effective delivery of the project .

Here’s a general description of the phases that make up the project life cycle and what can you do in each for successful project delivery. For example, you’ll need to produce important project documentation at each step in the process.

1. Project Initiation Phase

This is the start of the project for the project manager, who is responsible for defining the project at a high level. This usually begins with a business case , feasibility study, cost-benefit analysis and other types of research to determine whether the project is feasible and should or shouldn’t be undertaken. Stakeholders provide input. If the project is approved, then a project charter is created, which provides an overview of the project and sets up the stage for your project plan.

Project initiation template for the project lifecycle

2. Project Planning Phase

This is where the project plan is created, and all involved in the project will follow it. This phase begins by setting SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, timely) goals. The scope of the project is defined and a project management plan is created, identifying cost, quality, resources and a timetable. Some of the features of this phase include a scope statement, setting of milestones, communication, risk management plans and a work breakdown structure.

project plan template for project life cycle

3. Project Executing Phase

Now begins the part of the project that most people think of as the project: executing the tasks, deliverables and milestones defined in the project scope . Some tasks that make up this phase include developing the team and assigning resources using key performance indicators, executing the project plan, procurement management and tracking and monitoring progress. If needed, you can set status meetings and revise the schedule and plan.

Gantt Chart template for Microsoft Excel

4. Project Monitoring and Controlling Phase

The project monitoring and controlling phase consists of setting up controls and key performance metrics to measure the effectiveness of the project execution. The monitoring and controlling project phase is very important to make sure the execution goes as planned in terms of schedule , scope and budget baselines.

Project Dashboard Template for tracking project lifecycle

5. Project Closing Phase

It’s not over until the project closure phase it’s over. Completing the deliverables to the satisfaction of your stakeholders is key, of course, but the project manager must now disassemble the apparatus created to fulfill the project. That means closing out work with contractors, making sure everyone has been paid and ensuring that all project documents are signed off on and archived to help with planning future projects.

Once this has been done, the project manager often has a post-mortem with the project team to highlight what worked and what didn’t work, so that successes can be repeated and mistakes avoided.

Understanding the Project Management Life Cycle

Jennifer Bridges, PMP, is our resident project management expert. She hosts hundreds of our training videos, including this one explaining the project management life cycle.

ProjectManager Helps Manage the Project Life Cycle

ProjectManager is a robust project management software that offers multiple project views and features for each step of the project management life cycle. Here are some of its key project management tools.

Plan, Schedule and Track with Gantt Charts

Our online Gantt chart helps you plan the project, collecting your task list into a timeline. The duration for each task can then be set and each task assigned to a team member. Collaboration happens at the task level on the Gantt chart, where team members can comment and add relevant documents and images. They can even tag those not assigned to the task and they’ll be notified by email.

Multiple Project Management Tools

The Gantt chart is just one of ProjectManager’s project management views. You can also use the kanban view , dashboards, workload charts, timesheets and other tools. Use kanban boards to visualize the workflow, where cards represent the tasks, keeping team members focused on what they’re working on and project managers get a bird’s eye view. Resources can be reallocated and important dates, such as holidays and vacation days, are marked to know who can work when.

Create Project Reports in Minutes

One-click reporting gives project managers the data to present to stakeholders on various aspects of the project. These reports can be filtered to show the information you want and allow for deeper dives as necessary. The real-time dashboard shows project metrics in colorful and easy-to-read graphs and charts, giving you the most accurate picture of your project’s progress.

More Project Management Templates Can Help Manage the Project Life Cycle

We have created dozens of project management templates to help project managers manage each phase of the project life cycle. Here are some of them.

Project Charter Template

The project charter is the main outcome of the project initiation phase. Our free project charter template is a great place to start building your project and get it approved by stakeholders.

Project Plan Template

A project plan is a thorough project management document that guides the project execution. Our free project plan template is fully customizable, so you can include what matters most to your project.

Project Budget Template

Our free project budget template is a great starting point to gather your project tasks, estimate their costs and create a basic project budget. However, if you truly want to use advanced project management features and have full control over your project portfolio, you should try ProjectManager.

Deliver your projects on time and on budget

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What is the Project Life Cycle?

Fahad Usmani, PMP

April 9, 2024

Every project is unique. Depending on the project, its requirements, and the industry, it will go through different phases from inception to completion. These phases are known as the “project lifecycle,” and in today’s blog post, I will discuss the phases of the project management lifecycle in detail.

Let’s get started.

What is the Project Management Lifecycle?

All projects follow a work pattern from beginning to end. This work pattern is known as the “ project lifecycle .” The project lifecycle determines how you will start the project, how you will develop and execute plans, and which deliverables the project will produce.

The project management lifecycle provides frameworks and best practices to start, execute, and complete the project.

The objectives of the project management lifecycle are:

It provides a structured framework to finish the project.
It helps build the product with minimal hassle.
It streamlines communication.
It provides a means by which to measure and track progress.

A project lifecycle is the project’s progression from beginning to end. How many cycles of stages and their order can vary, depending on the organization and the project.

