Foundations 3 - The Project Life Cycle & Methodologies

Google Project Management Certificate · Course 1: Foundations of Project Management

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Why a life cycle?

No two projects are identical, so there is rarely a single “right” way to run one. Every project carries its own resources, people, deadlines, and constraints. Because so many factors can affect a project, it helps to work from a shared structure - the project life cycle - that keeps the work on track from start to finish.

Project life cycle

The basic structure that guides a project through four major phases, each with its own tasks and concerns. Following it keeps you and the team headed toward the right destination.

Initiate the project

→

Make a plan

→

Execute & complete tasks

→

Close the project

The four phases of the project life cycle, in sequence.

Tip

Phase names may differ by organization or project type (e.g. “execute” vs “manage”), but the underlying idea stays the same. Quizzes test the concept, not the wording.

The four phases

1 - Initiate the project

The launchpad. Here you organize everything you already know about the project and build the case to get it approved.

1. Define project goals and deliverables (specific tasks or outcomes - e.g. “raise $5,000” or “collect 500 signatures”).

2. Identify the budget, resources (people, equipment, software, vendors, space) and everyone involved.

3. Document the project’s value in a project proposal.

4. Get approval from a decision-maker (which may be you) before moving on.

Useful questions to ask in this phase: Who are the stakeholders? What are the client’s goals? What is the purpose and mission? What are the measurable objectives? When must it finish? What skills, resources, and cost are needed - and what are the benefits?

2 - Make a plan

With approval secured, map out how you will get from start to finish. Deliberate planning is critical - you would not build a house without a blueprint and budget.

A good plan typically includes:

Plan element	What it covers
Budget	An itemized estimate of costs
Task breakdown	Milestones and the tasks/deliverables under each
Schedule	Timeline for resources, materials, and work
Roles & responsibilities	Who owns what
Communication	How the team and stakeholders stay informed
Risk & change plan	What to do if the project hits problems or must change

Caution

Planning for risk and change is not optional. Common risks include schedule delays, budget changes, technology/software requirements, legal issues, quality control, and access to resources. Experienced managers know plans always change - the plan is what lets you adapt.

3 - Execute and complete tasks

The plan goes into motion. Crucially, the team does the tasks - you manage the whole.

The PM's real job in execution

Monitor progress, keep the team motivated and clear on expectations, remove obstacles, and alert the right people early if a delay looms. Think of a sports coach: you are not on the field, but your guidance and team-building decide the outcome.

During execution you also: communicate through meetings, memos, emails, chat, and status reports; adjust the schedule, budget, and resource allocation as things shift; address process weaknesses or training gaps; and adapt to change.

Tip

When in doubt, over-communicate. Frequent, clear updates keep the project on schedule and within budget.

4 - Close the project

Often overlooked - it is tempting to assume that once the goal is delivered, everyone can move on. But closing matters.

1. Confirm completion - all tasks done (including work added along the way), invoices paid, resources returned and accounted for, documentation submitted.

2. Get sign-off - confirm the final outcome is acceptable to whoever asked for the project. Their satisfaction is essential to success.

3. Run a retrospective - reflect on what went well and what didn’t, to manage better next time. These notes also help the receiving organization make future decisions.

4. Share results with stakeholders and hand off any ongoing support to the team that will maintain it.

5. Celebrate the team’s effort, then formally move on.

Retrospective

A structured reflection after a project (or phase) to capture best practices and lessons learned - valuable even when everything went perfectly.

Some projects have a firm end date (e.g. a campaign - once it’s done, it’s done). Others end by handoff: a new ordering system is “closed” once it’s installed and staff are trained, after which a support team keeps it running day-to-day - like handing over the keys to a newly built house.

Phase-by-phase recap

Phase	Core purpose	Key outputs
Initiate	Define value and get approval	Goals, deliverables, resources, proposal
Plan	Decide how to reach the goal	Budget, schedule, tasks, roles, risk plan
Execute	Do the work; manage progress	Completed tasks, status updates, adaptations
Close	Wrap up and learn	Sign-off, retrospective, handoff, celebration

Case study - the cost of rushing initiation

A PM was pushed to send a training-program proposal over a single weekend to please a customer. He guessed a standard figure - roughly $200k / 6 weeks - without involving the engineers. They later found the client’s software was incompatible with the platform: real cost was over $1 million and roughly a year to build and test. The project failed before it started. The fix was simple: ask for a little more time, involve the key players, and estimate properly. Skipping a phase to save days can cost far more later.

