Typical stages of the project life cycle, well-planned projects are essential to the success of your business. If you manage projects efficiently, you will have a better chance of achieving your goals for project success. You must implement a series of phases from start to finish, and you must be aware of the required inputs and outputs that will allow for the transition to the next project stage, so in this article, we will talk about the typical stages of the project life cycle
Typical stages of the project life cycle
Planning. In planning the stage is most important the time and effort invested in this stage lay a solid foundation for the project.
This stage defines and identifies project costs, scope, risks, opportunities, and limitations.
The appropriate stakeholders must be involved in the planning stage to provide feedback.
There are five stages:
The initiation process
Planning process
Execution process
Monitoring and control process
Closing process
The purpose of the project life cycle
The project life cycle is a method of dividing a project into sequential logical stages. for example:
Define requirements
Design
Development
Exam
Designation
Project management processes
Large and small projects contain a lot of moving parts and there is a lot to coordinate and track to move from point A to point B and implement a successful project as this is the reason for dividing projects into smaller and more understandable parts, also known as project phases and project stages allow you to take your difficult project and organize it So that you can rally around it and make progress.
In project management there are five phases: initiation, planning, implementation, control, and closing During these project phases, there is a need for continuous monitoring and reporting, as there are project management tools Come without project management tools, you will struggle to collect actionable data, track progress and meet deadlines.
Let’s take a closer look at the five phases of the project.
1. Get started
This is where all projects start. The value of the project is determined, as well as its feasibility.
Before the project is approved or rejected, these two documents are created to sell the work to the stakeholders or sponsors:
Business case: Here it justifies the need for the project, which includes an ROI analysis.
Feasibility study: You need to assess what the project’s goals are, the timeline for completion and how much the entire endeavor will cost. You will also note the resources required to complete the project, and whether they make financial and business sense.
2. Planning
If the project is approved, the next step is to assemble the project team and start planning how to manage the project so that it can achieve its goals within budget and on time.
The project plan will include the required resources, financing and materials. The plan also gives directions to your team and:
Scope: There will be a written scope statement that reiterates the need for the project, and what its outputs and goals are.
Definition: Here the larger outputs are divided into smaller ones, which will help in managing them.
Tasks: Identify the tasks necessary to produce the output, and find out if any tasks depend on other tasks.
Timetable: Determine the duration of tasks and set dates to complete them.
Cost: Estimate the costs involved across the project and formulate the budget.
Quality: Ensure that quality objectives are met throughout the project.
Organization: Note how the project will be organized, including reporting on progress.
Personnel: Define the roles and responsibilities of the project team.
Communications: Decide how the information will be disseminated, to whom, and with what frequency.
Risk: Identify the potential risks and how they will affect the project and then plan how to solve them.
Procurement: Select the work or materials to be contracted out. Determine those contracts and who they will go to.
3. Implementation
Now that you are done with planning it is time to start the project. This is where the rubber hits the road, but that doesn’t mean you’re just cruising. This stage consists of the following detailed processes:
Implement the plan: Follow the plan you’ve created, assign tasks to team members and manage and monitor their progress using project management tools, such as a project dashboard.
Administration: managing the contracts secured in the project.
4. Monitoring and control
To ensure the implementation of the project plan, all aspects of the project must be monitored and adjusted as needed.
To do this, follow these processes:
Reporting: Get a gauge to measure project progress and a tool for presenting this information.
Scope: Monitor and control scope changes.
Quality: Measure the quality of the output and ensure that the planned quality is being met. If not, evaluate how the quality can be improved.
Timeline: Track and adjust delays or bans affecting the project schedule to stay on track.
Cost: Monitor expenses and control cost changes.
Risks: Note changes in risk throughout the project and respond accordingly.
5. Close
The project is not finished once the project goals and objectives are achieved.
The final stage of the project is to close it.
This includes another set of operations:
Scope: Ensure those project deliverables are completed as planned.
Administration: Close all outstanding contracts and administrative matters, archive papers and distribute them to the competent authorities