By following each step, a project team increases the chance of achieving its goals. Some may also include a fifth “monitoring and controlling” phase between the executing and closing stages. This project management process generally includes four phases: initiating, planning, executing, and closing. It provides project managers a structured way to create, execute, and finish a project. The project management lifecycle is a step-by-step framework of best practices used to shepherd a project from its beginning to its end. What is the project management lifecycle?