The ultimate goal of the five phases of the project management cycle that we’ll describe further is to help the team get the job done, keeping in mind the following main constraints: time, scope, quality, risks, and cost. Balancing between them is a vital task that requires due diligence from every company that wants to deliver a product successfully. To help businesses stay within the necessary boundaries and accept the best practices in the smoothest way possible, the Project Management Institute has developed the model of ideal project management life cycle.
The central concept behind the developed framework is to help project management teams meet their goals without wasting all resources along the way. Every project, according to this paradigm, goes through the following steps:
- Project initiation;
- Project planning;
- Project implementation;
- Project monitoring and control;
- Project closure.
During this phase, the abstract idea (business problem or opportunity) starts transforming into a set of meaningful goals. A business case is formed to respond to these issues or potential prospects. It describes possible options allowing one to reach the desired goal.
The feasibility study helps determine whether the team can complete the project. Here, the project charter is created. This essential document contains such details as project constraints, budget, approximate schedule, and many others. What the project charter does not include are specific technical details of implementation. For example, if you want to build an electric vehicle and your goal is to knock Tesla out of the market, at this step, you don’t specify the capacity of its batteries. Instead, you focus on the time and budget required to build them
During this phase, the abstract idea (business problem or opportunity) starts transforming into a set of meaningful goals. A business case is formed to respond to these issues or potential prospects. It describes possible options allowing one to reach the desired goal.
The feasibility study helps determine whether the team can complete the project. Here, the project charter is created. This essential document contains such details as project constraints, budget, approximate schedule, and many others. What the project charter does not include are specific technical details of implementation. For example, if you want to build an electric vehicle and your goal is to knock Tesla out of the market, at this step, you don’t specify the capacity of its batteries. Instead, you focus on the time and budget required to build them
Key activities:
- Make a project charter;
- Conduct a feasibility study;
- Create a business case;
- Identify the high-level scope of the project;
- Identify stakeholders;
Due flexibility here is a must. Sometimes, because of miscommunication between the stakeholders or some other unforeseen circumstance, the team faces so-called “scope creep” situations. The term describes a project state where requirements tend to increase intensively. An effective change management strategy can help avoid massive problems in the latter stages of the project.
Sometimes, things go differently than the project management team has planned. To reach the goals against all odds, during this stage, the team can identify all threats that may appeal along the way and develop a strategy for overcoming them. Risk management, in this case, implies that not all dangers can be avoided. In some scenarios, all you can hope for is to reduce their impact on the project.
Due flexibility here is a must. Sometimes, because of miscommunication between the stakeholders or some other unforeseen circumstance, the team faces so-called “scope creep” situations. The term describes a project state where requirements tend to increase intensively. An effective change management strategy can help avoid massive problems in the latter stages of the project.
Sometimes, things go differently than the project management team has planned. To reach the goals against all odds, during this stage, the team can identify all threats that may appeal along the way and develop a strategy for overcoming them. Risk management, in this case, implies that not all dangers can be avoided. In some scenarios, all you can hope for is to reduce their impact on the project.
Due flexibility here is a must. Sometimes, because of miscommunication between the stakeholders or some other unforeseen circumstance, the team faces so-called “scope creep” situations. The term describes a project state where requirements tend to increase intensively. An effective change management strategy can help avoid massive problems in the latter stages of the project.
Sometimes, things go differently than the project management team has planned. To reach the goals against all odds, during this stage, the team can identify all threats that may appeal along the way and develop a strategy for overcoming them. Risk management, in this case, implies that not all dangers can be avoided. In some scenarios, all you can hope for is to reduce their impact on the project.