Project Management Lifecycle — Interactive Flowchart & Artifact Guide

Complete PM Lifecycle — End to End

From the first meeting to final handover. Every phase, every document, every tool. Learn parallel delivery across Android App, iOS App & Website.

Initiation
Planning
Execution
Monitoring
Testing
Deployment
Closure
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1

INITIATION

Authorize the project | Define the why  ·  Week 1–2

4 artifacts
Documents & Artifacts
Business Case MUST doc
Justifies WHY the project should happen. Contains ROI, costs, risks, alternatives.
Project Charter MUST doc
Officially authorizes the project. Signed by Sponsor. Gives PM authority.
Stakeholder Register MUST doc
Lists all people/groups affected by the project, their interests and influence.
Feasibility Study SHOULD doc
Technical and financial feasibility assessment before full commitment.
Who's Involved
Sponsor Project Manager Key Stakeholders PMO
Tools Used
  • Word/Google Docs (Charter)
  • Excel (Stakeholder Register)
  • PowerPoint (Business Case)
Process Steps
1. Identify the business problem 2. Write Business Case 3. Get sponsor approval 4. Draft Project Charter 5. Get Charter signed 6. Identify stakeholders 7. Build Stakeholder Register
2

PLANNING

Define scope, schedule, budget, risks  ·  Week 3–5

9 artifacts
Documents & Artifacts
BRD (Business Requirements Doc) MUST doc
What the business needs — functional and non-functional requirements.
WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) MUST doc
Hierarchical decomposition of all project work into manageable pieces.
Epic & User Stories MUST doc
Agile requirements: Epics broken into User Stories with Story Points.
Project Schedule / Gantt MUST tool
Timeline with all tasks, dependencies, milestones, and resource assignments.
Pro Gantt Planner MUST tool
Launch Now
Interactive MS Project-style power tool for advanced scheduling.
Resource & Capacity Plan MUST doc
Who does what, when. Identifies over-allocation and gaps.
Risk Register MUST doc
Identified risks with probability, impact, score, and response strategies.
Communication Plan MUST doc
Who gets what information, how often, in what format.
Budget Baseline MUST doc
Detailed cost estimate with contingency reserve.
Who's Involved
Project Manager Business Analyst Dev Leads Product Owner Scrum Master
Tools Used
  • Jira (Epics/Stories/Tasks)
  • MS Project / Asana (Gantt)
  • Confluence (BRD/WBS)
  • Excel (Budget/Risk Register)
Process Steps
1. BRD workshops with stakeholders 2. Build WBS 3. Create Epics → User Stories → Tasks 4. Estimate Story Points 5. Build schedule / Gantt 6. Assign resources 7. Identify and score risks 8. Get all baselines approved
3

EXECUTION

Build it — Sprints, code, reviews  ·  Week 6–20

8 artifacts
Documents & Artifacts
Sprint Plan MUST doc
What the team commits to deliver in each 2-week sprint.
Daily Standup Notes SHOULD doc
Brief log of: what was done, what is planned, any blockers.
Sprint Burndown Chart MUST tool
Visual of remaining work vs time in the sprint.
Code Review Checklist MUST doc
Standards for reviewing PRs before merging to main branch.
API Documentation MUST doc
Swagger/Postman docs for all REST API endpoints.
Change Request (CR) Log MUST doc
Formal record of any scope changes with impact assessment.
Sprint Review Report SHOULD doc
What was demonstrated to stakeholders at Sprint Review.
Sprint Retrospective Notes SHOULD doc
Team's What Went Well / What Didn't / Action Items.
Who's Involved
Dev Team Scrum Master Product Owner PM UI/UX Designer
Tools Used
  • Jira (Sprint boards)
  • GitHub/GitLab (code)
  • Figma (design)
  • Postman (API)
  • Slack (comms)
Process Steps
1. Sprint Planning (2 hrs) 2. Daily Standups (15 min) 3. Development & code reviews 4. Integration & unit testing 5. Sprint Review (demo to stakeholders) 6. Sprint Retrospective 7. Repeat for 8 sprints
4

MONITORING & CONTROL

Track progress | EVM | Change control  ·  Week 6–23 (concurrent)

6 artifacts
Documents & Artifacts
Weekly Status Report MUST doc
Progress update: accomplishments, next week plan, issues, risks.
EVM Dashboard (CPI/SPI) MUST tool
Earned Value metrics: Cost Performance Index, Schedule Performance Index.
Change Control Log MUST doc
All approved/rejected changes with date, impact, and approver.
Risk Review Log MUST doc
Updated risk register with new risks and response action updates.
Quality Audit Report SHOULD doc
Periodic check that processes are being followed correctly.
Issue Log MUST doc
Active issues affecting the project with owner and resolution date.
Who's Involved
PM Sponsor Steering Committee Tech Leads
Tools Used
  • Excel / Power BI (EVM)
  • Jira (issue tracking)
  • MS Project (schedule)
  • Email (status reports)
Process Steps
1. Track actuals vs baseline weekly 2. Calculate EV, PV, AC, CPI, SPI 3. Raise issues and risks 4. Weekly status report to sponsor 5. Monthly executive briefing 6. Change Control Board for scope changes
5

