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The Importance of Following the Project Life Cycle: A Case Study

Posted by Vijay Kumar, PMP | Aug 21, 2023 | Project Management | 0 |

The Importance of Following the Project Life Cycle: A Case Study

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Project life cycle

The project life cycle is a series of phases that a project goes through from inception to completion. These phases involve different activities, tasks, and milestones that help manage the project and ensure that it meets stakeholders’ requirements. The project life cycle is a fundamental concept in project management, and understanding its different phases is crucial for managing projects successfully.

In this article, we will discuss the different phases of the project life cycle, their importance, and the activities that take place in each phase.

Phase 1: Initiation

The initiation phase marks the beginning of the project life cycle. During this phase, the project’s purpose and objectives are defined, and the project team is established. This phase is critical because it sets the foundation for the project’s success. The key activities that take place in this phase include:

• Identifying the project stakeholders and their requirements.

• Defining the project scope, objectives, and deliverables.

• Conducting a feasibility study to determine if the project is viable.

• Creating a project charter to formally authorize the project.

Phase 2: Planning

The planning phase is where the project team develops the project plan. The project plan is a comprehensive document that outlines how the project will be executed, monitored, and controlled. This phase is critical because it provides a roadmap for the project and ensures that all key stakeholders are aligned. The key activities that take place in this phase include:

• Developing a detailed project schedule.

• Defining the project budget and resource requirements.

• Identifying project risks and developing a risk mitigation plan.

• Creating a communication plan to ensure stakeholders are informed about project progress.

Phase 3: Execution

The execution phase is where the project team completes the actual work to deliver the project’s objectives. This phase is the longest and most critical phase in the project life cycle. During this phase, the project managers closely monitor the project’s progress and make any necessary adjustments to ensure that the project is on track. The key activities that take place in this phase include:

• Managing project resources to deliver project deliverables.

• Motivating and managing project team members to ensure they deliver their tasks on time and to the required standards.

• Monitoring project progress and making any necessary adjustments.

• Managing project stakeholders’ expectations and ensuring they are kept informed of the project’s progress.

Phase 4: Monitoring & Control

The monitoring and control phase is where the project team closely monitors the project’s progress to ensure it meets the defined objectives. This phase is critical because it ensures that the project is on track, and any deviations from the plan are addressed proactively. The key activities that take place in this phase include:

• Monitoring project progress against the baseline plan.

• Tracking project costs against the budget.

• Identifying and addressing any deviations from the project plan.

• Managing project risks and ensuring the risk mitigation plan is effective.

Phase 5: Closure

The closure phase marks the end of the project life cycle. During this phase, the project is formally closed out, and the necessary documentation is completed. This phase is critical because it ensures that the project’s objectives have been met, and any outstanding issues are resolved. The key activities that take place in this phase include:

• Conducting a final project review to ensure that all project objectives have been met.

• Creating a final project report to document the project’s outcomes.

• Closing out project accounts and completing any necessary financial paperwork.

• Handing over the project deliverables to the client and obtaining formal acceptance.

In conclusion, a project’s life cycle consists of different phases that take the project from inception to completion. Each phase has its unique set of activities and objectives that, when executed effectively, provide the foundation for successful project delivery. Therefore, project managers need to understand the different project life cycle phases and allocate the necessary resources to ensure that each phase is executed effectively. By doing so, they can ensure that the project objectives are met, and the stakeholders’ expectations are fulfilled, leading to increased project success rates.

Project Life Cycle The project life cycle is a series of phases that a project goes through from inception to completion. These phases involve different activities, tasks, and milestones that help manage the project and ensure that it meets stakeholders' requirements. The project life cycle is a fundamental concept in project management, and understanding its different phases is crucial for managing projects successfully

About The Author

Vijay Kumar, PMP

Vijay Kumar, PMP

I'm Vijay Kumar - a Passionate Project Management Professional and Thought Leader at www.projectsmind.com. My words have touched millions over the past decade through my professional journey. Basically, I love to solve project problems and help project people to succeed. I am an engineering graduate from the Indian Institute of Technology with a master's in Supply Chain Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. I have decade-long experience in managing projects for the world’s topmost EPC & Technology firms. An admitted fitness freak, l love to feed my addiction in the gym every day...well most of the day.

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case study about project life cycle

Project Life Cycle: Definition, Stages, Types & Example

Fahad Usmani, PMP

July 1, 2022

project life cycle

Definition: All projects follow a work pattern known as a project life cycle . A project life cycle decides the way the project will deliver the deliverable.

To put it simply, a project life cycle is the project progression through each step from beginning to end. The number of cycles of stages and their order may fluctuate based on the organization and the type of project.

However, because all projects are temporary, they have a distinct start and end date. The project life cycle provides the fundamental framework for the tasks to follow throughout the project, regardless of the type of labor.

The four interrelated stages that must be followed are included in the project life cycle.

Every project phase has a start date, an end date, and a control point. The goal of the control point is to reassess the feasibility of project continuation. To find out if the project is on track, you can compare its performance. The project life cycle describes the procedures for managing a project from start to finish.

Stages of the Project Life Cycle

According to the PMBOK Guide, a project life cycle has four stages:

  • Starting the Project
  • Organizing and Preparing
  • Carrying out the work
  • Closing the Project

#1. Starting the Project

This stage includes getting a commitment from stakeholders, including management and team, obtaining commitments from project stakeholders , such as management, the team, and the sponsor , gathering project requirements, and establishing the project’s scope of work , cost, and resources, among other things, are all part of this stage.

In this phase, the project brief is created, and it is decided what must be done to successfully complete the project.

You will determine the project’s stakeholders and make sure they all understand the project’s goal and business case. Establishing a plan to fulfill the project objectives is a key step.

Key Steps For This Stage

  • Review the business case for the project.
  • Conduct a feasibility study to analyze if the project is worthy of proceeding.
  • Conduct cost-benefit analysis
  • Create a project charter. 
  • Define the project’s vision, purpose, and objectives.
  • Determine the broad scope and project deliverables , and final output.
  • Determining the rough order estimate for the project.
  • Identify key risks, assumptions, and constraints.
  • Determine the key stakeholders.

#2. Organizing and Preparing

Project planning starts once the project team has been given the go-ahead signal in the starting phase.

The planning process identifies the scope of work and develops a plan to complete the project. 

In this stage, you find answers to the following questions:

  • What precisely do we intend to do?
  • How will we accomplish this?
  • When will we carry it out?
  • How can we tell when we’ve finished?

The project manager decides how their team will achieve the project objectives.

  • Define the project plan
  • Planning for resources
  • Resource allocation
  • Task delegation
  • Define project management metrics
  • Define Key Performance Indicator
  • Develop the project baselines
  • Achievements
  • Recording customer expectations
  • Success metrics

#3. Carrying Out the work

The plans created in the previous stage are implemented during this stage. The project manager will allocate resources to concerned team members in order to finish the work.

In addition to performing the job, the project manager will keep track of it in relation to benchmarks like cost, schedule, and scope. They take corrective and preventative measures if there is any deviance.

They also keep an eye on hazards; if any materialize, they ensure the risk response strategy is implemented.

  • Carrying out a strategy.
  • Finishing work.
  • Monitoring progress
  • Controlling risk

This stage helps reduce conflict costs by controlling risk throughout the project. It also helps in reducing the risks of being over budget and spayed schedule.

#4. Closing the Project

This is the final stage of the project life cycle.

Project closure involves a product delivery, retrospective, lessons learned , performance analysis, etc.

But the project’s not over yet.

The project manager can hold a post-project review (post mortem) meeting to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the project and team. This meeting helps find what went right, wrong, and not so well and identify steps for future improvements.

Performance Evaluation of a Project: To determine if the project was on track or if there were deviations, the project manager evaluates the project performance in relation to the baselines and compares it with the project baselines.

You will find answers to the following questions:

  • Were there any unexpected risks? 
  • What problems developed?
  • If yes, how successful were they handled?
  • Has the project plan been modified?

Team Evaluation: Here, you will find answers to the following questions:

  • Did everyone do their tasks as directed? 
  • Were they driven and enthusiastic enough? 
  • Did they continue to be careful and responsible? 
  • Was the project team’s collaboration productive and healthy?

Project Closure: This entails concluding procurement contracts with suppliers, approving agreements, releasing the team, and delivering all required project paperwork.

Reviewing After Implementation: Carry out a comprehensive analysis of the accomplishments and failures, compiling the lessons learned and recommendations for future projects.

Type of Project Life Cycle

A project can have one of the following life cycles:

  • Predictive Life Cycle
  • Adaptive Life Cycle
  • Iterative Life Cycle
  • Incremental Life Cycle
  • Hybrid Life Cycle

#1. Predictive Life Cycle

Predictive Life Cycle

The predictive life cycle is also known as the waterfall life cycle.

This is the traditional form of project management where a project manager develops the complete project management plan at the beginning and then follows it until the project completes. Here, you plan the work and then work the plan.

Since the scope of work is fixed, this cycle is known as the predictive life cycle. In this method, the chances of changes are low. However, if the change occurs, it costs a lot.

#2. Adaptive Life Cycle

An adaptive life cycle is also known as a change-driven life cycle.

As the name suggests, this life cycle welcomes changes. The project is divided into increments, and deliverables are delivered and refined until the client is satisfied. All activities are performed multiple times.

Since it is cyclic, it is easy to make changes to the deliverable and incorporate clients’ feedback.

Adaptive Life Cycle

#3. Iterative Life Cycle

The iterative and predictive life cycles are comparable. Here, the project management team creates the plan in advance and iterates it to account for adjustments.

In this case, the first iteration aims to create a basic product with minimal viability, and the following iteration enhances it further.

Iterative Life Cycle

#4. Incremental Life Cycle

The incremental life cycle is similar to the adaptive life cycle. 

Here, the project manager delivers small, usable pieces of deliverables to the client, and based on the feedback; the product is refined and developed. 

All increments are added in the final iteration to deliver the complete product. 

Incremental Life Cycle 1

#5. Hybrid Life Cycle

The hybrid life cycle is a hybrid of life cycles discussed in this post. It can be any combination of life cycles. A project manager is responsible for selecting the life cycle best suited for their project.

Significance of the Project Life Cycle

The project life cycle is significant because it is what project managers lead and facilitate.

Every project involves the same steps: defining its goals, developing a strategy to achieve the goals, and carrying it out. Although various organizations may use different terminology to describe the phases of the project life cycle, they are fundamentally the same.

A project is started to address a problem. Decide on a solution, create a plan to implement it, then identify the problem. The project manager must keep track of the implementation process to ensure the plan has the expected impact.

Offers a Framework to Execute Projects

A project life cycle provides a systematic method for project delivery. This allows project managers to track the project’s progress and determine the issues with deliverables or a process. A project life cycle framework provides teams with a uniform road plan to follow. It helps define each phase’s tasks, results, and allocated duties.

Enhances Team Communication

A framework is accessible to and understood by all project stakeholders; it helps facilitate communication and define roles and responsibilities in the project.

Team members easily comprehend what they should do throughout each step. Resource planning avoids wasted and ensures its availability whenever they are required. Most resources are required in the third stage of the project life cycle.

Helps Measure Progress and Development.

A project life cycle offers a structure for organizing and planning each stage of the project. Plans, benchmarks, key performance indicators, project metrics, etc., will be available. You can check the status and determine whether the progress is on track by comparing it to the project baselines.

During the Definition phase, the project management plans are created, including the risk management plan and quality plans. The different product components are developed during the Implementation phase, which is further separated into Design and Build stages.

Allows Project’s Evolution

The stages of the project life cycle give insight into how the project progresses and enable the identification of areas that need special attention, such as risk management in the early phases and project evaluation in the execution stage. The project details expand every next step.

As the project moves forward, the plans are developed and elaborated, and the cost baseline , schedule baseline , and scope baseline are improved.

Helps Organize Reviews and Improve Governance.

Since the project lifecycle will outline when the Project Evaluation Review takes place, the project manager can schedule the performance reports’ completion before the reviews.

It permits people who must attend in advance, enabling quick “go or no go” decisions on product development. The project is feasible and on time, and these monthly evaluations reassure stakeholders that early accomplishments have been validated.

On the other hand, if the project proves to be unprofitable, they might act as exit routes.

Limitations of Project Life Cycle

Following are the disadvantages of the project life cycle:

  • The works conclude after the completion of the final stage.
  • High risks and uncertainty .
  • It is not the best choice for tricky and complicated projects.
  • It is not a correct framework for object-oriented projects.
  • Implementing the project life cycle for longer projects is challenging and out of place.
  • The progress is challenging to measure at every stage as the project progresses.

Example Of Project Life Cycle 

Let’s use a road construction project as an example.

North India’s highways will be designed and built by an Indian construction company. The project manager focused on describing and learning about the team’s capabilities to manage a significant project throughout the project’s initiation phase.

After setting up three offices, the project team began creating project blueprints and applying for permits.

During the planning phase, the project team designed the project schedule that conformed to the design, procurement, and construction activities. The team was able to monitor project expenditures against anticipated spending thanks to a thorough budget created by the project controls division.

The project design department produced conceptual concepts and gave the procurement division precise drawings. This aids the procurement department in setting up the road construction plan, designing and developing labor projections, and ordering equipment for the construction crew.

The project’s work is carried out during the implementation phase. Equipment, materials, and employees were provided to the construction crew throughout the implementation phase. The project team finished the task and met the goals.

The newly built roadways are made accessible to users as part of the closeout phase. A punch list of unfinished business was created. The financial records were balanced and closed. As the project manager transitions to a new project, final reports are produced and disseminated.

To complete a project, stakeholders must understand the project life cycle. A project management life cycle provides a framework for organizations to understand the project, its requirements, and processes that help them complete the project successfully with the least hurdle.

case study about project life cycle

I am Mohammad Fahad Usmani, B.E. PMP, PMI-RMP. I have been blogging on project management topics since 2011. To date, thousands of professionals have passed the PMP exam using my resources.

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What is The Project Life Cycle & its 5 Main Phases?

By Midori Nediger , Oct 31, 2023

What is The Project Life Cycle & its 5 Main Phases?

