Wondering what the different phases of the project management life cycle look like?
Well, you’ve come to the right place.
When you start a software business and want to take up new projects for your clients, it’s important to understand these phases of the project management process.
This can help you understand the entire project’s process would flow, from the initiation phase to the closure.
So, without wasting any time, let’s get started.
1. Project Initiation
This is the initial phase of the project management life cycle, where you kick-start the project. At this point, you start by defining the project and its scope broadly. It’ll help you ascertain what needs to be done to complete the project successfully.
You typically meet with your clients and other stakeholders at this point and define:
- Goals
- Objectives
- Deliverables
This enables you to determine whether the project is feasible in the first place or not. The initiation phase is also where you begin your startup bookkeeping for the project.
2. Project Planning
After the high-level planning that takes place in the project initiation phase, the project planning phase kicks off. In this phase, you start drilling down into the nitty-gritty of the project and break down the high-level objectives discussed in the initiation phase.
You also utilize this time of the project management life cycle to build out your team that’ll work dedicatedly on the project.
Proper planning will help you chart out a smooth project execution path.
If any business process integration has to take place, it must be planned out in this phase so that it happens without any hiccups during the execution phase. Some of the main tasks in the project planning phase of the life cycle are:
- Creating your project plan and defining its timeline to visualize the development project workflow.
- Estimating your budget and determining how much the project will cost you.
- Gathering your resources, including internal and external teams, materials, and more.
- Finding potential risks to the project execution and planning how to mitigate them.
3. Project Execution
In this phase, you start working on the project you’ve taken up. Based on the project plan, you’ll begin your operations to complete them well in time.
The steps for the project execution phase could include:
- Creating tasks and following through with them to ensure they’re completed by your team.
- Explaining the tasks to your team through a suitable method. You could also have them upskill for the project if required by using online course platforms.
- Establish communication lines with all stakeholders involved for executing the project to perfection.
- Provide the necessary tools to your team to help them accomplish their tasks well. For instance, a sales team would require CRMs like the Salesforce alternatives listed by Attrock to do their job well.
This phase can make or break your project’s success, so stick to what’s planned as much as possible for the best results.
4. Project Monitoring
This phase is an extension of the project execution phase, and it’s focused on continuously monitoring your project’s progress to ensure you’re sticking to quality standards and deadlines.
Some of the tasks that need to be done in this stage include:
- Keep track of your project budget to ensure it’s not ballooning.
- Measure your progress and work to optimize it.
- Collect feedback from your clients for each part of the project submitted to them.
- Monitor the project performance.
Continuous monitoring will help ensure that the client’s goals are met on time and will improve customer satisfaction.
5. Project Closure
The final phase of the project management life cycle is the closure of the project. It’s in this phase that you end the project by completing the final delivery of all your deliverables for the project.
It also involves getting approval from the clients regarding the same. Once the project is complete, you can analyze its outcomes to determine if it was a success or not.
Final Thoughts
Now that you know all about the various stages of the project management life cycle, it’s time to put them into practice. When you take up any project for your business, make sure you follow through each stage well to get the best results possible.
Top comments (0)