Project Cycle Management is a term used to describe the management activities and decision-making procedures used during the life-cycle of a project (including key tasks, roles and responsibilities, key documents and decision options).

In 1992, the European Commission adopted the “Project Cycle Management” (PCM), a set of project design and management tools based on the Logical Framework method of analysis, which was already widely used by many donors, including several Member States and encouraged by the Development Assistance Committee of the OECD. The manual was subsequently updated in 2001, shortly after the publication of the EC’s most recent Development Policy document (April 2000). A decision was made in early 2003 to update the PCM manual again, now referred to as the “2004 PCM Guidelines”

The 2004 PCM Guidelines have been prepared to support ongoing improvements in the quality of EC development assistance. Quality is defined primarily in terms of the relevance, feasibility and effectiveness of the programmes and projects supported with EC funds, including how well they are managed.

More specifically, these Guidelines aim to support good management practices and effective decision-making throughout the project management cycle – from programming, through to identification, formulation, implementation and evaluation. The Guidelines aim to promote consistency and clarity of approach, while allowing for the operational flexibility required of a dynamic and diverse external assistance programme.

While these Guidelines are primarily targeted at EC task/project managers (in Delegations and in Brussels) and their official partners in third countries, they should also assist other stakeholders such as NGOs, non-state bodies and consultants who are engaged in the design and delivery of EC supported projects and programmes.