The 4 Project Lifecycle Phases

The project lifecycle has four project phases: (1) Starting the Project, (2) Organizing and Preparing, (3) Conducting the Work, and (4) Closing the Project. Every project requires these four phases before they can be completed and the deliverables can be produced to the client.

On the internet, many sites say the project lifecycle has five phases: (1) Initiation, (2) Planning, (3) Execution, (4) Monitoring and Controlling, and (5) Closing. They are wrong; these are project management phases , not lifecycle phases. The project lifecycle has only four phases, as mentioned above and below.

1. Starting the Project

In this phase, the project sponsor decides to start the project. They conduct a feasibility study and cost-benefit analysis and develop the business case. If they decide to proceed with the project, they will create a project charter and appoint a project manager, who will take charge and start the project.

After being appointed as a project manager, you will identify the stakeholders so they can collect requirements and develop project management plans.

You will identify the stakeholder and get their commitment to complete the project. Key stakeholders include top management, project sponsors, clients, etc. You will collect the project requirements and establish the product scope. Afterward, you will develop the project brief and key steps to complete the project.

Some key activities during this phase are:

Review the project’s business case .
Conduct a cost-benefit analysis.
Conduct a feasibility study.
Define the project’s vision, purpose, and objectives.
Develop a project charter.
Define high-level scope and project deliverables .
Determine the project’s rough order estimate .
Identify key risks, assumptions, and constraints.
Identify key stakeholders.

2. Organizing and Preparing

In this phase, you will collect the project requirements, define the product, develop the project plans, determine metrics and KPIs, and establish the baselines against which you will measure the project performance.

In this stage, you will find answers to the following questions:

What do we intend to do?
How will we accomplish this?
When will we carry it out?
How can we tell when we are finished?

A few key activities during this phase are:

Develop the project plan.
Allocate resources.
Delegate tasks.
Define project management metrics .
Define Key Performance Indicator s.
Develop the project baselines .

3. Conducting the Work

This is the key phase of the project lifecycle. In this phase, you will spend most of the project budget and time to build the project deliverables. You will measure the project’s progress against the established baselines. If the project is not progressing as planned, you will take the necessary measures to bring the project back on track.

You will monitor risks, and risk managers will implement risk response plans if any identified risks occur. Workarounds will be used for unidentified risks.

A few key activities of this phase are:

Execute the project plans.
Complete the work.
Monitor progress.
Control risks.

4. Closing the Project

After building the deliverable, you will hand it over to the client. Afterward, you close all procurement contacts, update the lessons learned, and archive the project management documents and files to organizational process assets.

But the project’s not over yet.

You will hold a post-project review (post-mortem) meeting to discuss the project and the team’s strengths and weaknesses. This meeting helps identify what went right, wrong, and not so well and identify steps for future improvements.

You will also ensure the client realizes the project benefit through a benefit management plan.

Were there any unexpected risks?
Did any problems develop?
If yes, then how successfully were they handled?
Was the project plan modified?
Did the team members complete their tasks as directed?
Were they driven and enthusiastic enough?
Were they continually careful and responsible?
Did the project team collaborate productively and healthily?
Project Closure: This activity involves concluding procurement contracts with suppliers, approving agreements, releasing the team, and finalizing project paperwork.
Post-Implementation Review: In this activity, you will conduct a comprehensive analysis of your accomplishments and failures, then compile the lessons learned and recommendations for future projects.

Project Lifecycle Types

A project can have one of the following lifecycles :

Predictive Lifecycle
Adaptive Lifecycle
Iterative Lifecycle
Incremental Lifecycle
Hybrid Lifecycle

1. Predictive Lifecycle

A predictive lifecycle is the traditional form of a project management lifecycle. In this lifecycle, the project manager will develop a complete project-management plan at the beginning, and then follows it until the project is completed. In other words, you will “plan the work, and then work the plan.”

Since the scope of work is fixed, this cycle is known as a “predictive lifecycle.” In this method, risks are rare but costly.

2. Adaptive Life Cycle

An adaptive lifecycle is a change-driven lifecycle.

The project is divided into increments, and the team delivers the deliverable and refines until the client is satisfied. The project team performs activities multiple times.

Since the development is cyclic, updating the deliverables and incorporating the client feedback is easy.

3. Iterative Life Cycle

In this lifecycle, the project management team will create a plan in advance and iterate it with newly available information until the project is completed.

The first iteration will create a basic product with minimal viability, and the next iteration will further enhance it.

4. Incremental Life Cycle

An incremental lifecycle is similar to an adaptive lifecycle. In this lifecycle, the project manager produces small, usable deliverables for the client. Based on the client’s feedback, the product will be further refined and developed.

All increments are added in the final iteration to deliver the complete product.

5. Hybrid Lifecycle

A hybrid lifecycle combines all the other lifecycles discussed in this post.

You should select the best lifecycle for your project based on your requirements and individual situation.

The project management lifecycle provides a framework for organizations to understand the project, its requirements, and processes, thus helping them complete the project successfully with fewer hurdles.

I am Mohammad Fahad Usmani, B.E. PMP, PMI-RMP. I have been blogging on project management topics since 2011. To date, thousands of professionals have passed the PMP exam using my resources.

PMP Question Bank

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The initiation phase

The planning phase, the execution phase, the controlling and monitoring phase, project closure.