To an outsider, it might seem like the project management process is easy…just talking to clients, scheduling meetings, assigning tasks and reminding team members of deadlines.

But anyone who has managed a project will tell you it’s much more than that, which is why the project life cycle is so useful.

What is a project life cycle?

The project life cycle is a 5-step framework designed to help project managers guide their projects successfully from start to finish. The purpose of the project life cycle is to create an easy-to-follow framework to guide projects.

What are the 5 main stages of the project life cycle?

  • The project initiation stage : Define project goals, evaluate feasibility and establish the project’s purpose and stakeholders.
  • The project planning stage : Create a comprehensive project blueprint outlining tasks, timelines and resource allocation.
  • The project execution stage : Put the project plan into action, ensuring effective communication and coordination among team members.
  • The project monitoring & controlling stage : Track project progress, identify any deviations and make necessary adjustments to keep the project on course.
  • The project closure stage : Complete all project tasks, obtain client approval and conduct a thorough review to capture valuable insights for future projects.

project life cycle

Understanding and planning for the 5 stages of the project life cycle can help you manage, organize and plan so your project will go off without a hitch.

A project management life cycle will help:

  • Ease communication between project teams and stakeholders with the help of agile project management tools
  • Ensure goals are achievable with the available resources
  • Help mitigate risk and keep projects on track

But what does each stage of the cycle look like?

1. Project initiation stage: Define project goals, evaluate feasibility and establish the project’s purpose and stakeholders.

The initiation stage of the project management life cycle is when you meet with clients and stakeholders to understand their goals, motivations and hopes for the project.

During this stage the aim is to hash out the high-level goals that must be met for you to consider the project a success. There’s lots of research, discovery and discussion, but very little detailed planning in this phase.

The key project management steps for the initiation stage include:

  • Identifying project objectives and deliverables
  • Outlining project risks , dependencies, constraints and priorities
  • Establishing project scope based on deadlines and available resources
  • Submitting a project proposal for approval (our proposal maker can help you with that)

We’ve got a more detailed guide to writing a project management plan if you want more information. This covers project management basics along with all the elements that need to be included. You can also get PMP Certification to get specific training on how to do this.

I’ll go through the basics here.

case study about project life cycle

Let’s take a look at what’s involved for each of these tasks.

Kick off the project management process by identifying project objectives and deliverables

Start by talking with your stakeholders or clients to get to know their needs. Try to tease out what’s important to them, what projects they’ve tried in the past and what they hope to see in the future.

From there, you can move on to building out the concrete objectives and deliverables that your team will be responsible for, given the scope of the project and the available resources.

Be sure to document the takeaways from these initial meetings…you’ll want to have a record of the agreed-upon deliverables when it comes to the project closure stage.

case study about project life cycle

Pro-tip: Set S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound) goals. For example: “In 3 months, increase blog conversion rates by 5%”.

Outline project risks, dependencies, constraints and priorities

Once you’ve mapped out the high-level project goals, it’s time to explore all of the variables that might impact the progress of the project, including:

  • Risks: Factors that can negatively impact the cost, goals, timeline, or results of a project
  • Dependencies: Relationships between activities or tasks
  • Constraints: Limiting factors like technology, resources, time and cost

By identifying all of these variables early on you can nip a lot of potential problems in the bud, before they throw off your whole project timeline . 

A risk breakdown structure , like the one below, can aid in identifying and assessing all of the risks in your project. A risk breakdown structure is a hierarchical representation of risks, starting with the high-level risks and then breaking it down into more granular risks.  It can be an essential tool for project risk management . 

case study about project life cycle

Establish project scope based on deadlines and available resources

With a handle on all of the variables at play, you can start breaking the project down into more actionable steps. Set boundaries on project scope based on your deadlines and the resources at your disposal and think about what skill set your future team will need .

Mind maps and flowcharts can be helpful for organizing all of the moving parts to map out what’s reasonable based on project constraints.

case study about project life cycle

Summarize the takeaways of the project initiation stage in a project proposal

All of the details that you establish during the initiation stage should be outlined in a project proposal, the only major deliverable for this initiation stage.

A project proposal is a report that details all of the goals, scope, requirements, budget, participants and deadlines of a project.

case study about project life cycle

Not to be confused with a project plan , which includes a much more in-depth description of how the project will be executed, a project proposal should be no longer than a few pages.

Depending on the complexity of a project, an action plan one-pager, like the one below, might suffice.

case study about project life cycle

Check out our  job proposal templates ,  business proposal templates  and consulting proposal templates for more options.

Either way, when you’re a few months into the project, trying to prioritize the work of your team and make decisions that impact the direction of the project, you’ll thank yourself for creating clear documentation of these high-level project goals.

Create a professional looking project life cycle visualization

Make sure your project life cycle visualization sits within your company branding for a truly professional looking design. Venngage Business users can use the My Brand Kit  and see their company colors, logos and fonts automatically applied to Venngage templates.

Business users can also invite feedback directly to their design with the Venngage comment feature. Learn more about My Brand Kit, Comment Mode and more features of the Venngage Business account:

2. Project planning stage: Create a comprehensive project blueprint outlining tasks, timelines and resource allocation.

Once your project proposal has been approved, it’s time to move on to the project planning stage of the project life cycle.

The project planning stage is when you create a comprehensive project plan , which involves:

  • Translating your proposal into a series of actionable tasks and scheduling them in a project roadmap
  • Documenting processes or workflows that your team will use (you could try using a process infographic for this)
  • Creating measurable short-term goals from high-level project goals
  • Addressing potential issues that could derail your roadmap

This project plan will be the source of truth for your team when any questions, conflicts, or issues arise throughout the project.

Let’s dig into the most important major deliverable of the project planning stage: the project roadmap.

Create a project roadmap with project tasks and milestones

Creating a project roadmap is one of the more important project management life cycle steps, crucial for organizing your team and keeping work on track. A project roadmap outlines all of the start and end dates of every major project task (plus any big milestones you’re working towards). 

Pro Tip: Use our roadmap maker to create professional, engaging roadmaps.

Gantt charts (like the one below) are a great tool for project roadmapping, because they can show the duration and timing of a number of dependent tasks. They’re perfect for planning and scheduling and eventually monitoring progress throughout the execution stage of the project life cycle.

case study about project life cycle

The best thing about using a Gantt chart for your project roadmap?

You can show a number of concurrent timelines on a single chart , which makes it easy to account for task dependencies.

For example, this Gantt chart template shows project tasks for multiple teams over the course of a few months:

case study about project life cycle

The visual format of a Gantt chart makes visualizing and adjusting for dependencies much easier than a spreadsheet. And because it’s visual, it’s easy for you team to see, understand and give feedback on their upcoming tasks.

case study about project life cycle

Once your roadmap is in place, the last step of the planning stage is to assemble your team and hold a project kickoff, launching you into the next stage of the project life cycle: the execution stage.  

Check out this blog post for more Gantt chart templates .

3. Project execution stage: Put the project plan into action, ensuring effective communication and coordination among team members.

The project execution stage is the true start of the project, when you carry out all of the tasks and activities you mapped out in the planning stage.

This is where the majority of the project work takes place and it requires constant monitoring. Expect to adjust your goals and roadmap as you get deeper into the project.

As a project manager, your main responsibilities of the project execution stage are to:

  • Monitor and control the execution process, reviewing the quality of the team’s output
  • Adjust and update tasks, goals and deadlines to meet changing conditions
  • Communicate between your team and the project stakeholders

Create status reports to communicate execution progress throughout the project management process

Although most of your time during the execution stage of the project management process will be spent monitoring and adjusting to keep the project on track, you’ll also need to keep stakeholders up to date with any changes to the project status.

Using a project status report template , like the one below, will help make sure you don’t leave out any pertinent details when you’re communicating with stakeholders.

For example, this status report includes an overview of project performance so far, plus up-to-date project milestones:

case study about project life cycle

While this status report template is shorter, focused around an executive summary, but includes space for notes from every team representative:

case study about project life cycle

KPIs and budget updates should also be included, if you have any.

4. Project monitoring & controlling stage: track project progress, identify any deviations and make necessary adjustments

The monitoring and controlling stage of a project is a critical phase that ensures project activities align with the predetermined objectives and milestones.

During this phase, project managers and stakeholders closely oversee project progress, assess performance and make necessary adjustments to keep the project on track.

Effective monitoring and controlling practices are essential for mitigating risks, identifying potential issues and ensuring the project’s timely completion within the allocated budget.

During the monitoring and controlling stage of a project, the key project management steps include:

  • Measure and assess the project’s progress against the project plan and key performance indicators.
  • Identify and manage potential risks that could impact project objectives, and implement strategies to mitigate these risks.
  • Monitor and evaluate the quality of project deliverables to ensure they meet predefined standards and client expectations.
  • Assess and handle any changes to project scope, schedule or resources effectively, while considering their potential impact on the project.
  • Maintain open lines of communication with stakeholders, keeping them informed about the project’s progress and addressing any concerns or issues promptly.
  • Identify and address any project issues or conflicts that may arise, aiming to resolve them efficiently to prevent delays or disruptions.

Create a quality control checklist to maintain consistent quality standards throughout the project lifecycle

To systematically evaluate each deliverable against established quality benchmarks can take a lot of time. A great tip for project managers is to use a quality control checklist to quickly identify any deviations or discrepancies and take corrective actions to maintain the overall quality of the project.

Quality control checklists help in maintaining consistent quality standards throughout the project. By defining specific quality criteria, project managers can ensure that all deliverables meet the same level of quality, thereby enhancing the overall project integrity and customer satisfaction.

These checklists enable the early identification of any deficiencies or discrepancies in the project deliverables. By detecting quality issues early in the project lifecycle, quality control checklists help in minimizing the need for rework and additional corrections.

Here’s a quality control checklist template you can use in the monitoring and controlling stage of your project:

case study about project life cycle

5. Project closure stage: analyze results, summarize key learnings and plan next steps

Once you’ve achieved your project goals and the results have been signed off on by your stakeholders, it’s time for the project closure stage.

In the project closure stage of the project management process, you:

  • Hand off deliverables
  • Release team members and project resources
  • Analyze project performance in a project retrospective

A project retrospective is as much about reviewing the success of the project as it is about extracting learnings that can apply to future projects. Projects will never go without obstacles and there will always be things to learn that will ease the progress of other projects.

There are many ways to run a project retrospective meeting , but you should try to identify your biggest wins and losses and come up with solutions. If you’re an external consultant, you might even ask your client for feedback .

Keep track of your notes somewhere that will be accessible by your whole team, like a shared spreadsheet (or send out an email after the meeting):

Meeting Minute Template

Another duty of a project manager in the project closure phase can be to analyze the performance of the team, based on the quality of their work and how well they were able to meet deadlines.

These performance reviews can be delivered to team members (or higher-ups) in the form of an easy to read visual summary, like the one below:

case study about project life cycle

But remember…your project isn’t complete until all of your documents have been handed over and approved by your client or stakeholder.

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Agile Software Development Life Cycle: Case Study

Learn more about our agile software development life cycle from our Mitsubishi case study.

Any software development project, either big or small, requires a great deal of planning and steps that divide the entire development process into several smaller tasks that can be assigned to specific people, completed, measured, and evaluated. Agile Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), is the process for doing exactly that – planning, developing, testing, and deploying information systems. The benefit of agile SDLC is that project managers can omit, split, or mix certain steps depending on the project’s scope while maintaining the efficiency of the development process and the integrity of the development life cycle. 

Today, we are going to examine a software development life cycle case study from one of Intersog’s previous projects to show how agility plays a crucial role in the successful delivery of the final product. Several years back, we worked with Mitsubishi Motors helping one of the world’s leading automotive manufacturers to develop a new supply chain management system. With the large scope of the project, its complex features, and many stakeholders relying on the outcomes of the project, we had to employ an agile approach to ensure a secure software development life cycle.

Business Requirements

Mitsubishi Motors involves many stakeholders and suppliers around the world, which makes its supply chain rather complex and data-heavy. That is why timely improvements are crucial for the proper functioning of this huge system and a corporation as a whole. Over the years of functioning, the old supply chain has been accumulating some noticeable frictions that resulted in the efficiency bottlenecks, and Intersog offered came ups with just the right set of solutions to make sufficient solutions that would help Mitsubishi ensure a coherent line of communication and cooperation with all the involved suppliers.

  • Streamlining Software Maintenance: A Strategic Blueprint

Previously, Mitsubishi used an outdated supply chain management system that involved a large number of spreadsheets that required a lot of manual input. Considering a large number of stakeholders, the problem of synchronization has been a pressing one as well – different stakeholders would input the data at different speeds and at different times of day, which created a degree of confusion among suppliers. Though the system has been sufficient for a long time, the time has come to eliminate all the redundancies and streamline data input. 

The legacy system has been partially automated and ran on the IBM AS400 server, which allows for impressive flexibility, but it no longer sufficed for Mitsubishi’s growing needs. The main requirement, thus, was to create a robust online supply chain solution that would encompass the entire logistics process starting with auto parts and steel suppliers and ending with subcontractors and car dealerships around the world. That being said, Mitsubishi did not want to completely change the system, they opted for overhaul, and we came up with the idea of an integrated web application that was meant to function in conjunction with a DB2 base that was already used on the IBM AS400 server. 

IT Architecture and Agile SDLC

Mitsubishi employs a series of guidelines and rules on how to build, modify, and acquire new IT resources, which is why Intersog had to be truly agile to adapt to the client’s long-established IT architecture. Adapting to the requirements of the client, and especially to the strict regulations of the IT architecture of large corporations like Mitsubishi requires knowledge, flexibility, and strong industry expertise. Each software development company has its own architecture standards and frameworks for building new systems but many face difficulties when working with the existing systems and modifying them to the new requirements.

Intersog has no such problems. We approached Mitsubishi’s case with strong industry expertise and flexibility to account for all the client’s needs and specifications of the existing system. Obviously, following the client’s architecture regulations requires a profound understanding of said regulations, which is why information gathering is an integral phase of the software development life cycle.

