A Complete breakdown of The Project Management Life Cycle

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Every project has a start and an end. But most of all, it’s the process in the middle that dictates the success of a particular project. Studies show that companies that pay heed to their project processes have a 21% higher chance of meeting their goals. But it’s easier said than done. Most managers agree that project management is not easy. But acknowledging the difficulty of project management is the first step towards detangling the complexity itself. When you divide the project into measurable and manageable stages that you can control the quality of the output. 

In the following article, we’ve broken down the project management life cycle in detail. Here you can get insights into building a robust project management process. 

What is the Project Management Life Cycle?

A project management life cycle is a step-by-step framework for starting, executing, and finishing a project. It allows project managers to structure the processes to ensure higher efficiency and productivity. The project management life cycle includes five steps which are in detail below. 

5 Stages of the Project Management Life Cycle

1. Project Initiation & Conception

Every project begins with an idea. Initiation is the step where that abstract idea is penned down into a goal. Project initiation is where you do preliminary research and assess the tone and goals of your project. A project is stemmed from the idea of addressing a pain point either in the operational process, customer service, fulfillment, logistics, etc. 

For example, if an online store is facing difficulties in addressing the speedy delivery expectations of the customers, it needs to set up a project management task to establish micro-fulfillment centers across various cities to curb the long distances and save costs on logistics. 

The initiation phase includes the following process: 

1. Feasibility Study:

Narrow down the focus of your challenge and analyze if your project will be able to fulfill the expectations. Figure out if you have the budget for multiple fulfillment centers. 

2. Scope Identification:

Note down the tasks and objectives so that you can clearly define the boundaries and bring your team together on common goals. For example, you want to increase the number of deliveries as well as reduce the time frame in doing so. 

3. Define KPIs:

While you define your tasks, you need measurable Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) through which you can ensure that your project is a success. In our example, KPIs include the number of orders, the amount of delivery time, customer satisfaction metrics, etc. In other instances, it could be reducing costs of business or any other quantifiable goals.

4. Identify Stakeholders:

Who will be involved in the project? Identify the stakeholders and involve them early on in the project so that they’re in the loop of the processes. Such as warehouse managers, customers, warehouse staff, logistics managers, etc.

2. Project Planning

Now that you know the ‘why’ of your project, it’s time to figure out the ‘how’ and that is precisely what the project planning phase is all about. Consider a well-planned project a job half done. 

Some of the essential steps you need to consider in this phase are:

  • Build a detailed timeline and document the entire plan
  • Define a workflow diagram (Also list down the project management tool you’ll be using)
  • Build a project schedule and add the deadlines in your tool
  • Gather resources and materials needed (Both human and procurement resources)
  • Jot down the risks and proposed solutions
  • Have an introductory meeting with team members

The planning phase requires you to break down your tasks into smaller tasks, ensure potential workload management, and so on. You also identify the milestones, timelines, and potential risks associated with the project.

This step sets a lot of parameters into place. Teams usually go off the rails in terms of time management and resource management. Having an outlined scope allows you to stay within the predefined boundaries. These steps may be different for different projects, depending on the project and team’s needs. 

3. Project Execution

You finally arrive at the project management life cycle step where you do the actual work. Considering this is where you put your plan into action, project execution is the step that takes the longest time. Your employees are collaborating across teams, reviewing work, and presenting stakeholders, submitting deliverables, and so on. All your other processes are designed towards making this step a solid success.

Successful project execution becomes smooth if you have the right leadership and the right technology. Ensure that whatever activity is being carried out is managed and recorded clearly in project management tools like Time tracking. It will streamline your workflows and enable you to execute projects with greater transparency and accountability. You can set up due dates, get a weekly overview of team performances, and prioritize your tasks. 

You are responsible for project management tracking between different team members involved in the project. It’s where you decide the flow of internal communication, and the hierarchy, prioritize tasks and build an end-to-end internal project workflow management plan. 