4. Best Project Management Software
5. Team Collaboration Tips
6. Agile Methodology Basics
7. Agile Project Management Tools & Techniques
8. Project Management Frameworks
9. Resources
10. Glossary
11. FAQ
Project Management Guide

Project Management Life Cycle

The phases of a project management life cycle

Regardless of what kind of project you’re planning, they all go through the same stages. Although each project will require its own set of unique tasks, they all follow a similar framework. There’s always a beginning, a middle, and an end. This is called the project management life cycle.

Effective project management requires a thorough understanding of this life cycle. Each stage has individual challenges, deliverables, and stakeholders, and the project manager must be adept at navigating each one to ensure success.

In this article, we will explore the project life cycle in detail, discussing each stage’s purpose, key activities, and best practices.

If you want to kick-start your project management with powerful software, Wrike has the solution for you. Use our platform to manage each phase of the project life cycle.

The initiation phase is the first phase of the entire project management life cycle. The goal of this phase is to define the project, develop a business case for it, and get it approved. During this time, the project manager may do any of the following:

Perform a feasibility study
Create a project charter
Identify key stakeholders
Select project management tools

By the end of this phase, the project manager should have a high-level understanding of the project’s purpose, goals, requirements, and risks.

The planning phase is critical to creating a project roadmap the entire team can follow. This is where all of the details and goals are outlined in order to meet the requirements laid out by the organization.

During this phase, project managers will typically:

Create a project plan
Develop a resource plan
Define goals and performance measures
Communicate roles and responsibilities to team members
Build out workflows
Anticipate risks and create contingency plans

The next phase (execution) typically begins with a project kickoff meeting where the project manager outlines the project objectives to all stakeholders involved. Before that meeting happens, it is crucial for the project manager to do the following:

Establish goals and deliverables
Identify your team members and assign tasks
Develop a draft project plan
Define which metrics will be used to measure project success
Identify and prepare for potential roadblocks
Establish logistics and schedules for team communication
Choose your preferred project management methodology
Ensure your team has access and knowledge of the relevant tools
Schedule the meeting
Set the agenda and prepare the slides

Craft the details of your project plan with Wrike

This stage is where the bulk of the project happens. Deliverables are built to make sure the project is meeting requirements. This is where most of the time, money, and people are pulled into the project.

As previously mentioned, a kickoff meeting is held to mark the official start of the execution phase. A kickoff meeting agenda might look something like this:

Introductions: Who’s who?
Project background: Why are you doing this project? What are the goals?
Project scope: What kind of work is involved?
Project plan: What does the roadmap look like?
Roles: Who will be responsible for which elements of the project?
Communication: What kind of communication channels will be used? What kind of meetings or status reports should your team expect?
Tools: Which tools will be used to complete the project, and how will they be used?
Next steps: What are the immediate action items that need to be completed?
Q&A: Open the floor for any questions

This phase happens in tandem with the execution phase. As the project moves forward, the project manager must make sure all moving parts are seamlessly headed in the right direction. If adjustments to the project plan need to be made due to unforeseen circumstances or a change in direction, they may happen here.

During the controlling and monitoring phase, project managers may have to do any of the following:

Manage resources
Monitor project performance
Risk management
Perform status meetings and reports
Update project schedule
Modify project plans

At the end of this phase, all the agreed project deliverables should be completed and accepted by the customer.

The closing phase is a critical step in the project management life cycle. It signals the official end of the project and provides a period for reflection, wrap-up, and organization of materials.

Project managers can:

Take inventory of all deliverables
Tie up any loose ends
Hand the project off to the client or the team that will be managing the project’s day-to-day operations
Perform a post-mortem to discuss and document any learnings from the project
Organize all project documents in a centralized location
Communicate the success of the project to stakeholders and executives
Celebrate project completion and acknowledge team members

Now that you understand each stage in the project management life cycle, choosing the right project management tool for you and your team is critical to project success. Read on for best practices when choosing a tool that fits your needs, and a guide to the features you should consider when assessing project management software.

Take full control of your project life cycle with Wrike

Understanding the project life cycle is essential for successful project management. By following the best practices and strategies outlined in this guide, project managers can approach each project stage with confidence, ensure on-time and on-budget delivery, and exceed stakeholder expectations. Streamline the project life cycle with Wrike — you can use it to automate tasks, track progress, and facilitate collaboration. With an intuitive interface and powerful features, Wrike can help you stay organized and focused, resulting in a well-managed life cycle for your project.

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Basic Project Management

Project Charter
Project Management Stakeholders
What is a Project?
Work Breakdown Structure
Project Objectives
Project Baseline
Project Management Scheduling
Project Management Work Packages
Project Management Scope
Scope Creep

Advanced Project Management

What is PERT?
Network Diagram
Risk Management
Cost Estimation
Feasibility Study
Monte Carlo Analysis
Project Integration
Cost Management
PMI Project Management
What To Do With Certification
Certification
Become Certified
PMP Certification
Best Certification

Software Features

Critical Success Factors
Capacity Planning
User Role Access Permissions
Time Tracking
Budget Tracking
Request Forms
Work Assignments
Version Control
Dependency Managements
Project management Milestones
Project Management Software
Project Management Tools
Project Management System
Gantt Charts

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Chapter 2: The Project Life Cycle (Phases)

Learning Objectives

Explain the phases in the Project Life Cycles.
Examine the significant activities and implication to the path a project takes from initiation to closure.