Requirements Gathering

The requirements gathering phase can take anywhere from just a couple of days to several weeks. Working with complex and multi-layered legacy systems like the one used by Mitsubishi requires serious analysis and information gathering. In the case of Mitsubishi, our dedicated team had to gain a clear understanding of how the legacy system functions, create new software specifications, map out the development process, gather and create all the necessary documentation, track all the issues related to the functioning of the legacy system, outline the necessary solutions, and allocate all the resources to achieve the project’s goals in the most efficient manner. 

Working on the Mitsubishi project, our team has been gathering all the required information for up to 4 weeks. This included a profound examination of the legacy system, mapping out all of its flaws and specifications, bridging the gaps between the current state of the system and the requirements of the client, and outlining the development process. 

case study about project life cycle

  • Open Source and AI: Charting the Future of Innovation

The design stage includes all the integral decisions regarding the software architecture, its makeover, the tech frameworks that would be used in the system’s rework. During this stage, developers discuss the coding guidelines, the tools, practices, and runtimes that will help the team meet the client’s requirements. Working with large corporations like Mitsubishi, a custom software development team has to work closely with the company’s own developers to better understand the specifics of the architecture and create a design that reflects all the requirements. 

After all the requirements are gathered, we initiated the design stage based on all of the client’s specifications and came up with a number of solutions that matched Mitsubishi’s specs:

  • Convenient data model meant to optimize data duplication;
  • Permission system that differentiated the users by their access levels;
  • Appealing user interface mockup to improve the comfortability of user-system interaction;
  • Integration with the legacy RPG system;
  • Notifications for the partners to keep them up with the important activities.

This set of essential solutions has been discussed and approved in the course of the design stage that lasted for 2 months. During this stage, Intersog and Mitsubishi development teams worked closely to come up with the solutions that matched the client’s requirements to the tee. Proper functioning of the supply chain is vital for the entire corporation, which is why it was critical to do everything flawlessly. 2 months might seem like quite a timeline, but for this case study on software development life cycle, it was not that long considering how complex Mitsubishi’s legacy system was. 

Solution Development

After approving the solution design, the team can move to develop those solutions. That’s the core of the entire project, a stage at which the teams meet the goals and achieve the outcomes set during previous stages. The success of the development stage depends heavily on how good a job the teams did during the design stage – if everything was designed with laser precision, the team can expect few if any, surprises during the development stage. 

What happens during the development stage is the teams coding their way towards the final product based on decisions that have been made earlier. With Mitsubishi, we followed the guidelines we came up with earlier and implemented a set of essential solutions:

  • We built a convenient data model that minimizes the risk of human error by reducing redundant and repetitive data entry and duplication. 
  • Improved Mitsubishi’s security system to differentiate the users by their level of access and give them the respective level of control over the data.
  • Added the notifications for the users so that they could react to the relevant changes faster.
  • Designed an appealing and comfortable user interface using the AJAX framework to make the user-system interaction more comfortable and time-efficient. 
  • Deployed the platform running on the IBM AS400 server with the integration of DB2 databases.
  • Integrated the existing RPG software into the new system.
  • Migrated the existing spreadsheets and all the essential data into the new system.

All of these solutions took us 6 months to implement, which is rather fast for a project of such scale. Such a time-efficiency was possible only thanks to the huge amount of work we’ve done throughout the research and design stages. The lesson to learn from these software development life cycle phases for the example case study is that the speed of development would depend heavily on how well you prepare. 

Depending on the scale of the project, you might be looking at different timelines for the development stage. Small scale projects can be finished in a matter of weeks while some of the most complicated solutions might take more than a year to finish. In the case of the Mitsubishi project, it was essential for the client to get things done faster. Rushing things up is never a good idea, but you can always cut your development timeline by doing all the preparation work properly and having a clear understanding of what needs to be done and in which order.

Quality Assurance                   

Quality assurance is as vital for your project’s success as any other stage; this is where you test your code, assess the quality of solutions, and make sure everything runs smoothly and according to plan. Testing helps you identify all the bugs and defects in your code and eliminate those in a timely manner. Here at Intersog, we prefer testing our software on a regular basis throughout the development process. This approach helps us to identify the issues on the go and fix them before they snowball into serious problems. 

That’s it, quality assurance is a set of procedures aimed at eliminating bugs and optimizing the functioning of the software solutions. Here at Intersog, we run both manual and automated tests so that we can be truly sure of the quality of solutions we develop for our clients. With Mitsubishi, we ran tests throughout the development process and after the development stage was over. It took us an additional month to test all the solutions we’ve developed, after which we were ready for the implementation stage.

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Integration and Support

Following the testing, and once we are sure all the solutions work flawlessly, the development team gets to the implementation stage. Also known as the integration stage, this is where we integrate the new solution into the client’s pre-existing ecosystem. Basically, you are putting new gears into a complex mechanism that has been functioning for many years, and it is essential to make sure all of those gears fit perfectly. 

With such a complex system as the one employed by Mitsubishi and a vast amount of accumulated data, our developers had to be incredibly precise not to lose anything. We are talking about surgical precision because Mitsubishi’s suppliers amassed thousands upon thousands of spreadsheets full of critical data on supplies, material and product deliveries, accounting data, and more. All of that had to be carefully integrated with the new automated solution. 

After 2 months, the solutions have been fully integrated with Mitsubishi’s existing ecosystem. Intersog usually backs the clients up by offering support and maintenance services to ensure flawless functioning of the system over time, but this time, our client was fully capable of maintaining the new system on their own. As said, Mitsubishi has its own development team that is able to take care of the system maintenance, so that our cooperation was finished after the integration stage. 

Final Thoughts and Outtakes

A software development life cycle depends on many factors that are unique for each company. In the case of Mitsubishi, we’ve managed to get things done in just under a year, which is rather fast for a project of such an immense scale. Different projects have different life cycles, and it depends on the scale, the client’s ability to explain their needs, and the development team’s ability to understand those needs, gather all the necessary information, design the appropriate set of solutions, develop said solutions, ensure their quality, and implement them fast.

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Definition of project life cycle: Exploring the 5 phases

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When you’re starting a big project, establishing a foundation for success is crucial.  However, it can be tough to figure out where to begin. One key to success is understanding the project life cycle – a series of stages a project goes through from start to finish.

The project life cycle includes five main stages: initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and controlling, and closure. Keeping an eye on the completion of each phase helps ensure the project stays on time and within budget. 

In this article, we’ll explore the definition of project life cycle in depth and show how tools like Jira can streamline and enhance each stage of the process.

What is the project life cycle?

The project management life cycle provides a structured plan for project managers to guide their projects to successful completion. It includes all the stages needed in a project – from the inception of an idea to the final implementation.

When project managers have a clear understanding of the various project management phases , they can see the big picture and better know how to handle each stage. These phases break the project down into simpler steps, making it easier for project managers to anticipate what’s coming next. This, in turn, helps them stay on track and ensure the project’s success. Using the right tools and methods also contributes to effective team management throughout the project life cycle.

The 5 project life cycle phases

The project life cycle outlines the different stages a project goes through from start to finish. It encompasses several key phases, each addressing different needs as the project progresses. This framework offers a high-level view of the project’s evolution, ensuring you hit important milestones along the way. There are typically five project life cycle phases : initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and controlling, and closure. 

Initiation is where you define the goals, scope, budget, and timeline. Planning follows, focusing on creating a detailed action plan. Execution then carries out the plans to deliver the product. Once the project begins, you must monitor the project and control for any deviations from the plan. Finally, closure involves wrapping up tasks, obtaining project acceptance, and archiving records.

Even though the names and exact number of phases may differ, most project life cycles follow a similar pattern of planning, execution, and closure. The key is to have a structured approach that helps manage resources, timelines, and deliverables as the project moves from one stage to the next. 

Throughout the phases, project managers monitor and control their teams' efforts, tracking progress and adjusting work as needed to keep the project on schedule and within budget.

Initiation phase

The initiation phase marks the beginning of a project, with the project manager defining the scope and objectives. During this phase, it’s vital to align stakeholders on common goals and lay the foundation for a successful project.

Next, the project manager creates a project charter , outlining the purpose, goals, and scope of the project. This charter includes the following key information:

  • Project purpose and justification
  • Main objectives and deliverables
  • Key stakeholders and team members

Initial schedule and budget estimates

The project manager also conducts a feasibility assessment to determine if the project is realistic and worthwhile.

Planning phase

During the planning phase, the project manager develops a detailed project plan and roadmap . This involves determining key scheduling details, resource allocation, and risks that could impact the project. The goal is to create a comprehensive map of how the team will execute the work.

Jira Product Discovery (JPD) helps gather and organize product ideas, features, and solutions, creating custom, up-to-date roadmaps that show which features the team will build, when, and why. JPD helps project managers identify and prioritize ideas or features that will have the most substantial impact on the project's success. 

Execution phase

During the execution phase, the team puts the project plan into action. The project manager plays a key role in coordinating resources, including people, tools, and materials, while also ensuring the team is well-informed about their individual tasks and timelines.

Jira Software (JSW) and Jira Work Management (JWM) offer simplified project tracking and enable seamless project management across both software and business teams, all while accommodating each team's unique working style. Jira Software is an Agile project management tool, while Jira Work Management (JWM) is a collaboration tool that helps teams track work activities.

Jira provides end-to-end management of this critical stage. The platform handles the day-to-day demands of executing complex projects, freeing up teams to focus on delivering work rather than struggling with spreadsheets and disjointed tools.

With Jira Software and Jira Work Management, project managers can assign tasks, set deadlines, and automate reminders so nothing slips through the cracks. With all their work in one place, they can understand how each task impacts the timeline and budget. This allows for immediate adjustments to keep the project moving forward.

Monitoring and controlling phase

The monitoring and controlling phase involves regularly checking project progress and team performance to ensure everything adheres to the project plan.

During this phase, the project manager identifies any deviations from the plan and budget, determining the cause to take corrective action. Tools such as status reports, time tracking, budget reports, risk management plans, and stakeholder reviews make it easy to see the most important metrics and milestones. To make changes to the plan, team members should submit a change request for approval. 

Closing phase

The closing phase marks the formal end of a project. During this phase, the focus is on getting final approvals and sign-offs, conducting a post-project review, identifying what went well, determining areas for improvement, and documenting lessons learned. These activities foster a culture of continuous learning and promote accountability and transparency.

Agile approaches to the project life cycle

In traditional project management, teams typically establish a fixed plan that does not change. Agile project management , on the other hand, allows for changes to the project plan. In the Agile methodology , teams engage in short, frequent check-ins and make adjustments. This approach focuses on iterative development, customer collaboration, and adaptability. The best methodology depends on the project type.

Scrum is a widely adopted Agile methodology in which Scrum teams work in time-boxed iterations, with daily stand-up meetings to discuss progress, challenges, and plans. In Kanban , another Agile methodology, teams visualize workflows using a Kanban board, allowing them to prioritize tasks and maintain a smooth workflow.

Benefits of effective project life cycle management

Effective project life cycle management streamlines processes in several ways:

  • Improved project visibility: Teams can proactively remove obstacles to ensure timely, high-quality results. This enables more effective decision-making.
  • Better risk management: Teams can spot risks early and find solutions. Regular risk checks ensure projects stay on time and avoid costly delays or failure.

Enhanced stakeholder communication: With regular updates, progress reports, and meetings, participants stay more informed and involved throughout the project life cycle.

Project managers can use Jira tools to organize and prioritize ideas, making it easy to create and share custom roadmaps with the team.

  • Jira Software breaks large projects into manageable tasks, tracks progress, and encourages teamwork.
  • Jira Work Management is a simplified work management solution for business teams that enables project collaboration and organization.
  • Jira Product Discovery works with JSW and JWM, providing context for and visibility into software development projects, business tasks, and more.

Ensure a successful project life cycle with Jira Product Discovery

Jira Software, a popular project management tool, offers several features and project planning templates to streamline processes and provide context and visibility for projects.

JPD helps with planning, tracking, and managing project phases. With JPD, product teams can neatly gather and organize product ideas, opportunities, features, and solutions within a centralized tool. This helps in the  prioritization of features to find those with the most significant impact.

JSW and JWM are effective project management tools that natively integrate with JPD, providing context for and visibility of all project tasks.

JWM, specifically designed for work management, encourages teamwork and collaboration. JSW, an Agile project management tool, integrates smoothly with JWM, simplifying project management.

Project life cycle: Frequently asked questions

How does agile differ from traditional project life cycles.

Agile and traditional project life cycle approaches differ significantly in their approach to change and planning. Agile is known for its flexibility and iterative nature, embracing change and promoting continuous review and adaptation. As the project progresses, the team continuously gathers new information, insights, and feedback, allowing them to understand what works and what doesn't. This enables them to make dynamic adjustments to the project plan to make it more effective and aligned with the project's goals.

Traditional approaches are more sequential and rigid. Project managers conduct detailed planning upfront, and the team adheres closely to the plan. In this approach, change is challenging to accommodate.

Each approach has advantages, but Agile is better suited for projects where change is expected or necessary.

How does project life cycle management contribute to organizational growth?

Project life cycle management helps teams optimize the utilization of resources, including people and tools. This improved efficiency allows teams to complete projects on time, contributing to the success of the organization.

What are the potential challenges faced during the project life cycle?

Project management can be complex and challenging, requiring careful attention to potential obstacles, such as scope creep, resource constraints, and communication breakdowns.

Scope creep happens when project requirements expand beyond what the team decided at the start of the project, leading to insufficient resources, delays, and deviations from the project plan. Change control processes help eliminate scope creep. Project managers must check the project's scope often, communicate changes, and involve stakeholders to make sure any changes match the project goals.

Resource constraints can cause delays, jeopardizing successful project completion. To overcome these resource issues, check your resources early in the project planning . Create a backup plan ahead of time. This is how you can find potential problems and think of solutions, like getting outside help or shifting your resources.

Productivity suffers when there are communication breakdowns , which encompass insufficient communication, disagreements, and poor collaboration. Creating a culture where people are happy to share information within the project team and holding regular meetings, both formal and casual, can keep everyone on the same page and prevent communication breakdowns. Project management tools, such as Jira, simplify communication, track progress, and simplify information sharing.

