The project management life cycle explained

Building, understanding, and executing a roadmap is essential for a successful project or campaign rollout. Whether your team is preparing for a product rollout, launching a new marketing campaign, or trying to streamline business processes, a project management roadmap is essential for maintaining visibility and collaboration. This is where the project management lifecycle comes in.

Key takeaways

• The project management lifecycle is made up of five key phases: initiation, planning, execution, controlling and monitoring, and closure.
• Understanding the project management lifecycle phases makes it easier to create a unified, comprehensive roadmap that provides structure for tracking and executing on a project.
• Wrike provides a centralized hub to help simplify planning, track progress, improve monitoring, and uncover learnings for future projects.
  

What is the project management lifecycle?

The project management lifecycle refers to a five-phase framework, which includes the following:

• Initiation phase
• Planning phase
• Execution phase
• Controlling and monitoring phase
• Project closure phase

This framework lays the foundation for building a more detailed roadmap that provides the team with structure, supports accountability, and makes it easier to keep the project aligned with scope, timelines, and costs.

The 5 phases of a project management lifecycle

Regardless of what kind of project you’re planning, they all go through the same stages. Although each project will require its own set of unique tasks, they all follow a similar framework.

Effective project management requires a thorough understanding of this lifecycle. Each stage has individual challenges, deliverables, and stakeholders, and the project manager must be adept at navigating each one to ensure success. In each of the following sections, we’ll dive deeper into each phase, including what it is, the tasks and responsibilities that fall into each, and all the ways that Wrike supports teams through every phase.

The initiation phase

The initiation phase is the first phase of the entire project management lifecycle. The goal of this phase is to define the project, develop a business case for it, and get it approved. During this time, the project manager may do any of the following:

• Perform a feasibility study
• Create a project charter
• Identify key stakeholders
• Select project management tools

By the end of this phase, the project manager should have a high-level understanding of the project’s purpose, goals, requirements, and risks.

Wrike in action: The initiation phase

• Request forms and intake workflows: Capture information like project charters, budgets, and statements of work (SOWs) within a single submission, and automatically create structured projects or tasks directly in the platform.

• Blueprints: Create standardized workstreams for tasks like stakeholder analysis or feasibility checklists.

• Work Intelligence® AI summaries: Turn dense project briefs into clear, concise objectives and identify early-stage risks to flag to relevant stakeholders.

The planning phase

The planning phase is critical to creating a project roadmap that the entire team can follow. This is where all of the details and goals are outlined in order to meet the requirements laid out by the organization.

During this phase, project managers will typically:

• Create a project plan
• Develop a resource plan
• Define goals and performance measures
• Communicate roles and responsibilities to team members
• Build out workflows
• Anticipate risks and create contingency plans

Wrike in action: The planning phase

• Interactive Gantt charts: Map timelines, identify discrepancies, and set milestones with live Gantt charts that auto-shift dates as plans change.

• Workload and resource planning: Overview team capacity and flag bandwidth concerns early on.

• Custom item types: Create unique custom item types to reflect what your project will need, from work breakdown structure (WBS) elements to risk registers — all using labels that suit you and your team.

The execution phase

This stage is where the bulk of the project happens. Deliverables are built to make sure the project is meeting requirements. This is when most of the time, money, and people are pulled into the project.

As previously mentioned, a kickoff meeting usually marks the official start of the execution phase. A kickoff meeting agenda might look something like this:

• Introductions: Who’s who?
• Project background: Why are you doing this project? What are the goals?
• Project scope: What kind of work is involved?
• Project plan: What does the roadmap look like?
• Roles: Who will be responsible for which elements of the project?
• Communication: What kind of communication channels will be used? What kind of meetings or status reports should your team expect?
• Tools: Which tools will be used to complete the project, and how will they be used?
• Next steps: What are the immediate action items that need to be completed?
• Q&A: Open the floor for any questions.

Wrike in action: The execution phase

• No-code automations: Route tasks, update statuses, and notify owners when things change, cutting down on follow-up time.

• Built-in time tracking: Capture billable and non-billable hours at task level, and send data directly into reports that help you optimize resources and keep the team focused on high-priority tasks.

• Online proofing and approvals: Compare versions side by side, invite external collaborators, and centralize feedback to help secure a fast sign-off.

The controlling and monitoring phase

The controlling and monitoring phase happens in tandem with the execution phase. As the project moves forward, the project manager must make sure all moving parts are seamlessly headed in the right direction. If adjustments to the project plan need to be made due to unforeseen circumstances or a change in direction, they may happen here.

During the controlling and monitoring phase, project managers may perform any of the following tasks:

• Manage resources
• Monitor project performance
• Manage risk
• Perform status meetings and reports
• Update project schedule
• Modify project plans

At the end of this phase, all the agreed project deliverables should be completed and accepted by the customer.

Wrike in action: The controlling and monitoring phase

• Real-time dashboards: Stay on target with next-gen dashboards that surface KPIs, blockers, and overdue items in one place to help course-correct.

• Project reporting: Assess progress, cut down on potential risks, and make data-driven decisions with complete project visibility.

• Real-time alerts: With AI-powered alerts, catch potential roadblocks like schedule risks or cost overruns early before they become bigger issues.

Project closure phase

The closing phase is a critical step in the project management lifecycle. It signals the official end of the project and provides a period for reflection, wrap-up, and organization of materials.

Project managers can:

• Take inventory of all deliverables
• Tie up any loose ends
• Hand the project off to the client or the team that will be managing the project’s day-to-day operations
• Perform a post-mortem to discuss and document any learnings from the project
• Organize all project documents in a centralized location
• Communicate the success of the project to stakeholders and executives
• Celebrate project completion and acknowledge team members

Wrike in action: The project closure phase

• Retrospective dashboards: Pull performance data into a high-level overview to draw insights for future project planning.

• Archives: Completed work can be securely stored for easy access in the future, with full searchability. 

Take full control of your project lifecycle with Wrike

Understanding the project lifecycle is essential for successful project management. By following the best practices and strategies outlined in this guide, project managers can approach each project stage with confidence, ensure on-time and on-budget delivery, and exceed stakeholder expectations.

Now that you understand each stage in the project management lifecycle, choosing the right project management tool for you and your team is critical to project success. You can streamline the project lifecycle with Wrike — use it to automate tasks, track progress, and facilitate collaboration. With an intuitive interface and powerful features, Wrike can help you stay organized and focused, resulting in a well-managed lifecycle for your project. 

Reach out to our team to learn more about how Wrike can support you along every phase of the project management lifecycle, or get started today with a free 2-week free trial.