Initiation Phase

Once the recommended solution is approved, a project is initiated to deliver the approved solution and a project manager is appointed. The major deliverable and the participating work groups are identified, and the project team begins to take shape. Approval is then sought by the project manager to move onto the detailed planning phase.

Planning Phase

The next phase, the planning phase, is where the project solution is further developed in as much detail as possible and the steps necessary to meet the project’s objective are planned. In this step, the team identifies all of the work to be done. The project’s tasks and resource requirements are identified, along with the strategy for producing them. This is also referred to as “scope management.” A project plan is created outlining the activities, tasks, dependencies, and time frames. The project manager coordinates the preparation of a project budget by providing cost estimates for the labor, equipment, and materials costs. The budget is used to monitor and control cost expenditures during project implementation.

Implementation (Execution) Phase

Status reports should always emphasize the anticipated end point in terms of cost, schedule, and quality of deliverable. Each project deliverable produced should be reviewed for quality and measured against the acceptance criteria. Once all of the deliverable have been produced and the customer has accepted the final solution, the project is ready for closure.

Closing Phase

During the final closure, or completion phase, the emphasis is on releasing the final deliverable to the customer, handing over project documentation to the business, terminating supplier contracts, releasing project resources, and communicating the closure of the project to all stakeholders. The last remaining step is to conduct lessons-learned studies to examine what went well and what didn’t. Through this type of analysis, the wisdom of experience is transferred back to the project organization, which will help future project teams.

Key Takeaways

A standard project typically has the following four major phases (each with its own agenda of tasks and issues): initiation, planning, implementation, and closure.

“Project life cycle” represents the path a project takes from the beginning to its end and it’s usually the four phases taken together.

Though it would appear that the four phases should be handled one after another in a linear fashion, the reality of project work is seldom that tidy.

Attribution

This chapter is based on chapter 3 in Project Managemen t by Adrienne Watt.

Chapter 3 in Project Management by Adrienne Watt CC BY 4.0 is a derivative the following texts:

Project Management From Simple to Complex by Russel Darnall, John Preston, Eastern Michigan University. © Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Licence .

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The 4 phases of the project management life cycle

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The 4 Phases of the Project Management Life Cycle

Whether you’re working on a small project with modest business goals or a large, multi-departmental initiative with sweeping corporate implications, an understanding of the project management life cycle is essential.

Learn the four phases of the project management life cycle to keep your project organized and on track from initation to close.

Project management life cycle overview

The project management life cycle describes high-level processes for delivering a successful project.

Wasted money and resources can be prevented with effective project management, as more than half 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 phases make up the path that takes your project from the beginning to the end.

Note: Some methodologies also include a fifth phase—controlling or monitoring—but for our purposes, this phase is covered under the execution and closure phases.

1. Initiation

First, you need to 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.

Project management steps for the initiation phase

Steps for the project initiation phase may include the following:

Identifying scope : Define the depth and breadth of the project
Identifying deliverables: Define the product or service to provide
Identifying project stakeholders : Figure out whom the project affects and what their needs may be
Developing a business case: Use the above criteria to compare the potential costs and benefits for the project to determine if it moves forward
Developing a statement of work : Document the project’s objectives, scope, and deliverables that you have identified previously as a working agreement between the project owner and those working on the project

Dive deeper into tools that can help you accurately scope your next project.

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.

During this phase of the project management life cycle, you break down the larger project into smaller tasks, build your team, and prepare a schedule for the completion of assignments. 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.

Project management steps for the planning phase

Steps for the project planning phase may include the following:

Creating a project plan : Identify the project timeline, including the phases of the project, the tasks to be performed, and possible constraints
Creating workflow diagrams: Visualize your processes using swimlanes to make sure team members clearly understand their role in a project
Estimating budget and creating a financial plan: Use cost estimates to determine how much to spend on the project to get the maximum return on investment
Gathering resources: Build 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: Identify issues that may cause your project to stall while planning to mitigate those risks and maintain the project’s quality and timeline
Holding a project kickoff meeting : Bring your team on board and outline the project so they can quickly get to work

Get started by mapping out all process steps and responsibilities in this workflow diagram template.

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: Assign granular aspects of the projects to the appropriate team members, making sure team members are not overworked
Briefing team members on tasks: Explain 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: Provide updates to project stakeholders at all levels
Monitoring quality of work: Ensure that team members are meeting their time and quality goals for tasks
Managing budget: Monitor 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.

Depending on the project management methodology you follow, there are many visual tools that you can apply to see which deliverables have been completed ensure that your project remains on track. Use our project tracking templates to help organize your project management. Click the Kanban board and Gantt chart templates below to learn more.