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The Project Life Cycle: Selection

By: Jaume Ribera

One of the ways to study how projects are managed is by reviewing the different stages along the project life cycle. In this note we explore the first of these stages, the selection of projects.…

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  • Publication Date: Feb 24, 2011
  • Discipline: Operations Management
  • Product #: IES427-PDF-ENG

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One of the ways to study how projects are managed is by reviewing the different stages along the project life cycle. In this note we explore the first of these stages, the selection of projects. Project selection is usually not considered part of the traditional project management body of knowledge, as we usually assume that the job of managing a project starts when the project has already been selected. However, many problems encountered during the life of a project can be traced to a wrong selection of which projects to do and which to reject. Issues about the alignment of the projects with the intended strategy or, even more often, the selection of too many projects create situations that are impossible to resolve later on.

Feb 24, 2011

Discipline:

Operations Management

IES427-PDF-ENG

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case study about project life cycle

Tactical Project Manager

Project phases: An overview with real examples

  • by Adrian Neumeyer

Every project can be broken down into several phases.

In this article I’ll walk you through the phases in the project management life cycle.

Continue reading to learn more about the different project phases.

Project management phases: the simple view

In the most general form, a project can be broken down into:

  • Preparation phase
  • Execution phase
  • Closing phase

The preparation phase is where the project is being set up. The project manager, together with the customer and contractor, will arrange all the formal aspects of the project.

This includes finding the right people to work on the project (establishing a project organization), creating a project plan , setting up a project budget , holding a project kick-off and other activities.

The project team must also gather the requirements and plan the steps for the next phase. Without knowing the detailed requirements ( ‘What do we need to do?’ ), the project cannot do anything.

During the execution phase , the project is concerned with all the tasks to turn the project goal into reality. This can mean building something tangible (a product, a building) but also could involve defining a new process (e.g. how a company can find clients online). As you can guess, this takes time.

That’s why the execution phase is usually the phase taking the longest. In terms of complexity this phase will also be the most challenging to manage, because there are so many activities taking place in a tight sequence.

The closing phase is the last one in the project life cycle. Usually it only takes a few weeks or months, which doesn’t make it an easy phase. The last critical tasks have to be completed to make sure the customer is satisfied. There’s no more time for making errors. Everything has to work as planned.

Otherwise the project deadline cannot be met. What’s happening in the closing phase? It’s when the final product or process of the project is prepared for handover to the customer:

  • A building is finalized and the customer makes his final inspection.
  • Employees are trained for a new process to be used in a company.
  • A product is packaged and shipped to the customer. That sort of stuff.

A closer look at the project phases

What I shared with you above was a simplified look at project stages. I wanted to give you the essence before we dive deeper into the project life cycle.

What follows next is an explanation of the way projects are structured in real life. It’s the project phases according to the PMI project phase model.

The 5 Project management phases:

  • Project Concept & Initiation
  • Project Definition and Planning
  • Project Launch or Execution
  • Project Performance & Control
  • Project Close

case study about project life cycle

Phase 1: Project Concept & Initiation

“Manufacturing cost has gone up 7% over the last 2 years. This is killing our profitability! We need to do something about it.”, the CEO of a company says during a board meeting.

“I propose to start a project. We need our top experts to look into this issue and find ways to cut our spending.”

Every project starts with a goal. Or a problem that has to be solved, like in this example.

What happens next? The CEO will delegate the job to one of his managers (let’s say the head of manufacturing), who in turn will look for a suitable project manager. Once a PM has been found, this person will coordinate the next steps. These are, defining the rough scope of the project, setting targets, building a team and documenting the first things in a project charter.

What happens during the project concept and initiation phase are only the first ‘baby steps’ of a project. It is when an organization comes to an agreement that something should be done, and the first actions will be taken. There is not much formalism in the sense that you have to create a lot of project management documentation.

Phase 2: Project Planning

This is the first phase where you really have to go into detail. During the project planning phase, you have to plan every aspect of the project, down to a weekly (or even daily) level.

As you can probably guess, the planning phase is critical:

95% of your project’s success depends on how well you plan things

What you have to do in this phase:

  • Define roles and responsibilities  – What kind of skills or people do you need in the project? And what do you expect from each of those members?
  • Create a scope statement  – The scope statement is a document which clearly states what the project is expected to deliver. It also defines the boundaries, i.e. what is not expected from the project.
  • Create a project plan (Gantt chart)  – Create a project Gantt chart to visualize the flow of the project. This will give everyone on the team clarity on what has to be done by when. Need a good template? Get my project plan template for Excel .
  • Define key milestones  – Milestones are goals which have to be accomplished during the project. A milestone could be specification completed or product prototype completed .
  • Set up a communication plan  – A simple table which shows how the team and stakeholders will communicate throught the project. Communication can happen in the form of meetings or by email.
  • Perform a risk analysis  – It is always better to be prepared for issues than to be surprised. Do a risk analysis to identify the most critical risks and have a “plan B” ready in your pocket.

I cover all the above points in my article on how to create a project plan .

Phase 3: Project Launch or Execution

This is where the rubber meets the road. All tasks defined in the previous phase are now being executed. One after another, or sometimes in parallel. The project team – supported by the project stakeholders – now produces tangible results: A detailed concept outlining the changes driven by the project, or product that will later be sold to the customer.

It’s a very hectic phase which requires good management. Issues pop up, tasks get delayed, people fall sick. All this can (and will) happen, and it’s the project manager’s job to fix those issues and steer the project into the right direction.

The execution phase is also where most of the project budget is spent. Team members will clock a lot of hours, which represent a cost. But the project may also have to purchase goods and services in order to reach the project goal.

Phase 4: Project Performance & Control

This is not really a dedicated phase, but more an ongoing duty of the project management. The project leader has to monitor the progress and quality of the project with respect to several factors:

  • Are the project targets being met?  – Projects are launched with a specific purpose in mind. As project manager, you should constantly monitor whether the project is on track to meet those targets.
  • Are we still within budget?  – Tracking effort and cost is one of the necessary (but most disliked) tasks of a PM. Set aside a few hours for it every month, and get my project budget template to make your life easy.
  • Are we deviating from scope?  – Every now and then, a project will face unforeseen changes. The customer may say: ‘I’ve changed my mind. I want the building to be painted blue, not orange.’   Such change request have to be evaluated by the project team. Maybe the changes require extra budget or require special skills to be implemented.

Phase 5: Project Close

Project close is the last phase in the project lifecycle. These are the final weeks or months during which the project’s end product is finalized and handed over to the customer.

What steps are taken largely depends on the type of project. If we’re talking about an IT project, the closing phase may involve final checks and tests, installing the system at the customer site and training people. In a construction project the customer will inspect the building (or whatever was built) and sign an approval sheet.

The project manager usually will prepare a final report with the actual cost values . Some organizations also do post mortems  (also called lessons learned ) to evaluate what went well and what didn’t go well in the project, mainly to learn for upcoming projects.

Read also my article Think it’s Over? Not Yet! Four Tips for a Smooth Project Closing .

Don’t let the project phases restrict you

The project phase model is a generic template for structuring projects. It’s good because it optimizes your project for minimum risk: First you do the planning, and then you execute. No messing up of things where you execute first and then discover your results don’t meet the project’s targets.

While a sequential approach is generally the right way, you shouldn’t feel restricted by it. Sometimes it makes sense to start with a certain execution task while you finalize the planning. Starting early with a job reduces the likelihood of a delay. And if you are absolutely sure there’s nothing gonna happen which could make the task a waste of resources, then start early.

Example:  You’re leading a manufacturing project for a new truck. The truck is going to be shipped to a customer in Europe 10 months from now.  Due to the booming economy, shipping resources are very scarce. So you decide to reserve a spot on the cargo vessel already now, even though the project is still in the early planning stage (during your risk assessment you’ve recognized the limited shipping resources as a potential risk). Shipping costs $30k, and you need to get the expediture pre-approved by the CEO, because the project budget hasn’t been officially approved yet.

Do you have any questions?

You can leave a comment below with your question. I will answer it as soon as possible.

Adrian Neumeyer

Hi! I'm Adrian, former Senior IT Project Manager and founder of Tactical Project Manager. I created the site to help you become an excellent project leader and manage intense projects with success!

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6 The 5 Project Life Cycles (Process Group/Phases)

The project manager and project team have one shared goal: to carry out the work of the project for the purpose of meeting the project’s objectives. Every project has a beginning, a middle period during which activities move the project toward completion, and an ending (either successful or unsuccessful). A standard project typically has the following four major phases (each with its own agenda of tasks and issues): initiation, planning, implementation, and closure. Taken together, these phases represent the path a project takes from the beginning to its end and are generally referred to as the project “life cycle.”

Initiation Phase

During the first of these phases, the initiation phase, the project objective or need is identified; this can be a business problem or opportunity. An appropriate response to the need is documented in a business case with recommended solution options. A feasibility study is conducted to investigate whether each option addresses the project objective and a final recommended solution is determined. Issues of feasibility (“can we do the project?”) and justification (“should we do the project?”) are addressed.

Once the recommended solution is approved, a project is initiated to deliver the approved solution and a project manager is appointed. The major deliverables and the participating work groups are identified, and the project team begins to take shape. Approval is then sought by the project manager to move onto the detailed planning phase.

Planning Phase

The next phase, the planning phase, is where the project solution is further developed in as much detail as possible and the steps necessary to meet the project’s objective are planned. In this step, the team identifies all of the work to be done. The project’s tasks and resource requirements are identified, along with the strategy for producing them. This is also referred to as “scope management.” A project plan is created outlining the activities, tasks, dependencies, and timeframes. The project manager coordinates the preparation of a project budget by providing cost estimates for the labor, equipment, and materials costs. The budget is used to monitor and control cost expenditures during project implementation.

Once the project team has identified the work, prepared the schedule, and estimated the costs, the three fundamental components of the planning process are complete. This is an excellent time to identify and try to deal with anything that might pose a threat to the successful completion of the project. This is called risk management. In risk management, “high-threat” potential problems are identified along with the action that is to be taken on each high-threat potential problem, either to reduce the probability that the problem will occur or to reduce the impact on the project if it does occur. This is also a good time to identify all project stakeholders and establish a communication plan describing the information needed and the delivery method to be used to keep the stakeholders informed.

Finally, you will want to document a quality plan, providing quality targets, assurance, and control measures, along with an acceptance plan, listing the criteria to be met to gain customer acceptance. At this point, the project would have been planned in detail and is ready to be executed.

Project management phases

Implementation (Execution) Phase

During the third phase, the implementation phase, the project plan is put into motion and the work of the project is performed. It is important to maintain control and communicate as needed during implementation. Progress is continuously monitored and appropriate adjustments are made and recorded as variances from the original plan. In any project, a project manager spends most of the time in this step. During project implementation, people are carrying out the tasks, and progress information is being reported through regular team meetings. The project manager uses this information to maintain control over the direction of the project by comparing the progress reports with the project plan to measure the performance of the project activities and take corrective action as needed. The first course of action should always be to bring the project back on course (i.e., to return it to the original plan). If that cannot happen, the team should record variations from the original plan and record and publish modifications to the plan. Throughout this step, project sponsors and other key stakeholders should be kept informed of the project’s status according to the agreed-on frequency and format of communication. The plan should be updated and published on a regular basis.

Status reports should always emphasize the anticipated end point in terms of cost, schedule, and quality of deliverables. Each project deliverable produced should be reviewed for quality and measured against the acceptance criteria. Once all of the deliverables have been produced and the customer has accepted the final solution, the project is ready for closure.

Closing Phase

During the final closure, or completion phase, the emphasis is on releasing the final deliverables to the customer, handing over project documentation to the business, terminating supplier contracts, releasing project resources, and communicating the closure of the project to all stakeholders. The last remaining step is to conduct lessons-learned studies to examine what went well and what didn’t. Through this type of analysis, the wisdom of experience is transferred back to the project organization, which will help future project teams.

Example: Project Phases on a Large Multinational Project

A U.S. construction company won a contract to design and build the first copper mine in northern Argentina. There was no existing infrastructure for either the mining industry or large construction projects in this part of South America. During the initiation phase of the project, the project manager focused on defining and finding a project leadership team with the knowledge, skills, and experience to manage a large complex project in a remote area of the globe. The project team set up three offices. One was in Chile, where large mining construction project infrastructure existed. The other two were in Argentina. One was in Buenos Aries to establish relationships and Argentinian expertise, and the second was in Catamarca—the largest town close to the mine site. With offices in place, the project start-up team began developing procedures for getting work done, acquiring the appropriate permits, and developing relationships with Chilean and Argentine partners.

During the planning phase, the project team developed an integrated project schedule that coordinated the activities of the design, procurement, and construction teams. The project controls team also developed a detailed budget that enabled the project team to track project expenditures against the expected expenses. The project design team built on the conceptual design and developed detailed drawings for use by the procurement team. The procurement team used the drawings to begin ordering equipment and materials for the construction team; develop labour projections; refine the construction schedule; and set up the construction site. Although planning is a never-ending process on a project, the planning phase focused on developing sufficient details to allow various parts of the project team to coordinate their work and allow the project management team to make priority decisions.

The implementation phase represents the work done to meet the requirements of the scope of work and fulfill the charter. During the implementation phase, the project team accomplished the work defined in the plan and made adjustments when the project factors changed. Equipment and materials were delivered to the work site, labour was hired and trained, a construction site was built, and all the construction activities, from the arrival of the first dozer to the installation of the final light switch, were accomplished.

The closeout phase included turning over the newly constructed plant to the operations team of the client. A punch list of a few remaining construction items was developed and those items completed. The office in Catamarca was closed, the office in Buenos Aries archived all the project documents, and the Chilean office was already working on the next project. The accounting books were reconciled and closed, final reports written and distributed, and the project manager started on a new project.

Text Attributions

This chapter of Project Management is a derivative the following texts:

  • Project Management by Merrie Barron and Andrew Barron . © CC BY (Attribution) .
  • Project Management From Simple to Complex by Russel Darnall, John Preston, Eastern Michigan University. © Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Licence .

Project Management Basics Copyright © by Sharon Blanchard is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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case study about project life cycle

Project Lifecycle Selection Case Study

Activity Time

60 to 90 minutes depending upon the number of groups (5 minutes briefing, 30 minutes for teams to do group discussion and to prepare their answers and 10 minutes for each team to deliver a presentation.

