How the Project Lifecycle is Used in Project Management

Successful project management requires more than keeping tasks on track. A skilled project manager must navigate various factors, including stakeholder expectations, organizational goals, and the project’s unique requirements. Understanding the project life cycle and related concepts becomes critical.

The project life cycle serves as a roadmap for structuring work, while the project management life cycle provides a framework for overseeing and guiding the team. From selecting the right project development approach to working within different organizational structures, each step in the process requires careful planning and execution.

In this blog, we’ll discuss the key concepts, phases, and approaches to project management, helping you understand how to deliver successful projects—one step at a time. Whether exploring project phases, understanding life cycle differences, or navigating the challenges of various organizational structures, this guide will give you the tools and insights you need to manage projects effectively.

Successful Project Management | One Step at a Time

A good project manager must be able to deliver a successful project that meets organizational goals and fulfills stakeholder expectations. To ensure a successful project, project managers create a project charter to map out the primary deliverable, identify the appropriate project management approach, and develop a plan that details the expectations for each project phase.

Project Management Concepts | Connections across the Project Life Cycle, Phase of the Project, and Project Management Life Cycle

Effective project management relies on understanding the key concepts that guide a project from start to finish, including choosing the right development approach, structuring work through the life cycle, managing phases, and overseeing efforts within the project management life cycle.

By understanding how these elements connect, project managers can create clear, organized plans that align deliverables, timelines, and objectives to ensure project success.

Project Management Life Cycle

The project management approach and its life cycle provide a comprehensive framework for guiding projects from start to finish. This framework ensures that all activities align with organizational goals and are structured effectively to achieve the desired outcomes. By focusing on clear objectives, collaboration among stakeholders, and strategic alignment, the project management life cycle helps create a solid foundation for successful project execution.

The project management life cycle consists of five key phases:

• Initiation: Defining objectives, identifying stakeholders, and setting the scope.
• Planning: Developing detailed plans, schedules, and allocating resources.
• Execution: Managing teams and ensuring effective communication with stakeholders.
• Monitoring and Controlling: Tracking progress, addressing issues, and mitigating risks.
• Closure: Delivering the final outputs and documenting lessons learned.

As part of the project charter, the project manager should determine the development approach—whether predictive, traditional, or hybrid—as this guides the planning of the project life cycle and defines what work will occur in each phase. Aligning risk management strategies to the project type and life cycle helps ensure better outcomes at every stage.

Project Development Approach

Project managers should employ the project management development approach to ensure the project deliverable is on time and within budget. Project development approaches, as defined by PMI, include the adaptive, predictive, or hybrid method and are “…used to create and evolve the product, service, or result during the project life cycle.”

• Traditional, Predictive, or Waterfall: Project work is linear and sequential; the team closely follows the initial plan, which is best for projects with highly defined requirements.
• Agile or Adaptive: Project work is iterative, and the scope flexes in each iteration, which is ideal for projects that involve innovation and change.

Project Life Cycle

Every project has a life cycle, which PMI describes as “the series of phases that a project passes through from its start to its completion.”  In other words, the project life cycle is a basic framework that the project manager and project team use to effectively structure the project work for better control and increased chances of success.

The project life cycle will reflect the project’s management in the context of the selected project development approach.

• Duration: Traditional projects follow a linear schedule with known start and end dates; Agile projects are broken down into iterations and may finish sooner or later than initially expected, depending on changes during the iterations.
• Project Team Structure: Traditional methodologies have a formal team structure determined by the project manager; Agile methods have self-organizing groups that may vary throughout project iterations.
• Project monitoring: Traditional projects depend on detailed documentation to control the project; Agile projects incorporate frequent team meetings to assess progress.

Project Phases

Every project progresses through a life cycle of distinct phases spanning its duration. PMI defines a project phase as “a collection of logically related project activities that culminate in the completion of one or more deliverables.” These phases serve as building blocks that guide the project from initiation to completion.

The specific phases used in a project are influenced by factors such as the industry, project scope, and type. Tailoring the project plan to these elements ensures alignment with the project’s unique requirements. PMI identifies several commonly used names for project phases, including:

• Feasibility: Evaluates the practicality of the business case and assesses whether the organization can achieve the desired results.
• Design: Converts planning and analysis into a structured blueprint for the project’s deliverables.
• Build: Develop the deliverable(s) while ensuring quality through integrated assurance processes.
• Test: Conducts a thorough quality assessment and verification of deliverables before their release or acceptance.
• Deploy: Executes the implementation of deliverables, completing transitional steps to ensure sustainability, benefit realization, and effective change management.
• Close: Wraps up the project by archiving knowledge, finalizing contracts, releasing team members, and formally concluding all activities.

Project management doesn’t set rules for how long a project’s life cycle should last, how many phases it should include, or what to name those phases. Instead, project managers work with their teams and follow organizational best practices to outline the life cycle for each phase.

Adapting Project Life Cycles to Organizational Structure

The structure of an organization significantly impacts how projects are identified, approved, funded, and managed, influencing everything from decision-making authority to resource allocation. It determines the flow of communication, the level of stakeholder involvement, and the efficiency of collaboration across departments. Additionally, organizational structure affects how priorities are set, the speed of project execution, and the flexibility to adapt to changes. It also plays a critical role in defining the duration and sequence of a project’s life cycle phases and the availability of tools, methodologies, and governance processes to support successful project delivery.

Functional Structure

In a “siloed” structure, employees primarily focus on operational tasks within their departments while contributing to assigned projects. In this setup, project coordinators have limited authority compared to functional managers, leading to frequent negotiations over shared resources.

Matrix Structure

In a matrix structure, employees often report to multiple department leaders, making it challenging to prioritize projects. The balance of power between project managers and functional managers varies:

• In a weak matrix, the functional manager holds more authority than the project manager.
• A balanced matrix shares authority almost equally.
• In a strong matrix, the project manager has greater authority, often supported by a Project Management Office (PMO) that provides administrative oversight.

Projectized Structure

This structure is tailored to meet the unique needs of individual projects. The project manager and team focus exclusively on a single project; once it’s completed, they transition to the next one. This approach is common in consulting firms where staffing levels must adapt to client demands.

Managing Complexity Across Structures

Large organizations often operate with a mix of these structures across different departments. This diversity complicates project management, as resources and personnel may be shared or constrained by overlapping structures.

Conclusion: Why the Life Cycle Matters

Project management is a dynamic discipline that requires a clear understanding of various frameworks, phases, and organizational structures. Project managers can create tailored approaches that drive projects toward successful outcomes by mastering the distinctions between project life cycles, phases, and management life cycles.

Great project managers can align the right development approach, navigate organizational complexities, and balance stakeholder expectations. Whether working within a functional, matrix, or projectized structure, the focus should always remain on delivering value while meeting organizational goals and stakeholder needs.

By grasping these concepts, project managers are better equipped to handle the challenges of modern project management and ensure that every project is completed effectively—one step at a time.