TESTING & UAT

Validate against requirements  ·  Week 21–23

6 artifacts
Documents & Artifacts
UAT Test Plan MUST doc
Defines what will be tested, by whom, entry/exit criteria.
UAT Test Cases MUST doc
Step-by-step test scenarios mapped to BRD requirements.
Defect / Bug Report MUST doc
Logged bugs with severity, steps to reproduce, screenshots.
Test Results Report MUST doc
Summary of pass/fail with percentage coverage.
UAT Sign-off Form MUST doc
Signed by business users confirming system is accepted.
Performance Test Report SHOULD doc
Load testing results: response times under peak load.
Who's Involved
QA Team Business Users PM Dev Team (bug fixes)
Tools Used
  • TestRail / Jira (test cases)
  • Selenium / Appium (automation)
  • JMeter / k6 (performance)
  • Browserstack (cross-device)
Process Steps
1. Prepare UAT test environment 2. Train business users on UAT 3. Execute UAT test cases 4. Log defects in Jira 5. Dev fixes critical bugs 6. Re-test fixed items 7. Get UAT sign-off 8. Go/No-Go decision meeting
6

DEPLOYMENT

Android | iOS | Website go-live  ·  Week 24–25

6 artifacts
Documents & Artifacts
Deployment Plan MUST doc
Step-by-step runbook for production deployment with rollback plan.
Release Notes MUST doc
What changed in this release — features, bug fixes, known issues.
Go-Live Checklist MUST doc
Verified checklist before pressing publish.
Rollback Plan MUST doc
Documented steps to revert if deployment fails.
Post-Deployment Test Report MUST doc
Smoke tests run on production after deployment.
Play Store / App Store Listing MUST doc
App description, screenshots, privacy policy, content rating.
Who's Involved
DevOps Engineer PM Dev Leads QA (smoke test) Marketing
Tools Used
  • Google Play Console
  • App Store Connect (Xcode)
  • GitHub Actions (CI/CD)
  • Cloudflare (CDN)
  • UptimeRobot (monitoring)
Process Steps
Android: Sign AAB → Upload to Play Console → Fill listing → Submit review (1-3 days) iOS: Archive in Xcode → TestFlight → App Store Connect → Apple review (1-7 days) Website: Build → SSL → CDN → Deploy → Smoke test → Go live
7

PROJECT CLOSURE

Handover | Lessons | Archive  ·  Week 26

6 artifacts
Documents & Artifacts
Project Acceptance Form MUST doc
Signed by sponsor confirming all deliverables accepted.
Lessons Learned Document MUST doc
What went well, what didn't, actions for future projects.
Knowledge Transfer Doc MUST doc
Technical handover to support/maintenance team.
Final Project Report MUST doc
Summary of final CPI, SPI, scope, budget vs actuals.
Project Archive SHOULD doc
All documents stored in SharePoint/Drive for future reference.
Team Performance Review SHOULD doc
Individual performance summaries submitted to HR.
Who's Involved
PM Sponsor Support Team HR
Tools Used
  • SharePoint / Google Drive (archive)
  • Word (final report)
  • Excel (actuals vs budget)
Process Steps
1. Get formal sign-off on all deliverables 2. Conduct lessons learned meeting 3. Archive all project documents 4. Release project team members 5. Close all contracts/POs 6. Submit final project report 7. Celebrate with the team!
Click any phase or artifact
Select a phase card on the left to see full details here

Expand any phase by clicking it, then click on a specific document or artifact to see detailed information, templates, and examples from the MediTrack project.

Project Example: MediTrack — Health Monitoring App (Android + iOS + Website). Follow this project through all 7 phases to understand end-to-end PM delivery.

Quick PMP Reminders
📌 Project Charter = PM gets authority (Initiation)
📌 BRD = WHAT is needed (Planning)
📌 WBS = HOW work is broken down (Planning)
📌 CPI > 1 = Under budget ✅ | CPI < 1 = Over budget ❌
📌 SPI > 1 = Ahead of schedule ✅ | SPI < 1 = Behind ❌
📌 UAT = Done by business users, not developers
📌 Lessons Learned = Done at Closure phase
📌 Risk Register updated throughout the project lifecycle