The 5 Phases of the Project Management Lifecycle, Explained With a Worked Example

The five phases at a glance

Here is the standard five-step model in one table. It follows the process groups from the PMBOK Guide.

The outputs are typical examples, not a complete list. Each organization names them differently.

New to the field? Start with what project management is.

Phases or process groups? The catch

This is the part most guides skip. In the PMBOK Guide, Sixth Edition (2017), the five items are process groups, not phases. One open textbook says they are “different from project life cycle phases, but in line with them”. It also notes that they overlap and that the sharp boundaries disappear, which makes the model “more realistic”. You can read that explanation in Project Management, 2nd Edition by Abdullah Oguz.

The key differences:

One article from the Microsoft Project User Group puts it plainly: process groups are repeated within each phase of a project. Many project managers confuse the two.

The practical lesson: do not treat the five steps as a straight line. A project with three phases can run a mini cycle of start, plan, do, control and close inside each one.

Phase by phase

1. Initiating: decide whether and who

Initiating defines a new project, or a new phase of an existing one, and gets authorization to start. The project manager is named, and the key stakeholders are identified.

Typical output: a project charter. It states the purpose, objectives, high-level scope, budget limits and who has authority.

Watch for: a vague charter. If sponsors cannot say what success means in one sentence, stop and fix that before you plan. Read the PMBOK initiating process group for detail.

2. Planning: decide how

Planning turns the charter into a workable approach. You define scope and requirements, break the work into tasks, estimate time and cost, plan for risks and decide how to communicate.

Typical output: a project management plan with a scope baseline, schedule and budget.

Watch for: plans that ignore the trade-offs between scope, time and cost. Our guide to the iron triangle explains them, and the requirements management guide helps you capture what the work must include. See also the PMBOK planning process group.

3. Executing: do the work

Executing is where the deliverables get built. The project manager directs the team, manages stakeholders, and keeps the plan current as things happen.

Typical output: the product, service or result, plus progress information.

Watch for: unclear roles. Use a clear roles and responsibilities chart before work starts. The PMBOK executing process group covers the formal processes.

4. Monitoring and controlling: stay on course

This group runs alongside every other one. You compare actual progress to the plan, review changes and take corrective action.

Typical output: status reports, change decisions and updated forecasts.

Watch for: uncontrolled changes. Without a clear change process, small requests pile up. See how to prevent project scope creep and project management metrics. The formal view is in the PMBOK monitoring and controlling process group.

5. Closing: finish properly

Closing formally finishes the project, phase or contract. You get acceptance of deliverables, close out contracts, release the team and record what you learned.

Typical output: final acceptance, an archived project file and a lessons-learned review.

Watch for: skipping it. Teams that move straight to the next project lose the lessons. Read the PMBOK closing process group.

A worked example

Here is how it looks on a made-up project: relaunching a company website. This is our illustration, not a real case. The project has four lifecycle phases, and the five process groups appear inside each.

Notice that “closing” happens four times, once per phase, and again at the end for the whole project. That is what the PMBOK means when it says the groups apply to a project or a phase.

Predictive, iterative and agile lifecycles

The five process groups work with any approach, but the way you use them changes.

Our agile guides show how teams run these short cycles, including why agile project management is growing. The five groups still apply. They simply repeat faster.

What changed in the newest PMBOK Guide

The PMBOK Guide has been revised several times. The Sixth Edition (2017) is the one built around five process groups and ten knowledge areas. The Seventh Edition (2021) replaced the knowledge areas with principles. The Eighth Edition arrived in November 2025.

On its PMBOK Guide page, PMI describes the Eighth Edition as having six core principles and seven performance domains: governance, scope, schedule, finance, stakeholders, resources and risk. PMI also says it “reintroduced process guidance” in a non-prescriptive form. Some study guides report that the five groups return as flexible categories, but PMI’s page does not say so, so check PMI’s current materials if you are studying for an exam.

For everyday use, the five-part model is still the clearest way to describe a project’s flow. It is still taught, and it works on real projects.

Common mistakes

• Treating it as a straight line. You will replan, and controlling never stops.
• Skipping initiating. Starting work without a clear charter invites arguments about scope later.
• Over-planning. A long plan that is out of date by week three helps nobody. Plan in detail for the near term and in outline for the rest.
• No change process. Every informal “small request” adds cost and delay.
• Skipping closing. Without a review, the same mistakes repeat on the next project. See why projects fail and how to avoid it.

A one-page lifecycle checklist

Copy this into your project notes and tick items off.

Careers and certification

Knowing the lifecycle is core to project work and to PMI exams. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports a median annual wage of $102,320 for project management specialists in May 2025, with employment projected to grow 7 percent from 2025 to 2035. It lists a bachelor’s degree as typical entry education and calls certification potentially beneficial. Figures describe the occupation, not any course.

If you want structured study, compare options in our project management certificate guide, then see PMI certifications explained and how to prepare for the PMP.

Frequently asked questions

What are the 5 phases of project management?

Initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing. In the PMBOK Guide they are officially called process groups.

Are the five phases the same as the project lifecycle?

Not exactly. The lifecycle phases describe the stages of the work, such as design, build and test, and their names vary by industry. The five process groups describe management activity and can repeat in each phase.

Why is monitoring and controlling not a separate phase?

Because it runs the whole time. You track and control from start to finish, not in one block.

How many processes are in the PMBOK Guide?

The Sixth Edition describes 49 processes organized into five process groups and ten knowledge areas. Later editions changed the structure.

Do agile projects use these phases?

Yes, in shorter, repeated cycles. The activities of starting, planning, doing, checking and finishing still happen, just more often.

Is closing really necessary?

Yes. Closing confirms acceptance, ends contracts and captures lessons. Skipping it leaves loose ends and wastes what the team learned.

What is the difference between a project phase and a project stage?

Many organizations use the words interchangeably. What matters is that your team agrees on the names and on what must be finished at the end of each one.