  • Printout of this case study
  • Whiteboard or easel pads for each group
  • Sharpies/markers/pen/post-it notes
  • PMI Agile practice guide, third module “Life Cycle Selection” (optional)

Activity and Description

  • Depending on the number of people in the room, divide the large group into multiple subgroups about the size of four to five members in each
  • Handover the following case study, ask them to read and present their solution to the rest of the class

Project Life Cycle Selection for New Payment System

Founded in 2011, the “Wealth Easy” was one of the fastest online wealth management companies focused on making an investment and saving easier for everyone. After detail options analysis, the executive board approved the strategic program to move to the new payment processing system. The payment processing system is the backbone of the organization, and it is critical for their earnings to process transaction promptly.

You are part of the project leadership team responsible for the planning and execution of this strategic program. Your first assignment to propose the life cycle to the executive board, you have a choice to use any approach (predictive, iterative, incremental, agile, and hybrid)

Agile practice guide refers to the following four types of project life cycles:

Predictive life cycle : A more traditional approach, with the bulk of planning occurring upfront, then executing in a single pass; a sequential process. This approach takes advantage of things that are known and proven. The plan drives the work. Value is only delivered at the end.

Iterative life cycle : An approach that allows feedback for unfinished work to improve and modify future outcomes. Prototypes and proofs are planned, and the outputs are intended to modify the plans at the beginning. When complexity is high or when there are frequent changes or scope is unknown.

  Incremental life cycle : An approach that provides finished deliverables in steps that the customer may use immediately. Here we plan to deliver successive subsets of the overall project. The team may deviate from the original vision. It uncovers hidden or misunderstood requirements.

  Agile life cycle : An approach that is both iterative and incremental to refine work items and deliver frequently. Here we plan and re-pan as more information becomes available.

* Agile Practice Guide Published by Project Management Institute, 2017

Key highlights :

  • The total budget allocated to the project is $8M
  • The project is the highest priority in the organization
  • Two development teams (nine members each) are dedicated for this initiative
  • Development team estimated six months of development time
  • Significant coordination is required with all ten partners. This includes briefing partners on the overall execution plan, get their commitment, provide training to required staff, manage and provide stabilization support
  • Company financial year ends on March 31, all transactions after this day must happen on the new system

Requirements :

Your team required to prepare maximum ten minutes presentation to the executive board and ensure to cover the following areas:

  • Assess and present the pros and cons of each life cycle approach
  • Choose one life cycle approach best suited for the project and clearly highlight the advantage and reasons for your selection
  • What will be the overall project management strategy
  • What will be the governance structure
  • Implementation roadmap and with key milestones
  • Highlight the top three risks and their mitigation strategies

Facilitator Notes:

  • The project has a hard delivery date; it would be interesting to observe how the team manage this risk in their plan
  • You can also ask groups about how they are planning to manage contracts, evaluations, procurement, hiring, and budgets, especially if any team selected Agile as their preferred approach
  • You can emphasize the fact that ONE life cycle may not work perfectly in all situations; leaders must think strategically and keep the big picture
  • The ideal time to run this activity is after explaining the characteristics of the life cycle module (refer to chapter three of Agile practice guide)

Download the Project Lifecycle Case Study pdf

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Our Complete Guide to Using Agile Project Management in 2022

Our Complete Guide to Using Agile Project Management in 2022

July 7, 2022

SmartSuite Staff

Our Complete Guide to Using Agile Project Management in 2022

Our Complete Guide to Agile Project Management

If the word agility brings back tortuous memories of some kind of fast feet drills at school, we hear you. Happily, Agile project management doesn’t require you to juggle project delivery with ladder runs.

Agile project management was developed 20 years ago in a ski lodge in Utah as a response to more traditional project management methodologies.

It sought to deliver projects through short cycles of work, each one bringing the product closer to the final solution. Initially used in software development projects, project managers can now apply it to any business area.

Let’s look at what Agile project management is, its principles and benefits, when you should choose it over other methodologies, and how to manage an Agile project.

What is Agile?

Agile is an iterative approach to project management that is often used when the project’s requirements cannot be fully defined upfront. Work is delivered in short time periods and refined to get closer to the final deliverable.

The infamous ski-lodge meeting produced the Agile manifesto , which details four core values that underpin the Agile project management methodology:

  • Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
  • Working software over comprehensive documentation
  • Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
  • Responding to change over following a plan

As the project requirements are defined over its life cycle, close cooperation with business stakeholders is imperative for its success.

Agile is one of the two main methodologies — the other is Waterfall, a more linear approach with well-defined requirements from project initiation.

Graphic showing linear Waterfall methodology vs. iterative Agile methodology

The Agile project management methodology has several frameworks that sit beneath it — the most common include Scrum, Kanban, XP, and SAFe.

While a methodology guides the overall approach to a project, a framework offers specific processes, tools, and techniques to execute the methodology’s principles.

The 12 Principles of Agile

Alongside the four values, 12 core values guide the Agile methodology. While these principles were initially developed for fast, iterative software development, they hold true for other project types.

The Agile principles are:

1.Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software. By producing work at the end of every iteration, the business gets early value from viable products.

2. Welcome changing requirements, even late in delivery. Agile processes harness change for the customer’s competitive advantage. By remaining flexible, the project team can adapt to changes and stay responsive to market and customer needs.

3. Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference for the shorter timescale . Short work ‘sprints’ allow for early and continuous stakeholder engagement and feedback, which improves overall quality.

4. Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project . Close collaboration ensures the business gets what it needs and makes implementation smoother.

6. Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done . The project manager’s role is to ensure the right blend of capability and capacity within the team, then trust them to deliver work as agreed — without micromanagement.

7. The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face . Team members should solve problems and share information face-to-face, minimizing email use. Daily standups provide an excellent vehicle for helping this happen.

8. Working software is the primary measure of progress . Be clear on your measures of success and make sure they focus on what will drive the most value for your business.

9.Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely . Project planning should enable the project team to be effectively resourced throughout the project without significant peaks and troughs in workload.

10. Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility. Ensure project processes are optimized to support flexibility. Review and refine those that aren’t.

11. Simplicity — the art of maximizing the amount of work not done — is essential. Consistent refinement during the project should eliminate requirements or ‘nice-to-haves’ that don’t add value to the end product.

12. The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams. Trust your team to organize themselves in a way that suits how they work best. Let them decide the tools and techniques they want to use to get work done.

13. At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective and then tunes and adjusts in behavior accordingly. Continuous improvement is part of the fabric of Agile projects. Make sure to give your team the time to regularly reflect on how they can get better and encourage those changes to happen.

The Key Benefits of Using Agile Project Management

Depending on the nature of your project, using Agile project management can offer a range of benefits to your business.

Graphic showing four key benefits of Agile project management

Improved Speed to Market

Agile projects can deliver a valuable output sooner than more traditional approaches. As the project deliverables are refined, the final product is optimized for the particular customer or market that it serves.

However, that doesn’t mean that earlier iterations aren’t valuable. Early prototypes may act as a test product in the market, offering opportunities for advanced sales, building momentum around the main product launch, and gaining feedback from early adopters.

Increased Flexibility

A core characteristic of Agile projects is that the final requirements evolve alongside the product delivery. As the requirements aren’t set and static at project initiation, it’s much easier to accommodate changes and improvements during the project life cycle.

In a more linear approach, making significant changes can be costly and seriously impact the project timeline.

Reduced Risk

Iterative development offers an opportunity to test the product at the end of each block of work and then modify it based on user feedback. This is essential in rapidly changing markets where businesses need to be responsive to changing customer needs.

As well as reducing risk, constant testing also improves the quality of the final output. Defects are identified during each iteration, allowing you to rectify and refine them. This leads to greater customer satisfaction.

Optimized Budget Use

As the project requirements are refined alongside delivery, you only pay for what is actually developed.

During the project, the business can change the project scope to remove attributes that are no longer required or change the prioritization of feature development to bring the most essential ones forward.

This allows the project team to optimize their available budget and means they’re not stuck running out of cash halfway through the project.

Life Cycle of an Agile Project

Both Agile and Waterfall projects go through the same five-phase project life cycle:

Five phases of the project life cycle

1. Initiation

During this phase, the business decides on the overall project goal and broadly what it is going to deliver. A business case should be completed that explains the value the project will bring.

Project governance should be established and key stakeholders identified.

This phase looks broadly similar for both Agile and Waterfall projects.

2. Planning

In a nutshell, the planning phase is about estimating the time and resources required to deliver the project outcome. Despite the goal of this phase being the same for both Agile and Waterfall projects, in practice, this looks significantly different between the two.

For Waterfall projects, this phase will be extensive. The business will propose and agree upon detailed estimates for both the project timeline and budget.

The project scope will be broken down into deliverables and key milestones. These will then be further broken down into individual tasks and sub-tasks.

Tasks will be ordered based on resource availability and any other tasks they are dependent on. Resources will be allocated, communication and risk management plans developed, and a project reporting process agreed upon.

Only once senior stakeholders have plotted and signed off a detailed project schedule will work begin.

For Agile projects, planning only extends as far as the next block of work. For example, let’s consider the most popular Agile framework — Scrum.

Scrum projects organize work into approximately two-week chunks known as sprints. Every sprint starts with a sprint planning meeting, where the business outlines a prioritized list of tasks for the project team to deliver in the upcoming sprint — this is known as the sprint backlog.

Graphic showing the stages of a typical sprint

At the end of each sprint, the project team presents the work back to the business for review.

Feedback from this review meeting informs future planning and influences which tasks make the upcoming sprint backlog to be completed during the next phase of work.

3. Execution

The execution phase is where the work actually gets done.

For Waterfall projects, this is basically the detailed project schedule swinging into action. Any major deviations to the plan will need to be accompanied by a formal change request and could significantly delay the project or cause an additional cost.

Roles and responsibilities are clearly defined, and reporting structures are often formal.

For Agile projects, the execution phase is part of the iterative loop of planning, delivery, and refinement. Scope changes are common and embraced as part of a cycle of continuous improvement in product quality.

The project team is self-organizing, with team members free to work in a way that best suits them to get the job done. Collaboration with business stakeholders is frequent and productive.

4. Monitoring and Control

The monitoring and controlling phase of the project is about ensuring that the project is progressing as expected and taking action if any deviations are observed.

For Waterfall projects, this is likely to involve a series of formal reporting and governance mechanisms with a project board providing final oversight.

There may be ‘stage gates’ where the project has to continue to demonstrate its likely return on investment in order for further funding to be released. The use of proper documentation to support the monitoring and control phase of the life cycle is characteristic of Waterfall projects.

For Agile projects, regular meetings — such as Scrum daily standups — provide an opportunity to check in against expected progress.

Review meetings with the business, like those conducted at the end of every sprint, also allow for reprioritization of work, as required.

Agile project teams also regularly reflect on the way they’re working to maximize their efficiency and improve processes. In the Scrum framework, this meeting is called the sprint retrospective.

For both methodologies, this is where project activity is concluded and formally handed over to business or implementation teams.

Project documentation should be finalized and stored, and the project team disbanded.

All projects should take the time to celebrate their success and review and record lessons learned about what worked well and what could be improved for next time.

Agile vs. Waterfall: What’s the Difference?

Aside from the differences mentioned above, there are several key distinctions between Agile and Waterfall projects.

Table showing key difference between project methodologies

These include:

  • How customers are engaged. Waterfall projects have detailed requirements established upfront, which means stakeholder engagement is critical during the early initiation and planning phases.  For Agile projects, customer engagement is critical during the planning and execution loop in order to help refine and improve requirements alongside delivery.
  • How teams are managed . Waterfall projects define roles and responsibilities early, and project teams tend to be hierarchical, led by the project manager, and overseen by formal project governance. An Agile team is often smaller and built around core competencies and experience. It may be more fluid as resources are brought in to tackle specific emergent requirements. In certain Agile frameworks, project teams may be self-managing.
  • How changes during the project are managed. It’s relatively simple to address changes in Agile projects, as new requirements can be added to the backlog during project delivery. In Waterfall projects, it can be more challenging to make significant changes and usually requires following a formal change request process.

When to Choose Agile Over Waterfall

So, given all this, when should you choose the Agile methodology over Waterfall?

Well, it can be tricky to define exactly when one project management methodology is likely to be more successful than another, but here’s what we recommend:

Choose a Waterfall methodology if:

  • Requirements can be clearly articulated during project initiation
  • Critical project resources have limited availability and need robust scheduling to ensure they are available when needed
  • The project falls within a highly-regulated industry, such as defense or construction
  • Your business culture is more traditional, with an obvious hierarchy and set governance practices
  • Your project team works most effectively with clearly defined roles and responsibilities

Choose an Agile methodology if:

  • Initially, only high-level requirements can be determined
  • Project stakeholders are engaged and invested in working closely with the project team
  • Early benefits realization is important
  • The target market is volatile or changes rapidly
  • Your project team has Agile experience or is comfortable working with less guidance to get the job done

How to Manage an Agile Project

Whatever methodology you choose, project management software can make managing projects more straightforward.

For Agile projects, there are some key features to look out for to boost your productivity and likelihood of successful delivery.

Planning Support

Agile projects plan a lot. Agile planning tools need to be responsive to changing requirements and simple to use, yet robust enough that self-managing teams are clear on what they need to do.

In SmartSuite, effective task management is a core capability that underpins all other functionality. It's quick and simple to build and prioritize your backlog of work and for team members to assign themselves to tasks best suited to their skills and capacity.

Example of a project plan in SmartSuite

SmartSuite has eight different visualization types — including Timeline , Chart , Kanban board, and Calendar — so the project team can view important details about tasks, key milestones, scheduled meetings, and reporting requirements in a way that suits them.

Plus, with SmartSuite’s My Work feature , team members can see all their work in one place, including project tasks, day-to-day operations, and personal to-dos.

SmartSuite My Work feature showing daily, upcoming, and future tasks

‍ And with intuitive “If this/then that” automation recipes , it’s easy to automate routine or recurring tasks, leaving team members free to concentrate on work that delivers the most value.

Collaboration Tools

Close collaboration between team members and business stakeholders is a core principle of Agile project management. Tools that support effective communication are essential in enabling the project to remain responsive to changing customer requirements.

