Project management isn’t some enigma. It’s a systematic process with defined steps to take you from point A to point B. I have managed hundreds of projects throughout my 15-year tenure, and I’ll outline the main steps for you. You’ll discover how to initiate, plan, execute, monitor, and close projects properly. This information will allow you to optimize processes and achieve success in your continuous improvement initiatives.
Stages of Project Management: Initiation
The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide defines the project management process as consisting of five main phases. The process begins with the initiation phase. This is where you set the project up for success.
I’ve found that creating a detailed project charter is essential during the initiation phase. The project charter details the project’s purpose, objectives, and key stakeholders, and it should be the guiding light for all decisions made throughout the project.
Next, you should identify stakeholders. Stakeholders include:
- Project sponsors
- Team members
- End users
- External partners
During this phase, a comprehensive feasibility study is helpful to assess whether the project makes sense from a technical, financial, and operational standpoint. Doing so is one of the best steps you can take to avoid wasting time and resources if the project isn’t viable.
Finally, a strong business case should be developed that outlines why the project exists and what it aims to accomplish. This document often contains the expected benefits and return on investment, and having a strong business case is key to securing approval from the right stakeholders.
Project Planning: Key Phase
The planning phase is where you really nail down the details. In traditional methodologies, this phase can take up to 50% of the total project timeline. It’s time well spent, as thorough planning prevents mistakes later on.
The first step is to define the project scope. Here, you outline what is and what isn’t part of the project. This information helps set expectations and prevent scope creep later in the project.
Next, you create a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). This is a step-by-step breakdown of every task within the project. It’s incredibly helpful for scheduling, budgeting, and resource planning.
Creating an accurate schedule is very important. Here, you identify task dependencies and estimate how long each task will take. Thanks to modern project management software, this task is much more efficient today.
The next step is to estimate the budget. This includes calculating the cost of any resources, materials, or outside services that you’ll need. Accurate budgeting is essential to the success of the project.
One part of planning is risk management. Here, you:
- Identify any potential risks in the project
- Assess how likely they are and how severely they’d impact the project if they happened
- Plan to work around them
- Develop a contingency plan
Another part of planning is to create a communication plan. This ensures that everyone who needs to know something knows it. Here, you identify what information different stakeholders need, when they’ll need it, and how they’ll get it.
Finally, you allocate resources. This includes assigning team members to tasks and making sure that you have everything else you need to complete the project.
Two common frameworks for setting project objectives include S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) and C.L.E.A.R. (Collaborative, Limited, Emotional, Achievable, Refinable). Both frameworks help you create clear, actionable objectives.
Project Implementation Phase: Execution
The execution phase is when the rubber meets the road. It’s a very busy phase and you’ll see a lot of progress.
Team development is key, so I ensure we have a solid team by this point with clearly defined roles and responsibilities. This might involve some team-building activities and setting communication guidelines.
We then assign tasks and ensure everyone knows their deadlines during the task assignment and coordination step. Also keep everyone aligned in regular check-ins.
We continue to ensure high quality with quality management. We do this by implementing the quality control measures from the planning phase. This could involve peer reviews, regular inspections, automated testing, or something else.
If we need any external resources or services, we manage them during procurement management. This involves following the procurement plan, negotiating contracts, and managing the relationship with the vendor.
We also frequently engage stakeholders during execution. This involves providing regular updates and asking for feedback. Stakeholder engagement is important because it keeps everyone on board and helps address concerns as soon as possible.
It’s important to note that 77% of projects with very high performance use project management software. These tools are extremely helpful during execution because they consolidate information, make it easy for the team to collaborate, and automate many tasks.
Stages of Project Management: Monitoring and Controlling
The monitoring and controlling phase occurs simultaneously with execution and is our check to ensure the project doesn’t go off course.
Performance measurement is central to this phase. We measure:
- Task completion rates
- Budget spend
- Resource usage
- Quality KPIs
- Stakeholder happiness
Progress update keeps everyone informed. I’ve also found visual aids, such as a Gantt chart or a burndown graph extremely effective during this phase as everyone can instantly see where the project stands.
Change control is essential. As the project progresses, change is inevitable. We evaluate each change request to determine whether it impacts scope, schedule, or budget. If there are no impacts, we document the change and make it to the project.
Risk monitoring and documents are continuous. We continue to monitor the identified risks and remain vigilant to any new ones. When a risk does occur, we already have a response strategy documented, so it’s very simple to implement.
Quality assurance verifies the deliverables meet the defined quality standards. This might include testing, inspections, or peer reviews, depending on the project.
Cost control ensures we don’t overspend. We continuously track the expenses versus the budget and promptly address any variances we see.
Stages of Project Management: Closure
The closure phase is the last step in our journey through the project lifecycle. The Project Management Institute recognizes this as the final phase of the project lifecycle out of five phases.
The focus of the project closure phase is project deliverables handover. We ensure all deliverables pass the acceptance criteria and are successfully transferred to the client or end users.
The administrative closure involves any remaining loose ends. This includes finalizing all payments, closing out contracts, and archiving any project documents.
The contract closure is important if you engaged any external vendors to help with the project. We verify that all of the contractual obligations have been fulfilled and obtain formal acceptance from the client.
One of the most valuable steps is lessons learned documentation. We take note of lessons learned throughout the project to improve in the future. Here’s a simple format you can use:
| What Went Well | What Could Be Improved | Action Items for Next Project |
|---|---|---|
| Item 1 | Item 1 | Item 1 |
| Item 2 | Item 2 | Item 2 |
| Item 3 | Item 3 | Item 3 |
Finally, we acknowledge the team and dissolve it. We recognize each team member’s contributions and formally release the team back to their functional role or onto a new project.
Before We Go
Project management is a step-by-step process to success. We’ve discussed the five main steps: initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and controlling, and closure. Each step is important to accomplishing project objectives.
However, keep in mind that good project management is flexible to your individual situation. It’s not a step-by-step process with no exceptions. It’s a framework. Apply these steps to your projects, and you’ll see a massive increase in your success rate.