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: Determine whether the project's goals were met (tasks completed, on time and on budget) and the initial problem solved using a prepared checklist.
Analyzing team performance: Evaluate how team members performed, including whether they met their goals along with timeliness and quality of work
Documenting project closure: Make sure that all aspects of the project are completed with no loose ends remaining and providing reports to key stakeholders
Conducting post-implementation reviews: Conduct a final analysis of the project, taking into account lessons learned for similar projects in the future
Accounting for used and unused budget: Allocate 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.

Make sure you don't miss a step when completing your project.See the full process to project closure.

About Lucidchart

Lucidchart, a cloud-based intelligent diagramming application, is a core component of Lucid Software's Visual Collaboration Suite. This intuitive, cloud-based solution empowers teams to collaborate in real-time to build flowcharts, mockups, UML diagrams, customer journey maps, and more. Lucidchart propels teams forward to build the future faster. Lucid is proud to serve top businesses around the world, including customers such as Google, GE, and NBC Universal, and 99% of the Fortune 500. Lucid partners with industry leaders, including Google, Atlassian, and Microsoft. Since its founding, Lucid has received numerous awards for its products, business, and workplace culture. For more information, visit lucidchart.com.

8 steps to build a project management timeline.

Project management timelines provide a visual overview of projects and increase team efficiency. Learn 8 easy steps to build a project management timeline to perfection.

Top 6 reasons why project management is important

Project management is more than tracking deadlines—it can help your org meet deadlines and quality requirements in a world where 50% of projects fail.

Why you should choose the project manager career path

When you were asked what you wanted to be when you grew up, you probably didn't say "project manager," but with growing demand and potential of this profession, now is the time to consider the project manager career path. Learn more.

How to use swimlanes to improve project management

In this article, we’ll discuss swimlane diagrams and how they can improve your project management processes overall.

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Home » Blog » The Definitive Guide to Project Phases

The Definitive Guide to Project Phases

Were you handed a big project?

Are you looking for the best way to approach it?

A smart first step is to break the project into manageable chunks.

The project lifecycle model gives you a good structure for organizing your project. It consists of four main phases: initiation, planning, execution, and closing.

For each phase, we have a set of recommended steps. These steps help you take a project goal from idea to implementation. All happens in a logical sequence, ensuring that each phase builds upon the previous one. Due to its generic nature, this phase model can be applied to projects of any size or field.

In this guide, I’ll explain what each phase involves and the key steps within them.

What is the Project Life Cycle?

The term “project life cycle” indicates that projects go through a series of developmental stages and are meant to be temporary. In other words, every project has a start and an end, even if it sometimes feels like they go on forever.

Rather than approaching work in an unsystematic way, we follow a sequential order with extensive upfront planning. This approach has several benefits:

Everyone has a clear understanding of the tasks and deliverables within each phase.
We have accountability built in, because the end of each phase marks a milestone where specific tasks must be completed.
We also minimize unnecessary effort or spending, because we only start executing once we have a complete understanding of what needs to be done.

Let’s look at each phase in detail:

The 4 Project Management Phases

It may seem that the four project phases apply only to big projects with timelines spanning months, but that’s not the case. The phases can be adapted to fit any project, no matter its size or duration. You can set each phase to be as short or as long as makes sense for your project.

By reading the following explanation, you’ll see how to break down your project into these phases and understand what work should happen in each one. This approach will help you organize your tasks and make sure you don’t miss any important steps.

The typical lifecycle involves four phases which are initiation, planning, execution and closing phase.

Initiation phase

The initiation phase is where an idea is introduced and the organization commits itself to pursue it as a project.

This is the phase where an idea begins to take shape, going from “maybe we could do it” to “we’ll do it.” It starts when someone in the organization identifies a need or opportunity and decides to kick off a project.

Initial discussions take place to explore the idea and its potential benefits. These often lengthy conversations are a good thing, because we want to ensure we have a common understanding of what the project should achieve. Ideally, the team agrees on a value-based goal that promotes the organization’s vision and strategy, and not just a technical goal that provides zero real benefit to the organization.

Overall, the main driver behind the project seeks support from various stakeholders and departments to ensure the project has the necessary backing and resources. Basically, the organization checks if others are interested in the project too, gathering input and gauging the level of interest.

Once there is enough support, the project proposal is formally submitted for consideration. What follows are discussions with leadership, where the project’s potential impact and alignment with organizational goals are assessed. If the leadership team approves the project, we have an official project and may continue our preparatory activities.

Once approved, objectives are defined, outlining what the project is supposed to achieve on a more detailed level, for example departmental goals or particular business metrics.

The next step is to search for a project manager with the necessary experience who is available in the foreseen timeframe. The project manager will be in charge of building a detailed plan and executing the project.

The project team is then formed, with roles and responsibilities clearly outlined . The high-level scope of the project is determined, providing a broad view of what the project will cover.

A rough time frame for the project is established, giving a rough estimate of how long the project will take. Resource needs are assessed to ensure that the project has the necessary resources and budget. The feasibility of the project is also checked to confirm that it is practical and achievable within the given constraints.

By the end of this phase, all stakeholders should be on board with their roles and responsibilities on paper. Everyone should have a common understanding of the project’s goal, scope and approach. There’s one main document we draft during this phase: the project charter. This document outlines the project’s main parameters, like objectives, scope, team setup, and a high-level plan.