In SmartSuite, collaboration is simple and streamlined.

In-platform communication means integrated conversations that happen in context, with discussions about work happening alongside where the work is being delivered.

Text box conversation between teammates

So nothing’s ever lost, and everyone is always on the same page and working with the latest information.

Robust Reporting Capability

Agile projects need to be responsive to a changing market and customer requirements. So reporting that enables data-driven decision-making is critical to project success.

It’s vital that the business can easily understand project progress and make rapid choices about where to invest resources to maximize the future benefits of the project.

In SmartSuite, clear and visually-appealing dashboards effectively engage stakeholders, providing the data needed to support well-informed decisions.

SmartSuite Project Dashboard showing key metrics

Plus, SmartSuite’s multiple view options deliver a high level of clarity around different elements of project progress and key metrics that allow for effective resource prioritization.

Use Agile Project Management to Deliver Faster

Agile project management may require a significant shift in the way you manage projects. But, if you need a methodology that enables you to make changes as you go, then Agile may just be what you’re looking for.

SmartSuite has all the functionality you need to manage your Agile project effectively. Its top-notch collaboration tools mean it’s easy to engage stakeholders in the development process.

Plus, keep everyone clear on progress and what’s going to be tackled next with clear and transparent reporting and easily shareable plans.

Our range of templates helps you get started fast. Why not try out our project management template today?

Recommended Templates

  • Project Management
  • Single Project
  • Task Manager
  • Agile Projects
  • Project Requests
  • Risks & Issues
  • Team Meetings
  • Time Tracker
  • Expense Tracking

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case study about project life cycle

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The Easy Guide to Understanding the Phases of Project Management Lifecycle

Updated on: 5 January 2023

Keeping your project on track from beginning to end while preventing the misuse of resources, time and money depends on how well you manage the project lifecycle phases. 

Now, based on the type of project and its requirements, the number of phases of project management lifecycle may change; but in this post we will discuss all five of them and the steps you should follow during each.

What is Project Life Cycle?

The project life cycle is a process that project managers follow through when completing a project. It includes a sequence of phases that a project goes through from its initiation to closure. 

What are the Five Stages of the Project Life Cycle?

Breaking down projects into several stages actually makes it easier to manage and control it, and work on improving its quality.

Project Initiation

The first phase of initiation will lay the foundation for the next few stages of project management. This is where you will define the project at a broad level. 

Here you will,

  • Evaluate the value and the feasibility of the project in order to decide whether to move forward with it. During the feasibility study you will look into whether you can meet the project requirements with the available resources and develop a business case . 
  • Identify the stakeholders of the project. Here you will conduct a stakeholder analysis to identify them and their needs and prioritize them based on their influence. 
  • Identify the deliverables of the project. You can use milestones to break complex deliverables into smaller parts, so it’s easier to track. 
  • Define the purpose and requirements (such as the resources, budget and time needed) of the project. Create a project charter or project initiation document including this information. It should also list down the business needs, objectives, stakeholders and project risks.  

Project Charter Template - phases of project management

Useful Resources 

The Easy Guide to Stakeholder Management

9 Visual Tools to Gather Requirements for Your Software

Project Planning

In the planning phase of the project management life cycle, you will work out a strategy for performing the project steps or in other words determine what exactly needs to be done to achieve the goals you have defined earlier. 

Here you will, 

  • Start with clearly defining the goals of the project and the project scope. You can use the SMART criteria which guides you to set goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. 
  • Layout what needs to be done and create a work breakdown structure that will help you break down the project into manageable tasks based on project deliverables.
  • Creating milestone charts or Gantt charts where you can display the key milestones and product roadmaps outlining the project timeline and the project milestones for the team

Project schedule template

Project Schedule Template

Product roadmap template

Product Roadmap

  • Estimate and allocate the necessary resources and put together a competent team and clarify their roles and responsibilities.

Organizational Chart Template

  • Create a risk management plan by identifying the potential risks that could hinder the progress of the project and outlining the steps you need to take to mitigate them. 
  • Create a communications plan specifying your communications strategy for stakeholders.

Communications Plan Template - phases of project management

  • Do a cost analysis to make sure that everything fits within your budget. And establish performance measures based on project scope, cost and schedule to assess progress and ensure that the project will stay on track.

Useful Resources;

The Visual Guide to Planning a Project

The Ultimate List of Visual Risk Management Techniques

The Easy Guide to Creating an Effective Communications Plan

Using Gantt Charts and Flowcharts in Project Planning

Project Execution

In the execution phases you implement what you have planned. The job of the project manager here is to keep an eye out for errors and supervise the team while making sure that everyone sticks to the original plan. 

  • Create workflow diagrams or process maps that outline the steps the team/ individual needs to take to complete each milestone and procuring the resources that are required.

Website Design Workflow

  • Hold a project kickoff meeting where you can run through the workflow diagrams, milestone charts, work breakdown structures etc. that you have created with your team. Help them understand what exactly is expected of them. 
  • Communicate project updates to stakeholders and hold status meetings as necessary 
  • Track progress and update project schedules and make changes to project plans as required

The Easy Guide to Workflows | With Editable Workflow Templates

Project Monitoring

This phase requires the project manager to monitor the project performance and communicating the status to stakeholders. 

You can use Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) such as sticking to the timeline, keeping the budget under control, successfully delivering project outcomes etc. to measure the progress. 

As needed, come up with ways to optimize the performance and make changes to the project management plan to make sure it brings out the best performance.  

Project Closure

This phase marks the closure of the project when the final outcome is delivered. You can leverage the lesson learnt to optimize the project processes and team efforts during future projects. 

 Here you will, 

  • Release the resources that were used for the project and allocate them including what is remaining of the budget for future projects.  
  • Assess the success of the project and share the reports with the stakeholders. Identify what worked and what didn’t and properly document the information for future reference. 
  • Evaluate how the team has performed and brief them on where they need to improve and recognize them for their success.  
  • Formally terminate any contractors who were hired for the project. 
  • Together with the team create a plan to finish the tasks that were not completed during the project

The end of the project life cycle can be marked with a closing meeting or a party to celebrate the success and congratulate the team. 

What’s Your Project Management Strategy? 

Every project, big or small, simple or complex goes through these few phases. It’s the job of the project manager to have a solid project lifecycle management strategy in place to keep everything on track. 

What’s your strategy? Do share your experience with us in the comment section below.

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If you’re just diving into the world of project management for the first time, you might feel intimidated by starting a new project. Read on to learn about each phase of the project lifecycle, its role in the success of the project, and how you can properly manage each phase for optimum results.

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What are Project Phases?

Project phases are smaller portions of a project that represent distinct goals or milestones in the larger project lifecycle. Within the project lifecycle, there are 5 project phases, as defined by the Project Management Institute: 

  • Project Initiation
  • Project Planning
  • Project Execution
  • Project Monitoring and Control
  • Project Closure

Each phase comes with specific requirements of the project team, as well as key deliverables and action items that keep the project moving forward successfully. Mastering project phases is essential for keeping the project on track while completing essential tasks and checkpoints throughout the process. 

example of the project lifecycle in stages.

Read more: 14 Important Questions Project Managers Should Ask the Team

What are the 5 phases of project management, project initiation phase.

A team’s performance during the Project Initiation Phase can result in either authorization, delay, or discontinuation of a new project.

The main goal of the Initiation Phase is to ensure that the project meets business needs and that stakeholders and project teams are aligned on the project success criteria throughout the project life cycle.

To achieve the project goal, it’s best to involve internal and external stakeholders from the Initiation Phase . This way, you can effectively align expectations and increase the likelihood of completing all the deliverables throughout the project management life cycle.

During the Initiation Phase, the entire project team defines the project idea, and the project sponsor evaluates it and authorizes the project to proceed. The project manager starts the documentation process, which includes the justification, deliverables, risks, estimated cost, and resource requirements.

The Project Charter is a key deliverable of the Project Initiation Phase and contains all this information. It is the first formal definition of the project. It authorizes the project to exist, establishes the authority of the project manager, and documents high-level requirements, project milestones, and success criteria.

Another important document in the Initiation Phase is the Stakeholder Register. This document includes information about all the stakeholders of the project. It identifies the people, groups, and organizations that have an interest in the task, project, and its results.

Approval of the Project Charter signals the advance of the project to the next phase, the Project Planning Phase.

Read more: What is a Project Charter? Complete Guide & Examples 2023

Project Planning Phase

Once the expectations and success criteria are clear, the next project management life cycle phase focuses on planning each task the team needs to perform to cover the scope, achieve the deliverables, and meet the overall goal.

In the Project Planning Phase, the project team members dive into specific requirements, tasks, timelines, and actions. The project manager works with the entire team to create the design, enumerate the task list, and estimate the budget.

The project team builds the resource plan, the communications plan, and the initial project schedule. The project manager also establishes the roles and responsibilities of the team and stakeholders. The project scope is finalized depending on approved available resources and client priorities.

During the Planning Phase , the project team finalizes the Work Breakdown Structure, Project Plan, Requirements List, Communications Management Plan, and other relevant documents to iron out the workflow and coordination with involved parties.

The Project Plan is a key deliverable and contains a detailed work breakdown structure (WBS) or task list with start and end dates, and estimated effort and duration. It identifies milestones, resources, and the schedule. It also includes task dependencies that will allow the project team to use the critical path method if it chooses.

Other important deliverables are the Communications Management Plan, which helps facilitate effective communication with stakeholders, and the Resource Allocation Plan which identifies the schedule of project team resources as to their availability during the whole project life cycle.

Something PMs should keep in mind: As you discover more information, you may have to adjust your previous Project Plan and related procedures. More complex projects will require more back-and-forth approvals for every task created.

Project planning is an iterative process so the project manager should review, revise, and revisit all the plans at least once a month until the completion of the project. It is crucial for the project team to involve relevant stakeholders in this stage of the project life cycle as well.

Read more: Project Management Communication Plan

Project Execution Phase

The Project Execution Phase is where the project team executes and follows through on tasks based on the Project Plan. At this stage, the team spends most of its time coordinating with people, helping to ensure quality work, keeping track of resources, and updating stakeholders.

Sometimes called the Implementation Phase, this is the phase when the project manager tries to manage every task and aspect of project delivery to keep the project on track for the remaining duration of the project life cycle.

The project team focuses on achieving all the objectives set in the earlier phases. At this phase, the project leader likely uses project management software to assign every task to team members. Tools that centralize task information, along with resource availability and team communication can simplify and optimize the needed project management processes.

Quality Assurance documentation, meeting minutes, and Work Orders are some of the documents created during the Execution Phase of the project management life cycle.

It’s also likely that you’ll discover new information that will require a revisit and update of the initial project management plans. Be vigilant with change requests, and make sure that the necessary adjustments are managed.

Read more: Understanding Different Types of Stakeholders and Their Roles

Project Monitoring & Control Phase

The best way to ensure progress and improvement is by tracking and reviewing project performance.

Simultaneously during execution, the project team carefully tracks the progress of the project based on the Project Plan established earlier. Tracking the performance of the project through various metrics is crucial to ensure the project stays on schedule, within budget, and within scope.

The project team keeps track of change management documents, spending records, QA checklists, and team time tracking. They are able to measure where efforts and resources go throughout the project life cycle, crosschecking it with the Project Plan.

Both the Execution Phase and Monitoring & Control Phase are critical times that can determine project success. Aside from monitoring the progress of tasks, the project manager also tries to identify issues or risks, creates a mitigation plan with the team, and reports the project status regularly to stakeholders.

Being diligent in recording and measuring project progress puts the project team in a strategic position. They can identify bottlenecks and initiate essential discussions or project management process improvements.

Having a proactive approach will allow the project team to respond rapidly to any change in the plan. Consistent and appropriate status reporting will update interested stakeholders and provide them the opportunity to intervene in or redirect the project as needed.

If additional planning, time, or resources are needed, you’ll need to communicate them to relevant project stakeholders before it’s too late. You’ll also have the data and results to back up your requests, so you have a better chance of justifying your requests and maintaining their trust despite circumstances.

Read more: 10 Best Project Management Software Buyers’ Guide

Project Closure Phase

In the last project management life cycle phase, all the activities related to its completion are concluded. These may involve the submission of a final deliverable, fulfilling contractual obligations, terminating relevant agreements, and releasing project resources.

The causes of a project closure can be completion, cancellation, termination, or transfer to a new organization. The documentation required to complete Project Closure will differ depending on the situation.

In this phase, the project manager communicates the final project disposition and status to all stakeholders. This phase also ensures to inform participants and stakeholders of any follow-on activities or continuing product life cycle so they can communicate and coordinate with the people in charge.

Regardless of the outcome of the project life cycle, however, it would be good for the team to conduct a project retrospective. During this post-mortem activity, the project team can process new lessons and ensure the improvement of current project management processes for a future project.

During the project closeout, documents to turn over can include various project documentation, final meeting minutes, and other closure reports. These documents can identify and capture lessons learned and best practices for future reference and reuse.

It is a good idea to organize and store project materials in a shared team folder. These materials can provide reference during performance evaluation. The opportunity to continuously test, improve, or reinvent ways to manage the whole project life cycle can help grow the organization and its business.

Read more: How to Host a Good Project Post-Mortem Meeting

VIDEO: Recap of 5 Project Management Phases

Why Are Project Phases Important?

All projects go through each of the five phases regardless of their size.

The decision to officially divide a project into phases is an excellent way to manage the team’s focus, allocate resources, and align the entire project life cycle with clients and stakeholders.

By thinking in terms of phases, the project team ensures that deliverables produced at the end of each phase meet the project’s goals. Managing a project by phase also makes sure that the team is properly prepared for the next phase.

Project life cycle phases provide additional benefits. The approach provides a structured approach for project delivery. Defined activities, outputs, and responsibilities create a clear and common roadmap for the project team to follow.

Defined phases and defined roles show a visible framework easily understood by all team members and stakeholders. Assignment of responsibilities by phase clarifies what the team should only be doing in each phase and helps streamline communication.

Working on projects phase by phase helps track and link progress directly to each phase. Completion of each phase is easily recognizable by all involved.

