Agile Project Lifecycle Foundations

Agile Project Lifecycle Foundations is the set of core stages and recurring cycles that structure how an agile project moves from its earliest conception through ongoing delivery to its eventual conclusion, providing the temporal framework within which the values and principles established as agile foundations are actually put into practice. Where agile values and principles describe what a team believes and prioritizes, the lifecycle describes the shape of the work itself over time — how a project begins, how it proceeds through repeated cycles of building and learning, and how it eventually ends.

This lifecycle is distinctive compared to more traditional project structures in that it does not proceed through a single, linear sequence of stages completed once each. Instead, much of an agile project's middle consists of a repeating cycle, executed many times over the life of the project, with each repetition producing both a piece of working output and new information that shapes the repetitions still to come.

Beginning a Project

Agile Project Lifecycle Definition

The agile project lifecycle is the overall sequence of stages an agile project passes through, distinguished from a traditional linear lifecycle by its emphasis on a repeating delivery cycle rather than a single pass through sequential phases.

Project Initiation Definition

Project initiation is the earliest stage of the lifecycle, during which a project's purpose, initial scope, and starting conditions are established well enough for work to begin, without requiring every detail to be fully specified in advance.

Project Discovery Definition

Project discovery is the ongoing process of learning more about the problem being solved and the needs being addressed, beginning during initiation but continuing throughout the project rather than being confined to a single upfront phase.

Adaptive Planning Definition

Adaptive planning is the practice of creating plans that are expected to change as discovery continues, treating a plan as a current best understanding rather than a fixed commitment, consistent with the empiricism established as a foundational agile concept.

The Repeating Delivery Cycle

Delivery Cycle Definition

The delivery cycle is the repeating unit of work at the center of the agile project lifecycle, encompassing planning, building, and reviewing a portion of the overall project scope, executed many times over the course of a project rather than once.

Iteration Definition

An iteration is a single pass through the delivery cycle, bounded by a defined period of time, during which a team plans, works on, and produces a piece of output before beginning the next iteration.

Feedback Cycle Definition

The feedback cycle is the process by which output produced during an iteration is reviewed and evaluated, with the resulting observations feeding into the planning of subsequent iterations, directly implementing the inspection and adaptation concepts established as foundational agile ideas.

Release Cycle Definition

The release cycle is the process by which completed output is made available for actual use, which may align with individual iterations or may combine the output of several iterations, depending on how a given project chooses to package and deliver its work.

Ending a Project

Project Closure Definition

Project closure is the final stage of the lifecycle, during which remaining work is completed, outcomes are formally reviewed, and the project is brought to a deliberate conclusion rather than simply trailing off.

Lifecycle Transition Definition

A lifecycle transition is the movement from one stage of the lifecycle to the next, whether from initiation into the delivery cycle or from the delivery cycle into closure, and is treated as a deliberate, recognized shift rather than an incidental change in activity.