Starting a company comes with big responsibilities. Managers have to deal with many problems when handling a project from the very beginning up to its deadline as requirements evolve constantly in managing it. But every single duty can be done easily as soon as you divide the work into smaller pieces. Understanding the project management life cycle is the main point for achieving your goals because, at one time or another, every project goes through this cycle comprising different phases. Major project management phases consist of initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and controlling, and closing of the project.

In this project management guide, we will talk about different phases of project management that help you manage projects for your organization. Understand the basic stages of the project life cycle phases to turn a project idea into a working product.

All About the Project Life Cycle

The project management life cycle provides a detailed and well-structured plan helpful for the project managers to guide their projects to successful completion. The life cycle plan consists of all the stages important in a project. From project initiation to final implementation, all phases are included in the life cycle. By getting a detailed understanding of the numerous project management phases, managers can manage all the stages more acutely.

These phases segment the project into sub-steps, making it easy for project managers to predict what’s coming next. Also using the combination of the right tools and methods significantly contributes towards effective team management.

Five Phases of Project Management

The project management life cycle consists of various stages from starting to finishing and all play an important role in ensuring projects’ success.

Phase 1: Project Initiation

The project initiation phase is the beginning of the project, and at this stage, managers explain the project’s scope and objectives to its team members. At this stage, an abstract idea is converted into a meaningful goal. Here in this stage, one has to develop a business case and define the project on a broader basis. In order to achieve this, understand the project requirements and create a project charter, which is an important document consisting of details like:

• Project Purpose
• Main Objectives and Deliverables
• Key Stakeholders and Team Members
• Initial schedule
• Budget Idea

After understanding the project’s requirements and its scope, identify the main project stakeholders involved in the project. Pen down their roles, designation, communication requirements, and influence.

Phase 2: Project Planning

The next stage in the project management life cycle is the project planning stage which requires a detailed project plan and roadmap, which can be done using a Gantt chart tool. This phase is useful as it helps identify technical requirements, create a detailed project schedule, and a communication plan, and establish clear goals or objectives. Two of the most common ways of setting up the project’s goals include S.M.A.R.T. and C.L.E.A.R.  Under ‘SMART’ criteria, the established goals are critically analyzed. It is the most trusted way to lower risk and allows project managers to make clearly defined and achievable goals.

The ‘CLEAR’ method is designed to cater to the growing needs of modern businesses.

Phase 3: Project Execution

It is the main stage in the project management life cycle as actual work is done at this stage only. Being a project manager, your tasks and responsibilities include establishing efficient workflows and carefully monitoring the progress of your team. Also, the manager is responsible for ensuring effective collaboration between project stakeholders and that everyone stays on the same page so that the project runs smoothly without any issues.

Deploy the most effective project collaboration tools that not just improve efficiency but boost employees’ productivity as well. Among many tools, Jira is a popular collaboration tool helpful in tracking team activities and provides an easy way to track projects. Such tools can improve teams’ collaboration and brainstorming and are helpful in visualizing ideas, sharing feedback in real-time, and seamlessly deploying the project execution phase.

Phase 4: Project Tracking and Controlling

This project management phase is all about reporting related to the actual performance and evaluating the project. This phase runs simultaneously with project execution so that objectives and project deliverables are completed on or before time. At project management life cycle, project managers ensure that everyone sticks to the original plan by establishing critical success factors and key performance indicators.

The monitoring phase of project management consists of tracking the effort and cost incurred during the process. This tracking is effective in keeping the project within the budget.

Phase 5: Project Closing

Project closing is the last and final phase of the project management life cycle and tells about the closure of the project post final delivery. To ensure successful completion of a project, many times external talent is hired purposefully for the project on contract. At this phase, all the contracts are terminated and necessary paperwork is completed by the project manager.

The team members are invited to be a part of the meeting once the project is completed and suggest the reasons for success and failure. This is an effective strategy carried to ensure continuous improvement within the company along with improving the overall productivity of the team in the future. All of the important data related to the project is stored at a secured place and the project managers can access the same in the future.

Ease Your Project Management Process with Kodehash’s Assistance

Knowing the task completed in various phases of the project management life cycle helps in the smooth running of projects. Kodehash Technologies provides project management for digital programming projects and leads your project through project management keeping your company’s goals and objectives in mind.

So, this time take your project management skills to a higher level with Kodehash’s innovative solutions. Whether you have a new project in the pipeline or are hunting for ways to optimize existing processes, our software engineers are here to help you with every phase of the project lifecycle.

To experience the difference in the project management life cycle, contact us to find out how we can help.