I would have to agree that the most important phase is the planning phase. It is what the other phases ride off of. In the planning phase, the project blooms. It is defined. In my company, during the planning phase, we hold meetings and discuss ideas on how to carry out a project. We discuss the minor details needed like staffing, resources, deadlines and funding. In the planning phase, everything has to come together so that a project could be successful. This phase is the base of the project and on it builds everything else. One time, I was given a project to design a script that creates multiple plots. This was a mini project that should’ve only taken me a week. Because of my inefficient plan, it took me way longer. I didn’t sit down and see what resources I have, what my deadlines are and what ideas I can implement. I just started writing code. This resulted in a messy product that needed much refinement down the line. The planning phase is by far the most important phase of a project.