All projects have a life-cycle composed of the activities that occur in order for the project to

progress to fruition. The focus of the project life-cycle is the process in contrast to the
organisation life-cycle, which is discussed later.

The APM say that:

“A life cycle defines the inter-related phases of a project, programme, or portfolio,

and provides a structure for governing the progression of the work.”

The definition of project life-cycle has extended over the years to accommodate the
increasing proportion of programmes and portfolios as core aspects of project
management. The most common type is the linear life cycle, sometimes known as the linear
sequential model or waterfall method.