There are many ways to run a project. But to run a project successfully, you have to consider all aspects of the project—from scope and budget to the tasks and conversations that take place after the project is launched and executed.
Traditionally, project management involves 5 key phases, and these stages form what is known as a project life cycle.
In this article, we’ll define the project life cycle and cover each phase of the project management process. We’ll also share resources and templates you can use at every step.
The project life cycle is a framework that represents the 5 key phases of project management: initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and control, and closure.
The project life cycle is important because it provides firm footing for effective project management. It gives project managers a clear structure for guiding projects successfully from concept to delivery, maturity, and finally completion.
As I mentioned, the project management life cycle is made up of 5 essential steps:
In some ways, these stages show what goes on behind the scenes before a project might even come to a project manager’s attention.
If this process feels too rigid for you, that’s okay! Pick up the fundamentals, understand how the steps are formalized, and adapt the process to fit your project, team, or organization.
Now, let’s take a closer look at each step of the project life cycle in more detail.
Project initiation is arguably the most critical phase of the project life cycle. That's because what happens here will set the tone and goals for what’s to come.
A project usually arises from a business need or goal aimed at solving a problem or exploring new ways to do business. For instance, if a company is looking to cut down the number of customer service calls they receive, they’ll investigate what’s driving the number of calls. That research will then inform what can be done to reduce the number of calls.
The best way to understand the challenges and objectives is through a project brief or charter that outlines the business case and provides a high-level overview of project details, such as goals, constraints, risks, and deliverables. This kind of background is invaluable to a team when kicking off a project. It’s also a great way to get all involved parties and stakeholders aligned on what’s to come.
While you can proceed without every detail documented, it’s a good idea to get buy-in on project objectives and intended outcomes during the initiation phase of the life cycle.
The project planning stage is where you’ll lay out the details of your entire project from beginning to end. The plan you create here will lead your team through the execution, performance, and closure phases of the project life cycle.
As part of your project management plan, you’ll want to consider these factors:
Once you estimate the project’s time and effort, you can create a project plan that lays out phases, tasks, resources, responsibilities, milestones, and deadlines. Using a gantt chart tool like TeamGantt can truly help you to build a well-defined plan that’s easy to understand and update.
Explore our library of free project management templates, and save time on every aspect of your project plan.
Lay a clear path to success with a visual plan that’s easy to understand, and keep everyone in sync with flexible workflows and team collaboration.
In this phase of the project life cycle, the team is off and running! The project execution stage is typically the longest in the project management process because it’s when the actual work is done. You’ll find teams collaborating, reviewing work, presenting to stakeholders, and revising.
In the previous phase, a project manager does a lot of heavy-lifting. During project execution, a project manager guides the team—and stakeholders—through a series of tasks and milestones.
In this life cycle step, a project manager typically oversees the project budget, timeline, resources, and risk. That’s a lot to be responsible for! So how do project managers handle all of it? They stick to the plan.
All of the documentation you create during the planning stage comes together to form a holistic project management plan. Use those documents as your source of truth to guide decisions and create efficient workflows during project execution.
Don’t forget to stay tuned-in to what’s happening with the team. This can be done through regular team check-ins, status updates, timeline review, and budget tracking.
Having a single platform to track your budget, timeline, resourcing, and communications certainly makes managing a project easier. Lucky for you, TeamGantt does it all.
The monitoring and control phase is all about making sure the project runs smoothly and things go according to plan. This step of the process typically happens alongside project execution.
As part of the project monitoring stage, you should keep an eye on:
TeamGantt’s Project Health Report makes it easy to monitor team performance and stay on top of deadlines by showing you which tasks are falling behind before your project goes off the rails.
When your project is complete and everyone is happy with what’s been delivered, tested, and released, it’s time to wrap up. In the project closure stage, the team will complete the steps needed to close tasks, hand off the project to stakeholders, finalize any reporting, and celebrate the project.
Many organizations move from one project to the next and don’t take time to properly close down a project. It’s a smart move to take a few hours to properly close, reflect, and even celebrate a project.
Here are a few steps to consider in this final stage of the project management life cycle.
As the project manager, the more you can be a cheerleader for your team, the better experience you’ll have working with them.
Processes and frameworks are great to have in your back pocket. But remember, every organization runs differently.
You have to consider the people, organizational history, challenges, and existing practices before you roll something out.
Motivations and empathy are everything in project management. So carry on, attack those projects, and do what’s right for everyone involved.
Want to take the pain out of project management without sacrificing your hard-earned gains? TeamGantt makes every project step a whole lot easier. (Heck, we’d even call it fun!)
Spend less time in spreadsheets and more time giving your team high-fives for all the awesome work you’re doing together. TeamGantt provides clear visibility into the details with easy collaboration for the whole team every step of the way.