Project life cycles

Projects on all types and sizes go through a similar life cycle, and will be split into phases. The names of these phases depend upon the industry that the project is being run in.

These phases act as" control gates", where the project is reviewed at the end of each phase to determine whether the project should stop, be modified, proceed to the next phase.

This end of phase activity should take the form of a review with key management personnel, and the authority, to make informed choices.

Feasibility studies. These may take place at the beginning of phase, or before the project starts, to determine the best way forward. A feasibility study normally gathers data and information and determines various options, concluding with a recommendation on the best way forward.

One of the best way is to ensure that all phases finish cleanly, is to ensure that each phase has a well-defined deliverable or product which must be completed before the phase can be said to have finished.

I would advise that these products should have product descriptions written for them, and these must include measurable quality criteria and methods of testing such criteria. The rule is, that the product is not complete, until the quality criteria has been passed by an independent quality check.

A deliverable, or product, can be tangible or intangible, but measurable criteria must be determined for each. Deliverables are often documents such as specifications, requirements, plans, hardware, software, buildings, etc.

There is a technique called fast tracking, which allows all phases to overlap. Care must be taken to ensure that in phase reviews are not compromised by these overlaps with the resulting lack of control.

If fast tracking is to be used, the risks involved must be considered, and an agreement reached on how these overlaps are to be planned and authorised.

Development phases should not be confused with management stages. The latter exists as a control point, and the former is an efficient way of getting the work done.