Project Life Cycle: Phases and key information you need to know

Every project, regardless of its nature, is not a haphazard endeavor. It is meticulously structured to achieve a specific goal. This structured approach, drawn from years of project management practice, provides a reassuring predictability to the project’s journey, ensuring its success.

What are the phases of project execution?

The most general and commonly encountered project phases are:

1. The idea phase
2. The planning phase
3. The implementation phase
4. The project closure phase

Of course, several companies divide projects into phases in their life cycle. If we look at new product development projects or R&D projects, the stages of the project life cycle often used would be as follows;

1. Concept development
2. Detailed design
3. Feasibility study
4. Implementation
5. Market launch

It’s important to note that the project life cycle is not a one-size-fits-all model. It can be adapted to suit the unique needs of different industries, such as architectural firms, construction firms, and more. This adaptability should instill confidence in its applicability to a wide range of projects.

This article will explore the significance of understanding how a project progresses through the various phases, using the four most common phases as an example.

Idea phase

The life cycle of virtually every project starts with developing a project idea. Of course, there are many projects, e.g., of a regulatory nature, where this idea is, so to speak, imposed on the organization from above, and the company is expected to comply with specific regulations. Project ideas arise during the formulation of the company’s strategy and stem from the need to optimize the company’s operations or from market needs and competitive analysis. Such ideas are often loose slogans, most often needing to be thought through in detail at this stage and, therefore, must be refined. This fine-tuning of the idea arises during discussions, internal meetings, etc. Once a project idea becomes more concrete, it is worth starting to describe it in a more structured way. This is where it pays for any organization that generates a lot of project ideas to have a so-called Idea Charter. In such a Charter, we try to describe in the individual fields what effect we intend to achieve through the realization of the idea, what the framework scope of such a project should be, how long it should last, how much it should cost, and how many resources it will require from the company. Such a description is needed so that those who make decisions in the company can make them based on some facts. I encountered a situation where a company’s management needed the support of a specific methodology, an IT tool for evaluating ideas for potential projects. The problem defined by this company was that it had at least several dozen ideas for new projects, but its resource potential only allowed for a few large projects. The issue was to select from this broad set of ideas that would build the most excellent value for the company.

Many organizations face this type of issue. Such needs are being met by some producers of IT systems supporting project management, whose systems include so-called scoring models that make it possible to rank the attractiveness of individual ideas in a structured way and select the most valuable ones for the company. One such system is the project management system FlexiProject, which has a scoring module. An example of projects ranked according to their attractiveness in a project portfolio is shown in the illustration below:

If we are talking about phases in the project life cycle, a clear decision gate/decision should be necessary, allowing the project to move from the current phase to the next one. Such a decision gate is needed because it will enable, among other things:

• To evaluate the project – whether, with the further information gained in the current phase, the project is still as attractive to the company and worth continuing,
• Whether key project assumptions such as scope, duration, level of resources required, or budget have changed. If any of these have changed, then the project team should write them down as precisely as possible and present them to the decision-makers,
• understanding the current project risks,
• an assessment that the next phase is well planned.

Once the above sub-points have been analyzed, the decision-makers, who play a crucial role in this process, decide to ‘let the project through’ to the next phase.

Planning phase

Practice shows that the planning phase needs to be addressed in organizations. Several project teams, having been instructed, for example, by the company’s management to carry out a project, immediately set about implementing it. The consequence of this approach is usually several problems. The most common of these include reworking already completed parts of a project because they need to meet the project owner’s requirements, changes to the schedule, budget, etc. One of the most critical consequences of realizing a project without a plan is the frustration of the project team, who, despite their outstanding commitment, cannot deliver a satisfactory result, mainly because it was never precisely defined.

Creating an excellent and effective project plan to avoid these problematic situations is worth it. Such a plan usually includes a well-developed project charter, a schedule, a budget, and a risk plan. An essential element of the project plan is also the precise definition of roles and responsibilities in the project. Creating these elements takes time, but this time and effort will more than pay off in the project’s implementation phase, which will characterize a smoother flow. When creating a project plan, it is worth taking advantage of the professional support of the system – the illustrations below show an example of a system Project Card and a project plan diagram presented on a Gantt chart from the FlexiProject system:

Like the Idea Phase, the Planning Phase should be completed with a decision allowing the project to move into the Execution Phase.

Implementation phase

If we have created a project plan, the implementation phase is about taking the actions resulting from the plan. During the implementation phase, the project team should monitor deviations from the plan, identify and resolve project issues, and work effectively to achieve the desired project goal. In this phase of the project life cycle, as in the earlier stages, a genuine commitment from the project sponsor/steering committee / or company management is needed. It is essential that the required decisions are made efficiently and do not affect project delays. The company must develop standards according to which the statuses of individual projects are reported to the company management/steering committees. The Project Management Office (PMO) often plays an important role here. Professional tools have also come to the rescue. For example, the FlexiProject system has an Automated Project Reviews function, which allows project teams to communicate clearly with company management or steering committees.

Project closure phase

This phase is often overlooked, while in practice, its professional execution brings many benefits. This phase involves the official acceptance of the project product by its owner and a summary of the project team’s progress, whose active participation is crucial. The description of the so-called Lessons Learned will undoubtedly contribute to the company’s continuous improvement of project practices. Given the importance of this issue, the FlexiProject system offers a systematic project closure sheet, which is presented below:

Each company should create its project delivery principles. Ideally, these principles should reflect the project life cycle and specify the phases through which the project should pass. Finally, a clearly defined decision-making process is worthwhile when moving from one phase to another. Such an approach will benefit the company and avoid several problems.