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Project Management Life Cycle

Monday, December 15th 2014. | Tips

Project Management Life Cycle

Unfortunately, project management life cycle is usually an overlooked of setting and achieving business goals. Being capable of managing a project more efficiently on your own or having a project manager can mean a significant difference between leaving/stifling a project uncompleted and achieving the project’s full potential. The strategy is everything to any crucial endeavor, and every business company or owner will want to ensure they are always in line with the project in its entirety right from the time they started working on it.

Any project right from constructing a new building to establishing a marketing campaign needs to be directed and thoughtful project management. This means that if your company lacks a well-established background in operations, there are some important steps that you need to know to get started.

All projects have individual levels of development. A better understanding of these steps allows executives and managers to maintain control of their project more efficiently. These actions are varied based on the industry involved but usually use the same basic steps. Therefore, it’s important to know that the life cycle of a perfect may differ in detail within every of the available phases and the number of steps.

Phases of Project Management Life Cycle

There are five simple steps in project management life cycle, namely; Initiation, Planning, Execution, Control and Wrap-Up (project closure).

Step I: Initiation

In this case, initiation just means choosing the goal in project management. This is the first phase of the project where the project need or objective is identified. It can be a business opportunity or problem. An appropriate reaction to the set goal is documented with recommended solution options. After that, a feasibility research is done to investigate whether these options address the objective of the project and a final solution is determined. Once managers approve this recommended solution, a project is launched to deliver the approved recommended solution. At this phase, project managers are also appointed.

Step II: Planning

This is the second phase of the project management life cycle. Possibly, planning the project is the most vital stage in project management. In the process, the project manager has the responsibility to draft project plans which outline what is being carried out and what actions and items are required to do it. This is important because the strategies will be needed throughout the entire project to define clearly a project and also make sure it’s properly executed. The following should be done when planning:

Estimating time and resources – as a project manager figure out what exactly you will require and how much time you will need to complete fully different stages of the project. However, it’s easier for this to change while the project is underway and it’s a good idea to make estimates toward both the low and high ends and focus on finishing at somewhere in the middle.

Identification of the order of tasks – you also need to determine those tasks that will logically come before others or those that will take the priority. There are several software programs which can help business managers organize the sequence of their projects.

Execution schedule – Project managers also need to prepare a well-structured plan since it will be used to outline the implementation of the project in a focused and clear way.

Risk analysis – here, as a project manager, think about different problems, which you could face during the time of the project life cycle. Also, make some alternative plans for those drawbacks in they come to happen.

Communication systems – it is also important to set up relevant standards for reporting progress, any setbacks, and change in plans.

Step III & IV: Execution and Control

Once the program is completed, the project manager can start executing and controlling the project. This is where the deliverable is physically developed and presented to the client for acceptance. While this is done, the suite of processes of management is usually undertaken to control and monitor the deliverable that are as a result of the project. These methods include managing suppliers, communication, customers, issues, change, risks, quality, cost, and time.

Step V: Wrap-Up (Project Closure)

Project wrap-up involves releasing the final product or service to the customer, terminating supplier contracts, handing over the project documentation to the company, releasing project resources and finally, communicating/pronouncing the closure of the project to all stakeholders of the business.