Chapter 1
Foundations of Project Management
Course: Pmp Test Prep
Subject: Pmp
Chapter: Life Cycles Development Approaches And Focus Areas 5506 10738
Every project moves through a life — a beginning, a middle, and an end — and how that life is divided into phases shapes how the work is controlled, reviewed, and steered toward value. This lesson works through what a project phase actually is, the attributes that define phases, and the phase gates that gate the movement between them.
It then examines how organizations select and flex their life cycles, and how key variables such as cost, staffing, risk, and stakeholder influence behave predictably over the course of a project.
The throughline is that the life cycle is the foundational framework beneath every project regardless of the work involved or the development approach chosen, and that understanding its structure gives the practitioner the control points to protect and enhance the project's value proposition.