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BUSINESS NEWS -When it comes to project life cycles, there’s been some debate in the past few years as to just how many stages there are involved. 

What traditionally started out as 4 stages has now made its way up to 6 in total. In a constantly evolving world it’s important to adapt, or as the saying goes, “adapt or die”. 

This article reviews the latest findings in order to adapt to the ever-changing times.

What is a project life cycle?
A project life cycle is a collection of project management activities that form the ultimate guide that takes you from the initial conceptualisation of an idea, to the final finished product. The purpose of the project life cycle is to create an easy-to-follow framework to guide projects. 

By following and optimising this process, you reduce the risk on all fronts because when you can’t afford for something to go wrong, it will most likely go wrong. Help your team collaborate effectively and efficiently, and you’ll also ensure that you hit your goal on time and on budget, with no last-minute surprises that could derail the whole project.

Whether you’re heading a single small-scale project with modest business goals or a large, multi-corporation initiative that spreads across multiple departments, an understanding of the project management life cycle is essential. 

This is because more than half of unsuccessful projects fail due to a communication breakdown and not to mention the wasted money and resources that can be prevented by implementing the project life cycle stages. Foolproof your projects by using this helpful guide. 

What are the ideal stages in a project life cycle?

The six phases of the project life cycle are listed below:

• Project Initiation
• Project Planning
• Project Execution
• Project Monitoring and Controlling
• Project Closure
• Post-Project Optimisation

Here is a closer look at the individual stages of a project life cycle.

Project Initiation
The project Initiation phase is where you come up with an idea that solves a business need, problem, or opportunity. After this is established it’s time to define the project's goals, plan for its execution, and guide it to the final stage of completion. During this phase, you need to define an objective for your project, determine whether the project is feasible or not, and identify the major deliverables for the project. There’s a lot of research in this phase, discovery, and discussion, but very little detailed planning. 

Think of the project initiation as an overview of the work to come and how your business is going to implement its new project or idea into fruition. In short, it’s the “what” and “why” of the project planning phase.

Project Planning
It’s all about planning in this phase as the name suggests, and writing a comprehensive project management plan should be your top priority. In this phase, you’ll spend the majority of your time writing your project management plan as it is crucial to fully understand what you are getting yourself into when it comes to your new project. A well-written project management plan will get you to your project’s goal on time, under budget, and maintaining the same level of quality throughout. 

On the other hand, a badly laid out plan will not only set you back on your timelines, but could have you spending money that you wouldn’t have needed to if you had planned effectively.

What should a comprehensive project plan look like?

A comprehensive project plan involves:

• Translating your proposal into a series of actionable tasks and assigning them to the appropriate teams as well as scheduling them into a project roadmap.
• Documenting processes and workflows that your team will use.
• Creating measurable and attainable short-term goals from high-level project goals.
• Addressing potential issues that could arise during the project.

During the Project Planning phase, the necessary documents are created to iron out the workflow and make sure all team members involved have a thorough understanding of what they are trying to achieve and what they are responsible for. As the project progresses and you discover more information, you may have to adjust your past planning and procedures to something more feasible. This is why it’s of utmost importance to properly plan and lay out each step that needs to be taken in order to bring your idea to life.

Once the expectations and success criteria for your project are clear, this is where your team members dive into specific requirements, tasks, timelines, and actions involved in the project. The project scope is then finalised depending on the resources available and the clients’ priorities. In the way that the project initiation phase is the “what” and “why”, the project planning phase is the “how”.

Project Execution
Project execution is all about getting things done. You’ve laid the groundwork, received business approval and funding, developed a project plan, and built your team; now it’s time to get to execute the project. At this stage, you’ll spend most of your time coordinating with your team, helping ensure quality work is done, keeping track of resources, and updating stakeholders to ensure a successful project execution. 

Sound simple? It can be if you have a properly documented process already in place to ensure nothing slips through the cracks.

Steps for the project execution phase may include the following:

• Creating tasks and organising workflows.
• Briefing team members on tasks.
• Communicating with team members, clients, and upper management.
• Monitoring quality of work.
• Managing budget.

Project Monitoring and Controlling
One of the new stages to the project life cycle is the Project Monitoring and Controlling phase. This is where you check the work against your initial plan and adapt to any changes. Although some people still group this stage in with the Project Execution phase, many people prefer it to have its own stage to ensure accurate monitoring of the work that’s been done. 

However, it’s your choice whether you want to think of this as a separate phase. Whether you choose to group it in with the Project Execution phase or have it as a stand-alone phase, it’s important to note that the best way to ensure progress and improvement on your projects is by tracking and reviewing project performance and adapting to any challenges that may arise before it’s too late.

Project Closure
Once your team has completed work on a project, you enter the Project Closure phase. This phase used to be the last phase in the project life cycle but over recent years, it has now been added as the fifth stage. In this phase, you will supply final deliverables, release project resources, and determine the success of the project.

Post-Project Optimisation
The Post-Project Optimisation stage is another stage that has been added over the years. Some people used to group it in with the Project Closure phase but over the years it has developed into a stage of its own. This is because it is of utmost importance to learn from every one of your projects so that you’re better prepared for the next ones to come.

Post-project optimisation is the phase in the project life cycle which is all about implementing the changes that will improve the success of all your future projects. After a project is completed, it is time to reflect and analyse the finished project to find out how the project went in terms of success, meeting objectives, where the project went wrong, where you and your team could do better, and how to better prepare for the next project. 

Learn how to better your projects with a Project Management short course, and discover new and established project management tools and techniques to help you gain a better understanding of a project life cycle.

Final Words
When it comes to the ideal stages of a project life cycle, whether you follow 4, 5, or 6 stages, doesn’t matter as much as ensuring comprehensive records are kept for each stage. 

This will not only help your team stay on track but also ensure that you have adequate information to further improve your projects in the future. 

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