Project management tools are beneficial since they aid managers to ensure that everyone stays on the same page and doesn’t deviate from their goals. Some of the critical tasks that you need to pay attention to in the execution phase are:

  • Resource planning
  • Change management
  • Risk management
  • Quality control
  • Internal reviews
  • Meeting management

4. Project Monitoring & Control

Now that you have executed your project, you go back to your KPIs. The top activities project managers conduct in this step are: 

  • Compare the progress plan with the project plan
  • Reduce project deviations if any and redefine the KPIs
  • Update plans to meet the new KPIs and deadlines
  • Monitor the budget
  • Monitor the quality of the project

Along with the execution phase, the monitoring phase is also critical in determining the project’s success. Because the phase isn’t just about monitoring, it’s also about control. You identify key issues that are hampering the progress and process improvement such as lack of funds or inefficient teams. You identify the risks and create mitigation plans. 

Controlling the process helps you be proactive and prepare your team to quickly respond to change. It keeps the stakeholders in the loop about the direction the project is taking and provides them with an opportunity to intervene as and when necessary. 

5. Project Closure

As your project management life cycle nears its end, you conduct some concluding activities such as discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the project and the team, where the project could use improvements and how to improve in the future. This stage typically consists of four activities which are:

Performance analysis

This is a summary of how the overall project was managed and executed and if the initial predictions of costs and benefits were accurate. You include the risks encountered and how you tackled the unforeseen challenges that came across the project, etc. 

Team Project Management Analysis

You create a performance review of the team and measure productivity. Check if they fulfilled their tasks on time, how they communicated, if their work was distributed equally between productivity vs efficiency, and if they were accountable for their actions.

Time tracking software gives you a clear summary of the billable hours and non-billable hours which can ultimately help you decide the final compensation of employees. You can relieve duties, make their final payments, and close the contracts of the team members if you hired them on a project basis. 

Closure

As you submit the deliverables to the clients and stakeholders, you wind up the remaining tasks such as communicating the closure to stakeholders and filing and signing off documents. 

Post-implementation Review

Whatever the outcome may be, it’s ideal for the team to conduct a retrospective and recognize and acknowledge valuable contributions from team members. This is where you acknowledge the lessons learned to determine the top decisions that worked best for you and can be replicated in future projects. 

Pro-tip: When working on a project, it’s important to have in mind all of its stages, of course. But, it’s even more important to document it and track it the best way you can. Here’s when TrackingTime features come to the scene. With the project management tracker, you can see the big picture and focus on the work that matters. Get a clear overview of progress to stay on top of everything and prioritize tasks while tracking project progress in one central hub without switching apps. That’s the reason why our clients support us. Md Ashfak S., a Web Developer and SM Marketer says,  “Highly recommended! I’ve used quite a few time-tracking apps and TrackingTime is one of the easiest apps I’ve ever used! I’m using it for more than 3 years now. UI & Dashboard is the easiest you can find”.

The Project Management Life Cycle Is The Most Reliable for Your Project

The five stages of the project management life cycle bring a lot of clarity in addressing the challenges related to a project. Regardless of what industry you’re in, the cycle gives you a reliable pathway. No matter how haywire things go, you know you can always fall back to the defined structure and set things up for a positive outcome.

About The Author:

Nevilson is the Founder of SeekThem, a creative design, and branding agency. With a passion for design, Nevilson has established the company as a leader in branding solutions. Over the years, the company has helped numerous clients develop a strong and consistent brand identity, and Nevilson continues to lead the team in delivering exceptional results.

The 5 Stages of Project Management Life Cycle

  1. Project Initiation & Conception

    The initiation phase includes the following process: Feasibility Study, Scope Identification, Define KPIs and Identify Stakeholders.

  2. Project Planning

    The planning phase requires you to break down your tasks into smaller tasks, ensure potential workload management, and so on. You also identify the milestones, timelines, and potential risks associated with the project.

  3. Project Execution

    Successful project execution becomes smooth if you have the right leadership and the right technology. Ensure that whatever activity is being carried out is managed and recorded clearly in project management tools like Time tracking. It will streamline your workflows and enable you to execute projects with greater transparency and accountability. You can set up due dates, get a weekly overview of team performances, and prioritize your tasks. 

  4. Project Monitoring & Control

    You identify key issues that are hampering the progress and process improvement such as lack of funds or inefficient teams. You identify the risks and create mitigation plans. 

  5. Project Closure

    As you submit the deliverables to the clients and stakeholders, you wind up the remaining tasks such as communicating the closure to stakeholders and filing and signing off documents. Whatever the outcome may be, it’s ideal for the team to conduct a retrospective and recognize and acknowledge valuable contributions from team members.