Keep in mind that the initiation phase often feels quite chaotic. The main parties have heated discussions about what is the “right” way to go forward and stakeholders negotiate to ensure their specific interests are considered. Plus, there is a general uncertainty about whether the project will get the green light or not. Fortunately, this chaos will settle once the project is fully defined and we move into the planning phase.

Planning phase

After the initiation phase, the project manager takes over to refine and elaborate on the project’s scope. This involves clearly defining what is included in the project and what is not, ensuring everyone understands the boundaries.

During this phase, requirements are gathered from the customer and stakeholders to understand exactly what needs to be delivered. This helps in creating a detailed resource plan, specifying the personnel, equipment, and materials required. A detailed cost estimate is developed, breaking down all anticipated costs.

A detailed timeline with milestones is created, mapping out the key stages of the project and their deadlines. Vendors are asked for quotes, and negotiations are conducted to secure the best possible terms. A risk assessment should be performed to identify potential pitfalls and develop strategies to mitigate them.

A communication plan is established to ensure clear and consistent information flow among stakeholders and team members throughout the project. This plan outlines how and when updates will be provided and when the various sub teams will meet.

It’s important to note that during the planning phase, actual procurement of resources and construction or development work do not begin. The focus remains on preparing and planning to ensure a smooth start to the execution phase.

The outcome of the planning phase is a detailed plan that provides enough information and structure to begin the actual work. Key documents produced include the project timeline and budget.

Once the planning is complete, a kickoff meeting is held to officially start the project. At this point, the project is approved, and the team is ready to move forward with execution.

Execution phase

The execution phase is where the project vision turns into reality, turning a plan into tangible results. Up to this point, we’ve focused on planning and paperwork, but now it’s time to implement our plan.

Here’s a breakdown of what happens during this phase:

The execution phase involves concepting and building the project deliverables. For example, if the project is to build a new software application, this phase includes writing code, designing the user interface, and integrating necessary systems.

Before committing fully, we might start with a prototype. For example, in developing a new product, creating a working model allows us to test its functionality and gather feedback from customers, ensuring we’re on the right track.

We conduct frequent meetings with the sponsor or client to ensure the work meets their expectations. For example, demonstrating a software feature to a client helps confirm it meets with their needs. These check-ins simplify adjustments based on client feedback, ensuring the final product meets the defined quality standards. In the same way, we look for regular alignment with our other stakeholders.

Procurement and vendor management become active during this phase. We acquire the necessary materials or services, such as ordering supplies or hiring subcontractors for an engineering project.

Cost management is critical because the bulk of project expenses occur during execution . We monitor expenditures against the budget, using budgeting sheets to track spending and ensure we’re not overspending. Implementing cost-saving measures and adjusting plans as needed helps us control costs and stay in budget .

Effective team communication and issue resolution are essential. Regular updates, such as daily or weekly meetings, discuss progress, identify issues, and address potential roadblocks early on to avoid major delays.

As work progresses, testing of the “product” ensures it meets required standards and functions as intended. For instance, quality assurance testing in software development checks for bugs and performance issues.

Training is another key activity of the execution phase. We create or update training materials to ensure users can use the new product, process or system — or whatever we are building.

For example, developing user manuals and conducting training sessions helps users adapt to new software. Organizational change management may be necessary to help the organization adjust to new processes or technologies introduced by the project.

At the end of the execution phase, the project outcome is fully realized and handed over to the client. The client begins to use the new product or system, marking the transition from planning to practical use.

We ensure a smooth handover by providing necessary support and training, helping the client get started and fully utilize the project outcomes. This marks the completion of the execution phase and sets the stage for the final phase: closing.

Closing phase

The closing phase marks the final stage of the project lifecycle, where we wrap up project activities and focus on ensuring a smooth transition to normal operations.

Although the main deliverables are completed, the closing phase has its own set of challenges and pitfalls that must be managed very carefully.

One of the main activities during this phase is providing assistance during a “hypercare” period. This involves offering intensive support to the client as they fully integrate and use the new product, process or system. It ensures any issues or questions are addressed promptly, facilitating a smooth transition.

Another crucial task is gathering final costs and preparing a final project report. This report details the financial performance of the project, comparing actual expenses against the budget and highlighting any variances. It also includes an overall summary of the project’s outcomes, deliverables, and performance metrics.

Doing a lessons learned session is helpful for continuous improvement. The project team reflects on the entire project, identifying what went well and what could be improved. These insights are documented and shared with the organization to inform future projects and enhance project management practices.

Releasing the project team is another important step. With the project concluded, team members are reassigned to other tasks or projects. This process involves formally acknowledging their contributions, providing feedback, and ensuring a smooth transition to their next roles.

Finally, ensuring all project documentation is completed and archived is essential. This includes storing all project records, agreements, and reports in a central repository for future reference.

In summary, the closing phase is about giving proper support, wrapping up costs and reports, capturing lessons learned, releasing the project team, and finishing all the paperwork. Handling these tasks well ensures a smooth end to the project. By documenting lessons learned, we help future project leaders by sharing what has worked and how to avoid the pitfalls encountered in previous projects.