Another benefit of project management by phase is the progressive evolution of the project. This helps identify areas that need greater attention for a particular phase. It also marks clearly the points and opportunities for structured reviews to support project governance.

While PMBOK recommends assigning project phases according to a project’s life cycle, project teams can follow their own system depending on their industry, organizational policies, and other relevant factors. For example, teams and organizations focused on monitoring the usage of resources can use the critical chain project management methodology.

Read next: Key Project Management Terms and Concepts

Throughout the project lifecycle, there are a variety of tools that can be used to limit stress, automate workflows, and keep the project moving successfully. 

Gantt Charts

Gantt charts are a powerful planning tool that can help teams visualize individual deadlines against task dependencies and overall project progress. This type of chart can be especially useful early on in the project lifecycle, particularly the planning stage. 

Gantt chart example.

Example of a Gantt chart. Source: Wrike, accessed November 2023. 

Project Management Software

Project management software solutions are likely the most well-known tools in project management—and for good reason. Within one application, users can set task deadlines, view project overviews, extract data about project progress, automate workflows, and more. 

monday.com ss.

Example of project management software. Source: monday.com, accessed November 2023. 

Collaboration Tools

Whether it’s a remote team, in-office, or a hybrid blend, collaboration is one of the most important elements of running a successful project. While some project management software solutions offer built-in collaboration tools, utilizing the power of other tools that are directly centered around team communication, such as Slack, can ensure the team has a central space to communicate updates. 

Slack ss.

Example of team chat features in Slack. Source: Slack, accessed November 2023. 

Throughout the project lifecycle, the project manager takes ownership of the project and relays updates to team members. As each phase of the project progresses, the project manager will facilitate discussions, track progress, and address any roadblocks.

The project initiation phase is arguably the most important phase of the project lifecycle, as this is when the project is conceived and approved so that work can begin. During this phase, it’s common for a team to present a proposal in order to gain approval for the project.

Read more: Project Proposal with Template

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Focus on the business case throughout the project life cycle

by Charl Buys Apr 1, 2020

by Charl Buys | Apr 1, 2020

How many business cases are presented for approval, and then filed away once the project is underway, never to see the light of day again?  If this is the situation in your company then please reconsider your approach – in this article we explain why.

Introduction.

The common perception prevails that the business case for a capital project, or programme, is a formal document which is presented to the authorising body during the capital application process, and then, once authorised, filed in the project file. If this is the practice in your company, please reconsider your approach… Much value can be added by focusing on the business case throughout the project life cycle.

In this article, I illustrate the importance of the business case document and why it remains relevant during all phases of the project. To understand the purpose, reason and focus of the business case during the various phases of the project life cycle, it is paramount to first define and discuss the relevant concepts. The purpose and function of the business case during each of the phases are subsequently discussed.

Relevant concepts

Projects and programmes.

The Project Management Institute defines a project as follows (PMI, 2013a): “A project is a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result. The temporary nature of projects indicates that a project has a definite beginning and end. The end is reached when the project’s objectives have been achieved or when the project is terminated because its objectives will not or cannot be met, or when the need for the project no longer exists.”

Some projects form part of programmes, and some do not. A programme is seen as a “group of related projects managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits and control not available from managing them individually” (PMI, 2013b).

The  project life cycle  is regarded as the series of phases that a project passes through from its initiation to its closure.

Business case

According to 20/20 Business Insight Ltd, (2020) the “ business case captures the reasons for initiating a project or task.” It thus contains enough information to enable an organisation’s authorisation body to make an informed decision regarding the business fit and desirability to proceed with the project, or not.

The business case therefore documents the justification for the undertaking of a project or programme. It is typically based on the estimated cost of project development and implementation in comparison to the anticipated business benefits and savings to be gained, with due awareness of project and business risks. Irrespective of whether the project business case is termed in your company, be it a project brief, a project charter, a project justification or project economic rationale, the purpose is to present justification for project start-up and initiation.

The business case forms the foundation upon which the project and business plans are subsequently built.

Role players during the project life cycle

Van Heerden (2018) defines the major roles and responsibilities in the owner project management team using an interrelated triangle, as shown in Figure 1.   The four major role players are the business, project, engineering and operations managers.

Figure 1:  The owner project management team (van Heerden, 2018)

When it comes to the business case, the project sponsor also plays an important role and must be included in the team, as depicted in Figure 2. The sponsor has ultimate accountability for the project and represents the project itself, it’s nature and character to the external stakeholders (Van der Walt, 2015) .

Figure 2: The role of the sponsor on a capital project (Van der Walt, 2015)

Benefits of business case analysis

Companies frequently use business case development, or business case analysis, for project selection. Business case development analyses how fulfilling the business case for the project will implement the corporate strategy and sustain the competitive advantage of the company (20/20 Business Insight Ltd, 2020).

The business case can be further refined by incorporating additional details, including roles and responsibilities, project schedule, major milestones, market development , etc. to guide your venture through the entire project life cycle.   This should include the operating entity as well as the elements required to dispose of the facility at end-of-life.

The project management plan is not complete without the business case as a key component. Following the completion of the implementation phase, a post-project evaluation (PPE) will usually be held to measure the project’s indicated benefits against those set out in the business case.

The business case also forms the basis for implementing the business strategy and the creation of the correct delivery system (Buys, 2018).   It is furthermore regarded as the basis for setting the performance metrics of the personnel responsible for delivering the results.

Composition of the business case

Organisations typically have a standardised approach and format for compiling and presenting a project business case. Key elements of a business usually include:

  • Justification: Reasons or justification for the project, with emphasis on the implementation of the business strategy;
  • Options analysis: A brief description of the different options considered and the final recommendation;
  • Benefits: Benefits expected from the implementation of the venture, expressed in measurable terms against the as-is situation;
  • Risk analysis: Formal risk management methodology and a summary of key risks and opportunities of   the project;
  • Project cost: Total expected project cost as extracted from the project plan;
  • Schedule: A summary of the project schedule and major milestones;
  • Metrics: Financial metrics including ROI, IRR, NPV and Payback Period including a sensitivity analysis of the major variables; and
  • Specific request: A clear statement of exactly what the authorising body is asked to approve.

Owner of the business case

The business case is the guiding document for the project sponsor throughout the venture, the engineering manager during the development process and the project manager during the implementation process. It is the justification for their activities and a benchmark against which the project benefits will be measured. As the primary owner of the business case, the sponsor is responsible for ensuring the continued viability of the project and that the benefits defined in the business case are realised.

The business case is also the key document of the project portfolio management process and is the document used by the organisation’s project investment committee to ensure that the available capital is optimally employed.

The same business case document becomes the key document for the business manager and the operations manager during the commissioning stage and the operations phase.  

Project life cycle

Let us start by first discussing the project life cycle. We, at OTC, differ from the view expressed in the Project Management Institute’s Project Management Body of Knowledge, or PMBOK ® , (PMI, 2013a) regarding the definition of the project life cycle. From a contractor or construction point of view, the project life cycle can be defined as in the PMBOK ® namely: Conception and Initiation, Definition and Planning, Launch or Execution, Performance and Control, and lastly Project Close, as depicted in Figure 3.

Figure 3: PMBOK 5 phases of a project (PMI, 2013a)

However, from a business owner’s, or business development, point of view, we realised that one should focus on the whole project life cycle during the development of a project, and not only on the initial capital or construction phase, as is the focus of PMBOK ® .

At OTC, we define the project life cycle phases as follows: Initiation, Front-end Loading (FEL), Execution, Commissioning, Operation and Closure, as illustrated in the OTC Stage-Gate Model in Figure 4. In this case, Closure does not refer to project closure, but the decommissioning and dismantling on the project infrastructure at the end of beneficial operation.

The focus and function of the business case during each of these phases are discussed in the sections that follow.

Figure 4: OTC 5 phases of a project (Van Heerden and Lourens, 2015)

Virtually anybody in an organisation can initiate a new project. However, it is from a business management perspective that the original business case must be developed, focusing mainly on a needs and opportunity analysis and the long-term sustainability thereof. A sustainable business is one that is profitable, has a minimal impact on the environment and is socially acceptable.

At this stage no definitive information is available and the whole business case will be built on viable assumptions and factored estimates. The focus of the business case during this phase of the project is to answer the question: Is the idea worth pursuing?

Front-end Loading

From Figure 4, the Front-end Loading phase of a project is split into three stages, namely Prefeasibility, Feasibility and Planning. During the three stages of FEL, the business case accuracy is improved as more detail and accurate information becomes available. Nevertheless, at the end of Prefeasibility, the typical capital uncertainty is in the order of plus/minus 50%. The focus of the business case is now on answering the questions:

  • Is this the right business to be in? and,
  • Have we looked extensively for solutions?

During Feasibility, various value-creating processes are followed (van Heerden, 2017) and at the end of Feasibility, the uncertainty is reduced to plus/minus 30%. The focus of the business case during this stage is on answering the question: Do we have the optimal solution for creating value?

Uncertainty is reduced to plus/minus 10 to 20% at the end of Planning, when the final investment decision is made. The focus of the business case now changes to answering the questions:

  • Do we have the optimal level of scope definition? and,
  • Are we ready to execute the project?

During the FEL phase, the most accurate economic model possible is built and the project is optimised for return on investment taking life-cycle costing into account.

For projects that are capital constrained, the project is optimised within these constraints and normally broken up into phases to reach the ultimate objectives while mitigating expenditure.

Implementation

The Implementation phase consists of two stages, namely Delivery and Commissioning.

During project implementation, the business case is used as a control document for project governance and asset capitalisation, and is used to set up the operating business code of accounts.

At the end of the Delivery stage the only question that must be answered is: Are we ready for a safe start-up? And at the end of Commissioning the question that must be answered is: Do the business and the technical solutions work as designed?

During the Operations phase which typically constitutes 80 to 90% of the lifespan of a project, the original business case is now converted into two documents, namely the business strategy and the budget. The business case is kept up to date and used to justify any changes, modifications or additions to the current business.

The key question to be answered now becomes: H ow do we maximise stakeholder value?

Before entering the closure phase of a venture, the original closure plan that was part of the business case needs to be updated with the latest information on the site reuse analysis and reuse plan. Lastly, the business exit strategy needs to be updated and then implemented.

The last questions to answer are:

  • How do we exit the markets that were served during the years of operations? and
  • H ow do we close the facility and minimise the negative impact on all stakeholders?

Concluding remarks

In this article, we’ve highlighted the importance of the business case in every project and how the focus shifts during the five phases of the project life cycle. During each of the phases, the business case endeavours to answer the following questions:

  • Initiation: Is the Idea worth pursuing?
  • Front-end Loading: Is this the right business to be in and have we looked widely for solutions? Do we have the optimal solution for creating value? Do we have the optimal level of scope definition and are we ready to execute?
  • Implementation: Do the business and the technical solutions work as designed?
  • Operations: How do we maximise stakeholder value?
  • Closure: How do we exit the markets that were served during the years of operations? How do we close the facility and minimise the negative impact on all stakeholders?

By making sure that the correct question or questions are answered at each stage of the project life cycle, the team will ensure that maximum value is added to all stakeholders involved in the project.

20/20 Business Insight Ltd. (2020) The business case . Available from: https://2020projectmanagement.com/resources/project-documentation/the-business-case .   Accessed 16 March 2020.

Buys, C.P. (2018) Structuring the Business to the Project Opportunity. Available from: https://www.ownerteamconsult.com/structuring-the-business-to-the-project-opportunity/ . Accessed 16 March 2020

PMI (Project Management Institute). (2013a) A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK® guide), 5th edition. Project Management Institute, Inc., Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

PMI (Project Management Institute). (2013b) The standard for program management, 3rd edition. Project Management Institute, Inc., Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

van der Walt, D. (2015) The role of the project sponsor . Available from: https://www.ownerteamconsult.com/the-role-of-the-project-sponsor/ . Accessed 16 March 2020.

van Heerden, F.J. & Lourens, D. (2015) The project stage-gate model – an owner’s perspective . Available from: https://www.ownerteamconsult.com/the-project-stage-gate-model-an-owners-perspective/ . Accessed 16 March 2020.

van Heerden, F.J. (2017) Value Chain Optimisation . Available from: https://www.ownerteamconsult.com/value-chain-optimisation/ . Accessed 16 March 2020.

van Heerden, F.J. (2018) Introduction to Engineering Management. Available from: https://www.ownerteamconsult.com/introduction-to-engineering-management/ . Accessed 16 March 2020.

case study about project life cycle

Consulting Partner

Charl has over 40 years experience in engineering and business management. He has worked in the steel industry and over 30 years in petrochemical and xTL sectors. More...

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Driving change: a case study of a dnp leader in residence program in a gerontological center of excellence.

View as pdf A later version of this article appeared in Nurse Leader , Volume 21, Issue 6 , December 2023 . 

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) published the Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Practice Nursing in 2004 identifying the essential curriculum needed for preparing advanced practice nurse leaders to effectively assess organizations, identify systemic issues, and facilitate organizational changes. 1 In 2021, AACN updated the curriculum by issuing The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education to guide the development of competency-based education for nursing students. 1 In addition to AACN’s competency-based approach to curriculum, in 2015 the American Organization of Nurse Leaders (AONL) released Nurse Leader Core Competencies (updated in 2023) to help provide a competency based model to follow in developing nurse leaders. 2

Despite AACN and AONL competency-based curriculum and model, it is still common for nurse leaders to be promoted to management positions based solely on their work experience or exceptional clinical skills, rather than demonstration of management and leadership competencies. 3 The importance of identifying, training, and assessing executive leaders through formal leadership development programs, within supportive organizational cultures has been discussed by national leaders. As well as the need for nurturing emerging leaders through fostering interprofessional collaboration, mentorship, and continuous development of leadership skills has been identified. 4 As Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) nurse leaders assume executive roles within healthcare organizations, they play a vital role within complex systems. Demonstration of leadership competence and participation in formal leadership development programs has become imperative for their success. However, models of competency-based executive leadership development programs can be hard to find, particularly programs outside of health care systems.