Monitoring runs throughout

Monitoring and controlling are not a separate phase - the PM tracks progress, quality, budget, and stakeholder engagement continuously across execution (and really the whole life cycle).

Methodologies: how projects are run

Different projects benefit from different project management methodologies - sets of guiding principles and processes for owning a project through its life cycle. At the highest level they split into two mindsets: linear and iterative.

Linear vs iterative

Linear - each phase or task must finish before the next begins; clear, fixed goal (e.g. building a bungalow: blueprint → foundation → walls → roof).
Iterative - phases and tasks overlap and repeat; the goal is clear but the exact result can evolve (e.g. producing a TV show: film a pilot, test it, adjust, and work on casting and advertising in parallel).

	Linear	Iterative
Flow	Sequential, one step at a time	Overlapping, parallel work
Change	Few changes expected; stick to plan	Change anticipated and welcomed
Delivery	Whole result at the end	Parts delivered as completed
Best when	Requirements are clear and stable	Requirements are fuzzy or evolving

Many organizations - including Google - take a hybrid approach, mixing methods to suit each project and team.

Waterfall

Linear Plan-driven

Waterfall (also called traditional) originated in the 1970s and refers to the sequential ordering of phases - you complete one and flow down to the next, like water down a mountain. First used in physical engineering (manufacturing, construction), later software, and now adapted across events, retail, and more. Styles vary, but all follow an ordered set of steps tied to clearly defined expectations, resources, and goals that are unlikely to change.

Its phases map onto the standard life cycle: initiate → plan → execute (manage & complete) → close.

When to use Waterfall

Use it when phases are clearly defined, when some tasks must finish before others can begin, or when changes would be very expensive once work starts. Example: catering an event on a tight budget - confirm guest count, define and approve the menu, order non-returnable ingredients, and serve. There is no room to change the order or waste food.

Agile & Scrum

Iterative Value-driven

Agile means moving quickly and easily, and being flexible - willing to change and adapt. The concepts emerged in the 1990s in response to demand for faster software delivery and were formally named Agile in 2001. Agile is more a mindset than a fixed set of steps: build an effective, collaborative team that seeks regular client feedback to deliver the best value quickly and adjust as changes emerge.

Many tasks run at the same time or in various stages of completion, in repeating cycles called iterations. In Scrum (a form of Agile), iterations are called sprints.

Sprint

A short, fixed chunk of time - usually one to four weeks - in which a team focuses together on completing a specific set of deliverables. Not “running a race,” but a focused burst of work.

When to use Agile

Best when the client knows roughly what they want but has no concrete picture, or cares about qualities of the result more than its exact look - and when uncertainty and risk are high. Example: building a website in sprints - launch the finished homepage while the blog and booking features are still being built, gathering feedback early and reducing wasted effort. (Waterfall would require the whole site done before launch.)

Waterfall vs Agile at a glance

Waterfall - linear

Initiate → Plan → Execute → Close, once, in order

Agile - iterative

Plan → build → test → feedback, looping each sprint

Waterfall runs the life cycle once, top to bottom; Agile loops it in short sprints.

Aspect	Waterfall	Agile
PM’s role	Active leader who prioritizes and assigns tasks	Scrum Master facilitates and removes barriers; team self-manages more
Scope	Deliverables set early; changes go through a formal change-request process	Planned in short iterations; adjusted from feedback
Schedule	Mostly linear through the four phases	Time boxed into Sprints of set duration and deliverables
Cost	Controlled by up-front estimation and close monitoring	Can shift with each iteration
Quality	Criteria defined at the start	Ongoing testing and user feedback, continuous improvement
Communication	PM reports progress toward milestones to stakeholders	Constant user-team communication; customer-focused
Stakeholders	PM monitors engagement to stay on track	Frequent deliverables; progress depends on their feedback

Caution

In practice the line between Waterfall and Agile is blurry - real projects often borrow from both. Treat the table as a reference, not a rigid rule.

Lean, Six Sigma & Lean Six Sigma

Lean Six Sigma combines two parent methodologies. It suits projects aiming to save money, improve quality, and move quickly, and it emphasizes team collaboration - a valued team tends to be more motivated and productive.

Lean

Lean (originally Lean Manufacturing) centers on removing waste so that only value is added at each step. It recognizes eight types of waste: defects, excess processing, overproduction, waiting, inventory, transportation, motion, and non-utilized talent - usually caused by poor documentation, missing standards, misunderstanding customer needs, weak communication, poor process control, inefficient design, or management failures.

