A project management life cycle consists of 5 distinct phases including initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, and closure that combine to turn a project idea into a working product.
Managing a project is no easy feat, no matter what the scale and scope are. In a project management guide, if you are somehow in a position where you are expected to manage projects for your organization and are feeling overwhelmed, it’s better to start learning the basic stages of the project life cycle phases.
1. Project initiation
The project charter is an important document consisting of details like the project constraints, goals, appointment of the project manager skills, budget, expected timeline, etc. In this stage, you need to develop a business case and define the project on a broad level.
While a clear goal of the project is established in this phase, a project charter does not contain any technical details that happen in the planning stage. The selection of the design, capacity, and battery power of the vehicle will not be a part of the initiation phase.
Once you have the project goals and project scope, identify key project stakeholders–the people who are to be involved in the project. Create a stakeholder register with the roles, designation, communication requirements, and influence.
2. Project planning
There are several methods of setting up the project’s goals but S.M.A.R.T. and C.L.E.A.R. are the most popular.
The project planning stage requires complete diligence as it lays out the project’s roadmap. Unless you are using a modern project management methodology like agile project management, the second phase of project management is expected to take almost half of the entire project’s timespan.
3. Project execution
Another responsibility of the project manager during this phase is to consistently maintain effective collaboration between project stakeholders. You can take help from collaboration software available in the market.
As a project manager, your job is to establish efficient workflows and carefully monitor the progress of your team. The project execution stage is where your team does the actual work.
4. Project monitoring and controlling
As a project manager, you can make sure that no one deviates from the original plan by establishing Critical Success Factors (CSF) and Key Performance Indicators (KPI). The project monitoring and controlling phase run simultaneously with project execution.
In the project management process, the third and fourth phases are not sequential in nature. During the monitoring phase of project management, the manager is also responsible for quantitatively tracking the effort and cost during the process.
5. Project closing
This is the final phase of the project management process. The project closure stage indicates the end of the project after the final delivery. Most teams hold a reflection meeting after the completion of the project in order to contemplate on their successes and failures during the project.
Terminating these contracts and completing the necessary paperwork is also the responsibility of the project manager. This is an effective method to ensure continuous improvement within the company to enhance the overall productivity of the team in the future.
All of the necessary data is stored in a secure place that can be accessed by project managers of that organization.
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