The implementation of a DNP Leader in Residence program, such as the one designed for The Barbara and Richard Csomay Center for Gerontological Excellence, addresses many of the challenges facing new DNP leaders and ensures mastery of executive leadership competencies and readiness to practice through exposure to varied experiences and close mentoring. The Csomay Center , based at The University of Iowa, was established in 2000 as one of the five original Hartford Centers of Geriatric Nursing Excellence in the country. Later funding by the Csomay family established an endowment that supports the Center's ongoing work. The current Csomay Center strategic plan and mission aims to develop future healthcare leaders while promoting optimal aging and quality of life for older adults. The Csomay Center Director created the innovative DNP Leader in Residence program to foster the growth of future nurse leaders in non-healthcare systems. The purpose of this paper is to present a case study of the development and implementation of the Leader in Residence program, followed by suggested evaluation strategies, and discussion of future innovation of leadership opportunities in non-traditional health care settings.

Development of the DNP Leader in Residence Program

The Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle has garnered substantial recognition as a valuable tool for fostering development and driving improvement initiatives. 5 The PDSA cycle can function as an independent methodology and as an integral component of broader quality enhancement approaches with notable efficacy in its ability to facilitate the rapid creation, testing, and evaluation of transformative interventions within healthcare. 6 Consequently, the PDSA cycle model was deemed fitting to guide the development and implementation of the DNP Leader in Residence Program at the Csomay Center.

PDSA Cycle: Plan

Existing resources. The DNP Health Systems: Administration/Executive Leadership Program offered by the University of Iowa is comprised of comprehensive nursing administration and leadership curriculum, led by distinguished faculty composed of national leaders in the realms of innovation, health policy, leadership, clinical education, and evidence-based practice. The curriculum is designed to cultivate the next generation of nursing executive leaders, with emphasis on personalized career planning and tailored practicum placements. The DNP Health Systems: Administration/Executive Leadership curriculum includes a range of courses focused on leadership and management with diverse topics such as policy an law, infrastructure and informatics, finance and economics, marketing and communication, quality and safety, evidence-based practice, and social determinants of health. The curriculum is complemented by an extensive practicum component and culminates in a DNP project with additional hours of practicum.

New program. The DNP Leader in Residence program at the Csomay Center is designed to encompass communication and relationship building, systems thinking, change management, transformation and innovation, knowledge of clinical principles in the community, professionalism, and business skills including financial, strategic, and human resource management. The program fully immerses students in the objectives of the DNP Health Systems: Administration/Executive Leadership curriculum and enables them to progressively demonstrate competencies outlined by AONL. The Leader in Residence program also includes career development coaching, reflective practice, and personal and professional accountability. The program is integrated throughout the entire duration of the Leader in Residence’s coursework, fulfilling the required practicum hours for both the DNP coursework and DNP project.

The DNP Leader in Residence program begins with the first semester of practicum being focused on completing an onboarding process to the Center including understanding the center's strategic plan, mission, vision, and history. Onboarding for the Leader in Residence provides access to all relevant Center information and resources and integration into the leadership team, community partnerships, and other University of Iowa College of Nursing Centers associated with the Csomay Center. During this first semester, observation and identification of the Csomay Center Director's various roles including being a leader, manager, innovator, socializer, and mentor is facilitated. In collaboration with the Center Director (a faculty position) and Center Coordinator (a staff position), specific competencies to be measured and mastered along with learning opportunities desired throughout the program are established to ensure a well-planned and thorough immersion experience.

Following the initial semester of practicum, the Leader in Residence has weekly check-ins with the Center Director and Center Coordinator to continue to identify learning opportunities and progression through executive leadership competencies to enrich the experience. The Leader in Residence also undertakes an administrative project for the Center this semester, while concurrently continuing observations of the Center Director's activities in local, regional, and national executive leadership settings. The student has ongoing participation and advancement in executive leadership roles and activities throughout the practicum, creating a well-prepared future nurse executive leader.

After completing practicum hours related to the Health Systems: Administration/Executive Leadership coursework, the Leader in Residence engages in dedicated residency hours to continue to experience domains within nursing leadership competencies like communication, professionalism, and relationship building. During residency hours, time is spent with the completion of a small quality improvement project for the Csomay Center, along with any other administrative projects identified by the Center Director and Center Coordinator. The Leader in Residence is fully integrated into the Csomay Center's Leadership Team during this phase, assisting the Center Coordinator in creating agendas and leading meetings. Additional participation includes active involvement in community engagement activities and presenting at or attending a national conference as a representative of the Csomay Center. The Leader in Residence must mentor a master’s in nursing student during the final year of the DNP Residency.

Implementation of the DNP Leader in Residence Program

PDSA Cycle: Do

Immersive experience. In this case study, the DNP Leader in Residence was fully immersed in a wide range of center activities, providing valuable opportunities to engage in administrative projects and observe executive leadership roles and skills during practicum hours spent at the Csomay Center. Throughout the program, the Leader in Residence observed and learned from multidisciplinary leaders at the national, regional, and university levels who engaged with the Center. By shadowing the Csomay Center Director, the Leader in Residence had the opportunity to observe executive leadership objectives such as fostering innovation, facilitating multidisciplinary collaboration, and nurturing meaningful relationships. The immersive experience within the center’s activities also allowed the Leader in Residence to gain a deep understanding of crucial facets such as philanthropy and community engagement. Active involvement in administrative processes such as strategic planning, budgeting, human resources management, and the development of standard operating procedures provided valuable exposure to strategies that are needed to be an effective nurse leader in the future.

Active participation. The DNP Leader in Residence also played a key role in advancing specific actions outlined in the center's strategic plan during the program including: 1) the creation of a membership structure for the Csomay Center and 2) successfully completing a state Board of Regents application for official recognition as a distinguished center. The Csomay Center sponsored membership for the Leader in Residence in the Midwest Nurse Research Society (MNRS), which opened doors to attend the annual MNRS conference and engage with regional nursing leadership, while fostering socialization, promotion of the Csomay Center and Leader in Residence program, and observation of current nursing research. Furthermore, the Leader in Residence participated in the strategic planning committee and engagement subcommittee for MNRS, collaborating directly with the MNRS president. Additional active participation by the Leader in Residence included attendance in planning sessions and completion of the annual report for GeriatricPain.org , an initiative falling under the umbrella of the Csomay Center. Finally, the Leader in Residence was involved in archiving research and curriculum for distinguished nursing leader and researcher, Dr. Kitty Buckwalter, for the Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging, the University of Pennsylvania Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing, and the University of Iowa library archives.

Suggested Evaluation Strategies of the DNP Leader in Residence Program

PDSA Cycle: Study

Assessment and benchmarking. To effectively assess the outcomes and success of the DNP Leader in Residence Program, a comprehensive evaluation framework should be used throughout the program. Key measures should include the collection and review of executive leadership opportunities experienced, leadership roles observed, and competencies mastered. The Leader in Residence is responsible for maintaining detailed logs of their participation in center activities and initiatives on a semester basis. These logs serve to track the progression of mastery of AONL competencies by benchmarking activities and identifying areas for future growth for the Leader in Residence.

Evaluation. In addition to assessment and benchmarking, evaluations need to be completed by Csomay Center stakeholders (leadership, staff, and community partners involved) and the individual Leader in Residence both during and upon completion of the program. Feedback from stakeholders will identify the contributions made by the Leader in Residence and provide valuable insights into their growth. Self-reflection on experiences by the individual Leader in Residence throughout the program will serve as an important measure of personal successes and identify gaps in the program. Factors such as career advancement during the program, application of curriculum objectives in the workplace, and prospects for future career progression for the Leader in Residence should be considered as additional indicators of the success of the program.

The evaluation should also encompass a thorough review of the opportunities experienced during the residency, with the aim of identifying areas for potential expansion and enrichment of the DNP Leader in Residence program. By carefully examining the logs, reflecting on the acquired executive leadership competencies, and studying stakeholder evaluations, additional experiences and opportunities can be identified to further enhance the program's efficacy. The evaluation process should be utilized to identify specific executive leadership competencies that require further immersion and exploration throughout the program.

Future Innovation of DNP Leader in Residence Programs in Non-traditional Healthcare Settings

PDSA Cycle: Act

As subsequent residents complete the program and their experiences are thoroughly evaluated, it is essential to identify new opportunities for DNP Leader in Residence programs to be implemented in other non-health care system settings. When feasible, expansion into clinical healthcare settings, including long-term care and acute care environments, should be pursued. By leveraging the insights gained from previous Leaders in Residence and their respective experiences, the program can be refined to better align with desired outcomes and competencies. These expansions will broaden the scope and impact of the program and provide a wider array of experiences and challenges for future Leaders in Residency to navigate, enriching their development as dynamic nurse executive leaders within diverse healthcare landscapes.

This case study presented a comprehensive overview of the development and implementation of the DNP Leader in Residence program developed by the Barbara and Richard Csomay Center for Gerontological Excellence. The Leader in Residence program provided a transformative experience by integrating key curriculum objectives, competency-based learning, and mentorship by esteemed nursing leaders and researchers through successful integration into the Center. With ongoing innovation and application of the PDSA cycle, the DNP Leader in Residence program presented in this case study holds immense potential to help better prepare 21 st century nurse leaders capable of driving positive change within complex healthcare systems.

Acknowledgements

         The author would like to express gratitude to the Barbara and Richard Csomay Center for Gerontological Excellence for the fostering environment to provide an immersion experience and the ongoing support for development of the DNP Leader in Residence program. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

  • American Association of Colleges of Nursing. The essentials: core competencies for professional nursing education. https://www.aacnnursing.org/Portals/42/AcademicNursing/pdf/Essentials-2021.pdf . Accessed June 26, 2023.
  • American Organization for Nursing Leadership. Nurse leader core competencies. https://www.aonl.org/resources/nurse-leader-competencies . Accessed July 10, 2023.
  • Warshawsky, N, Cramer, E. Describing nurse manager role preparation and competency: findings from a national study. J Nurs Adm . 2019;49(5):249-255. DOI:  10.1097/NNA.0000000000000746
  • Van Diggel, C, Burgess, A, Roberts, C, Mellis, C. Leadership in healthcare education. BMC Med. Educ . 2020;20(465). doi: 10.1186/s12909-020-02288-x
  • Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Plan-do-study-act (PDSA) worksheet. https://www.ihi.org/resources/Pages/Tools/PlanDoStudyActWorksheet.aspx . Accessed July 4, 2023.
  • Taylor, M, McNicolas, C, Nicolay, C, Darzi, A, Bell, D, Reed, J. Systemic review of the application of the plan-do-study-act method to improve quality in healthcare. BMJ Quality & Safety. 2014:23:290-298. doi: 10.1136/bmjqs-2013-002703

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Editor’s note:  This release was updated Feb. 12, 2024, to correct the PACE mission’s full name.

NASA’s satellite mission to study ocean health, air quality, and the effects of a changing climate for the benefit of humanity launched successfully into orbit at 1:33 a.m. EST Thursday.

Known as PACE, the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem satellite, launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. NASA confirmed signal acquisition from the satellite about five minutes after launch, and the spacecraft is performing as expected.

“Congratulations to the PACE team on a successful launch. With this new addition to NASA’s fleet of Earth-observing satellites, PACE will help us learn, like never before, how particles in our atmosphere and our oceans can identify key factors impacting global warming,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “Missions like this are supporting the Biden-Harris Administration’s climate agenda and helping us answer urgent questions about our changing climate.”

From hundreds of miles above Earth, the PACE mission will study the impact of tiny, often invisible things: microscopic life in water and microscopic particles in the air.

The satellite’s hyperspectral ocean color instrument will allow researchers to measure oceans and other waterbodies across a spectrum of ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared light. This will enable scientists to track the distribution of phytoplankton and – for the first time from space – identify which communities of these organisms are present on daily, global scales. Scientists and coastal resource managers can use the data to help forecast the health of fisheries, track harmful algal blooms, and identify changes in the marine environment.

The spacecraft also carries two polarimeter instruments, Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter #2 and Spectro-polarimeter for Planetary Exploration. These will detect how sunlight interacts with particles in the atmosphere, giving researchers new information on atmospheric aerosols and cloud properties, as well as air quality at local, regional, and global scales.

With the combination of the instrument and the polarimeters, PACE will provide insights into the interactions of the ocean and atmosphere, and how a changing climate affects these interactions.

“Observations and scientific research from PACE will profoundly advance our knowledge of the ocean’s role in the climate cycle,” said Karen St. Germain, director, Earth Science Division, Science Mission Directorate, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The value of PACE data skyrockets when we combine it with data and science from our Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission – ushering in a new era of ocean science. As an open-source science mission with early adopters ready to use its research and data, PACE will accelerate our understanding of the Earth system and help NASA deliver actionable science, data, and practical applications to help our coastal communities and industries address rapidly evolving challenges.” 

“It’s been an honor to work with the PACE team and witness firsthand their dedication and tenacity in overcoming challenges, including the global pandemic, to make this observatory a reality,” said Marjorie Haskell, PACE program executive at NASA Headquarters. “The passion and teamwork are matched only by the excitement of the science community for the data this new satellite will provide.”

Earth’s oceans are responding in many ways to climate change – from sea level rise to marine heat waves to a loss of biodiversity. With PACE, researchers will be able to study climate change’s effects on phytoplankton, which play a key role in the global carbon cycle by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and converting it into their cellular material. These tiny organisms drive larger aquatic and global ecosystems that provide critical resources for food security, recreation, and the economy.

“After 20 years of thinking about this mission, it’s exhilarating to watch it finally realized and to witness its launch. I couldn’t be prouder or more appreciative of our PACE team,” said Jeremy Werdell, PACE project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “The opportunities PACE will offer are so exciting, and we’re going to be able to use these incredible technologies in ways we haven’t yet anticipated. It’s truly a mission of discovery.”

NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, managed the launch services for the mission. The PACE mission is managed by NASA Goddard, which also built and tested the spacecraft and the ocean color instrument. The Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter #2 was designed and built by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and the Spectro-polarimeter for Planetary Exploration was developed and built by a Dutch consortium led by Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Airbus Defence, and Space Netherlands.

For more information on PACE, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/pace

Faith McKie / Karen Fox Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 / 240-285-5155 [email protected] / [email protected]

Jake Richmond Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. 240-713-1618 [email protected]

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