Don’t let phases constrain you

The model I shared is a great starting point for organizing projects. It provides a clear structure and emphasizes thorough planning before execution, which is never a bad idea. This phased approach works well for most projects, but don’t take it as written in stone!

For example:

You can name the phases however you like.
You can add new phases if needed. For example, in my projects, we added a “study phase” after the planning phase. The study phase allowed us to assess customer requirements at a more detailed level, evaluate potential solutions and come up with a more reliable schedule and cost estimate.
You might find it useful to add phases around major technical activities, such as a “migration phase” involving data transfers or a “transition phase” for projects involving significant changes in operations or processes. Use whatever structure you think allows you to manage the involved project work in an effective way.

Use the best methods within each phase. During the concept development, you might use agile methods to simplify collaboration and integrate feedback quickly. For instance, a deliverable may be some kind of software user interface. In this case you may use agile sprints to refine the product iteratively based on user feedback. Alternatively, some project deliverables may require a more structured approach, where the waterfall method is more appropriate.

The key is to adapt the framework to best support your project, not to force it into a fixed structure. Each project is unique, and your approach should reflect that. If you’re curious about agile and other project management approaches, check out my article that provides practical tips on when to use agile and when to go with waterfall .

Busting Myths: No Separate “Monitoring and Control” Phase in Projects

You might have come across articles suggesting there are five phases in project management, adding a “monitoring and control phase” to the usual four. This is wrong, and it is based on a misunderstanding of the PMI’s framework. Monitoring and controlling are not separate phases. They are ongoing activities throughout the project. It would be odd to have a dedicated phase for monitoring progress and costs when these tasks should be part of a project manager’s daily routine .

Let’s clear this up: there is no “Monitoring and Control” phase in project management. The confusion stems from the PMI’s definition of so-called process groups. Process groups are used to categorize the different activities and processes involved in managing a project. For example, a project involves work focused on initiating, planning, executing and closing items tasks. Process groups are just a way to organize methodical steps into a logical sequence. Don’t confuse them with project phases!

For more details, read about PMI’s process groups . There’s also a forum thread confirming what I stated above.

Additional guides you may find useful

Now that you understand the important concept of using phases to organize your project, you might want to learn more about project preparation. What are the recommended steps? How do you ensure you don’t miss anything? That’s exactly what my other articles cover. Here is a selection of articles you should check out next.

How to Plan a Project: From Zero to Green Lights

This article is for you if you’re starting a new project. It breaks down the main activities for launching a new project, including everything you need to do step-by-step, like setting clear goals, identifying your main stakeholders, and planning resources and creating a timeline. Each step is explained with practical tips, making it easy for you to follow and apply.

Essential Project Documentation

In this article I walk you through the 11 project documents I recommend for every project. Each document is described in detail, including its purpose, structure, and how to create it. This guide helps you understand what information to capture and how to organize it in a professional way.

Ultimate Guide to Project Kick-offs

This is a step-by-step guide to preparing and hosting a project kickoff meeting. You’ll find tips on creating an agenda, preparing a clear slide deck, and communicating roles, responsibilities, and project goals. The kickoff is extremely important and you want to make sure everyone is aligned and engaged from the start.

Hope you found this article valuable!

Cheers, Adrian

Hi! I’m Adrian, founder of Tactical Project Manager and a Project Manager with over ten years of experience. Managed large-scale IT implementations and business projects. I started Tactical Project Manager to offer you a straightforward and pragmatic approach to project management, enabling you to lead any project with confidence.

5 Bad Habits Every Responsible Project Manager Should Avoid

How to Hire Your First Project Manager

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The Ultimate Guide To Building A PMO

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Five phases of the project management lifecycle.

What do people mean when they talk about the “project management lifecycle”? This helpful article, originally posted by Villanova University , explains in detail the five phases that projects are broken into throughout their life, when executed using the PMBOK methodology.

At the start of a project, the amount of planning and work required can seem overwhelming. There may be dozens, or even hundreds of tasks that need to be completed at just the right time and in just the right sequence.

Seasoned project managers know it is often easier to handle the details of a project and take steps in the right order when you break the project down into phases. Dividing your project management efforts into these five phases can help give your efforts structure and simplify them into a series of logical and manageable steps.

1. Project Initiation

Initiation is the first phase of the project lifecycle. This is where the project’s value and feasibility are measured. Project managers typically use two evaluation tools to decide whether or not to pursue a project:

Business Case Document – This document justifies the need for the project, and it includes an estimate of potential financial benefits.
Feasibility Study – This is an evaluation of the project’s goals, timeline and costs to determine if the project should be executed. It balances the requirements of the project with available resources to see if pursuing the project makes sense.

Teams abandon proposed projects that are labeled unprofitable and/or unfeasible. However, projects that pass these two tests can be assigned to a project team or designated project office.

2. Project Planning

Once the project receives the green light, it needs a solid plan to guide the team, as well as keep them on time and on budget. A well-written project plan gives guidance for obtaining resources, acquiring financing and procuring required materials. The project plan gives the team direction for producing quality outputs, handling risk, creating acceptance, communicating benefits to stakeholders and managing suppliers.

The project plan also prepares teams for the obstacles they might encounter over the course of the project, and helps them understand the cost, scope and timeframe of the project.