The 5S quality tool

Five pillars of good “housekeeping” to cut wasted time and material:

1. Sort - keep only the bare essentials.
2. Set in order - arrange and label items so anyone can find them.
3. Shine - keep everything in place; clean the workspace daily.
4. Standardize - do the process the same way every time.
5. Sustain - make the discipline a lasting team habit.

Lean also uses a Kanban scheduling system - a visual board with cards moved left to right across columns to show progress and coordinate work.

To do

→

In progress

→

Testing

→

Done

A Kanban board: cards flow across columns to visualize work in progress.

Six Sigma

Six Sigma reduces variation by ensuring quality processes are followed every time. The name comes from statistics and implies 99.9996% quality. Its seven principles: focus on the customer; understand how work really happens; make processes flow smoothly; reduce waste and concentrate on value; stop defects by removing variation; involve and collaborate with the team; and improve systematically. You pick a measurable attribute (time, cost, quantity), inspect it, and reject anything below the standard - then improve the process that produced it.

DMAIC - the Six Sigma / Lean Six Sigma cycle

A process-improvement strategy usable on almost any business problem:

• Define the goal (similar to initiation) - e.g. cut average call wait from 30 min to under 10.
• Measure the current process using data - map it and locate the problems.
• Analyze the data to identify gaps and root causes - e.g. understaffing on peak days.
• Improve - act only after careful analysis; e.g. adjust staffing.
• Control - lock in new processes and documentation, and keep monitoring so the team doesn’t revert.

Memory aid: defining tells you what to measure, measuring what to analyze, analyzing what to improve, and improving what to control.

How they combine

Lean builds quality in from the start (using tools like 5S and Kanban); Six Sigma then inspects and tests the output, rejecting anything that fails the standard. The core difference: Lean streamlines processes, while Six Sigma reduces variation by building in and verifying quality.

When to use Lean Six Sigma

Ideal when the goal is to improve an existing process to fix complex or high-risk problems - boosting sales conversions, eliminating a bottleneck (where work backs up), or similar. DMAIC prevents skipped steps and produces durable, data-driven solutions.

Choosing an approach

Approach	Type	Reach for it when…
Waterfall	Linear	Requirements are clear and stable; steps are ordered; changes are costly
Agile / Scrum	Iterative	Requirements are fuzzy or evolving; uncertainty is high; fast feedback matters
Kanban	Visual (Agile & Lean)	You need visual clarity on work status and flow
Lean	Waste-focused	Resources are limited; you want to cut waste and streamline
Six Sigma	Variation-focused	Quality consistency and defect reduction are the priority
Lean Six Sigma	Combined	Improving a process to solve complex or high-risk problems

Tip

There is no right or wrong methodology and no one-size-fits-all. All of these share communication, collaboration, and the aim of delivering on time and on budget - and they can be blended. The goal in choosing is to maximize the use of time and resources. Organizations routinely mix them: e.g. build a product with Agile sprints but borrow Waterfall’s documentation for planning, or use Lean Six Sigma to design a fix and Agile to roll it out.

Revision summary

• The project life cycle gives every project a shared structure: Initiate → Plan → Execute → Close, with monitoring throughout.
• Initiate = define goals/value and get approval; Plan = budget, schedule, tasks, roles, and risk; Execute = the team works while the PM manages progress and clears obstacles; Close = confirm completion, get sign-off, run a retrospective, hand off, and celebrate.
• Phase names vary by organization; the concept does not. Rushing or skipping a phase (especially initiation) risks major cost and failure.
• Two mindsets underlie the methods: linear (finish each step first) and iterative (overlap and repeat).
• Waterfall = linear, plan-driven, stable requirements. Agile/Scrum = iterative, value-driven, flexible; work in sprints with a Scrum Master facilitating.
• Lean removes waste (8 wastes, 5S, Kanban); Six Sigma reduces variation via DMAIC; Lean Six Sigma blends both for process improvement on complex problems.
• Most organizations use a hybrid - pick and blend to fit the project, team, and goal.

Key quiz takeaways

• Order of phases: Initiate, Plan, Execute, Close - and monitoring/controlling spans them all.
• PM in execution manages progress and removes blockers; the team completes the tasks.
• Waterfall = linear/sequential (changes costly); Agile = iterative/flexible (welcomes change, delivers in sprints).
• DMAIC = Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control - the Six Sigma / Lean Six Sigma cycle.
• 5S = Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardize, Sustain - the Lean housekeeping tool.
• Scrum Master facilitates and removes barriers; a sprint is a 1-4 week focused iteration.
• There is no single correct methodology - choose or blend to best use time and resources.