Projects and The Project Lifecycle
Projects give you the opportunity to lead in elevating our world, which means personal and professional achievement and a brighter future for us all.
Projects and The Project Lifecycle
Projects give you the opportunity to lead in elevating our world, which means personal and professional achievement and a brighter future for us all.
A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result. It can involve anything from the glamorous events of Fashion Week to humanitarian aid efforts overseas. More specifically, a project is a series of structured tasks, activities, and deliverables that are carefully executed to achieve a desired outcome.
Here are some examples of projects:
- Video game development
- Building construction
- Natural disaster relief efforts
- Promo campaigns for musicians
PMI’s Most Influential Projects of 2024
Need a little more context? Check out our collection of influential projects making an impact on our world. Each example in the collection is a stellar showcase of innovation, leadership, and excellent project management practices.
Every project moves through the project life cycle. The project life cycle is a basic framework that Project Managers and teams use to effectively structure projects and set them up for success.
Project Life Cycle Phases
Within the project life cycle are a handful of different phases—or collections of logically related project activities that culminates in the completion of one or more deliverables.
Some of the most common names for these phases include:
- Feasibility — Determines if the business case is valid and if the organization has the capability to deliver the intended outcome.
- Design — Planning and analysis lead to the design of a project’s deliverable(s).
- Build — Construction of the deliverable(s) with integrated quality assurance activities.
- Test — Final quality review and inspection of deliverables are carried out before transition, go-live, or customer acceptance.
- Deploy — Project deliverables are put into use and transitional activities required for sustainment, benefits realization, and organizational change management are completed.
- Close — The project is closed, project knowledge and artifacts are archived, project team members are released, and contracts are closed.
Note: Project management process groups are not project phases.
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Try KICKOFF™ — our free, digital course that walks you through project management fundamentals. Even if your official title isn’t project manager, this interactive 45-minute course will help you learn how to effectively manage a project from start to finish.
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Learn more about projects
Interested in learning more about PMI and project management? Explore our different resources, articles, and certifications to learn about how projects are impacting our world.