3. Project Execution

This is the phase that is most commonly associated with project management. Execution is all about building deliverables that satisfy the customer. Team leaders make this happen by allocating resources and keeping team members focused on their assigned tasks.

Execution relies heavily on the planning phase. The work and efforts of the team during the execution phase are derived from the project plan.

4. Project Monitoring and Control

Monitoring and control are sometimes combined with execution because they often occur at the same time. As teams execute their project plan, they must constantly monitor their own progress.

To guarantee delivery of what was promised, teams must monitor tasks to prevent scope creep, calculate key performance indicators and track variations from allotted cost and time. This constant vigilance helps keep the project moving ahead smoothly.

5. Project Closure

Teams close a project when they deliver the finished project to the customer, communicating completion to stakeholders and releasing resources to other projects. This vital step in the project lifecycle allows the team to evaluate and document the project and move on the next one, using previous project mistakes and successes to build stronger processes and more successful teams.

Although project management may seem overwhelming at times, breaking it down into these five distinct cycles can help your team manage even the most complex projects and use time and resources more wisely.

View or edit this activity in your CPD log.

What is a life cycle?

A project life cycle is a framework comprising a set of distinct high-level stages required to transform an idea of concept into reality in an orderly and efficient manner.

Life cycles offer a systematic and organised way to undertake project-based work and can be viewed as the structure underpinning deployment.

Definition from APM Body of Knowledge 7 th edition

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Types of life cycles

Life cycles are fundamental to the management of project-work: Different approaches can be utilised for deployment, depending on the desired outputs, benefits and outcomes and the expected uncertainty, novelty and risk appetite. The choice of deployment approach will play a key part in selecting the most suitable form of life cycle .

Linear (waterfall) life cycles are sequenced into a set of distinct phases, from the development of the initial concept to the deployment of an ultimate outcome, output or benefits. This approach aims to be highly structured, predictable and stable.

Iterative (agile) life cycles are composed of several iterations, which repeat one or more of the phases before proceeding to the next one. Iterative approaches can only proceed when user feedback is available to be used as the basis for initiating new cycles of development, refinement and improvement.

Hybrid life cycles typically fuse together elements to create a new model or approach. For example, utilising iterative or agile methods for early requirements gathering, where the uncertainty is greatest, and following it up with incremental or sequential processes to formalise deployment. Other types of life cycle include:

Incremental : Where the target state is achieved through a staged series of smaller
Evolutionary : Where deployment entails a number of major transitions, each based on user feedback from the preceding

There is no universal best approach. Project professionals select the most suitable arrangement for their context, most often combining features from any of the above into a hybrid life cycle.

Watch: Which life cycle approach is right for you?

APM Learning

The following life cycle resources are available on APM Learning. This is a member only resource.

Information sheet - Life cycles

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A guide to assurance of agile delivery

The guide supports experienced assurance professionals who may be undertaking assurance of their first agile project and shows how undertaking traditional assurance reviews can be adapted to ensure assurance activity of agile projects is both effective and valuable.

APM Assurance Interest Network

The effective operation of assurance provision and use of assurance information are essential to the reliable delivery of successful projects. Assurance is an essential element of project management, working closely with governance and risk management in a mutual supportive arrangement.

APM Body of Knowledge 7 th edition

The APM Body of Knowledge 7 th edition is a foundational resource providing the concepts, functions and activities that make up professional project management. It reflects the developing profession, recognising project-based working at all levels, and across all sectors for influencers, decision makers, project professionals and their teams.

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Definition of project life cycle: Exploring the 5 phases

What is the project life cycle?

The 5 project life cycle phases

Initiation phase

Planning phase

Execution phase

Monitoring and controlling phase

Closing phase

Agile approaches to the project life cycle

Benefits of effective project life cycle management

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Project life cycle: Frequently asked questions

How does project life cycle management contribute to organizational growth?

What are the potential challenges faced during the project life cycle?

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What is a project life cycle?

Project life cycle definition

Characteristics of the project life cycle include:

Types of project life cycles

1. Predictive (or waterfall) life cycle

2. Iterative life cycle

3. Incremental life cycle

4. Agile (or adaptive) life cycle

5. Hybrid life cycle

The phases of a project life cycle

Phase 1: Initiation—kicking things off

Phase 2: Planning—the foundation of your entire project

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Phase 3: Execution (or implementation)—getting the work done

Phase 4: Monitoring (or controlling)—tracking progress against the plan

Phase 5: Closure—wrapping things up

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Advantages of project life cycle

Disadvantages of project life cycle

Critical success factors across the project life cycle

Project life cycle examples

Example 1: Website redesign

Example 2: Developing software

The bottom line on project life cycles

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Project Planning Phase

Project Execution Phase

Project Monitoring & Control Phase

Project Closure Phase

VIDEO: Recap of 5 Project Management Phases

Why Are Project Phases Important?

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What Is The Project Life Cycle: The 5 Phases Explained

What Is The Project Life Cycle?

What Are The 5 Phases Of The Project Management Life Cycle?

1. Project Initiation Phase

Key Steps During Project Initiation

2. Project Planning Phase

Key Steps For Project Planning

3. Project Execution Phase