Of community volunteers decide that they want to use their own time, talents, and resources to organize a food drive for the homeless, they may get right into phase 3-planning the event and carrying it out. The first two phases of the life cycle would not be relevant to such a project. Likewise, if a company’s general manager determines that changing the layout of equipment in the factory will increase efficiency, she might simply instruct the manufacturing manager to initiate such a project and to implement it using the company’s own people. In this case, there would be no written request for proposal from external contractors.
In other situations, such as a home remodeling project for which a con-tractor will likely be hired, a customer may go through the first two phases of the project life cycle in a less structured, more informal manner. He may not write down all of the requirements and ask several contractors. Rather, he may call a contractor who has done satisfactory work for him or for a neighbor in the past, explain what he wants done, and ask the contractor to provide some sketches and a cost estimate.
In general, the project life cycle is followed in a more formal and structured manner when a project is conducted in a business setting. It tends to be less formal when a project is carried out by a private individual or volunteers.