PM Ideas: Processes and Knowledge Areas

The goal of this article is to outline Project Management Processes and PM Knowledge Areas
of a project that you will encounter in class. Here I have presented to you a summary of some
of the things that will be taught. You will cover five project management process groups and
nine PM Knowledge Areas. You will also list 44 major processes that comprise each process
group and learn how these processes align with PM Knowledge Areas. Finally, I will
summarise each process.

Project Management Processes of a Project

Project management is archived via processes. A Project Management Process is defined as "a
set of interrelated actions and activities that are performed to achieve a pre-specified set of
products, results, or services" (PMBOK® Guide, Chapter 3).

Almost all projects usually use the same set of processes to accomplish project management
successfully. The Project Management team is responsible for selecting appropriate processes
to meet/comply with project requirements and balance the "triple constraints" (time, scope,
and budget) of a project.

Each process and its inputs and outputs should serve as a high-level guide for a project
management team. The project management team should "tailor" each process to the
individual needs of a project. Project Management Processes deal with initiation, execution,
monitoring, control, and closing a project. All processes interact throughout the project via
their constituent inputs and outputs. "Successful project management includes actively
managing these interactions to successfully meet stakeholder requirements." (PMBOK®
Guide, Chapter 3)

Project Management Process Groups

The management processes are aggregated into five project management process groups:

1. Initiating Process Group: Defines and authorizes the project or a project phase
2. Planning Process Group: Defines and refines objectives, and plans the course of
action required to attain the objective and scope
3. Executing Process Group: Integrates people and resources to carry out the project
management plan for the project
4. Monitoring and Controlling Initiating Process Group: Measures and monitors
progress to identify if the correction action can be taken to meet project objectives
5. Closing Process Group: Formalizes acceptance of the product, services, or result and
brings the project or a project phase to an orderly end

The interaction among five process groups is depicted by the following figure that is derived
from a simpler Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle diagram.
Figure 1: Modified PDCA Cycle Diagram

Project Management Knowledge Areas

There are nine Project Management Knowledge Areas. These areas group 44 Project
Management Processes. The following list briefly describes each PM Knowledge Area:

1. Project Integration Management: Deals with processes that integrate different

aspects of project management. This knowledge area deals with developing Project
Charter, Preliminary Project Scope, and Project Management Plan. It also deals with
monitoring and controlling project work, integrated change control, and closing a
project.
2. Project Scope Management: Encapsulates processes that are responsible for
controlling project scope. It consists of Scope Planning, Definition, Verification, and
Control.
3. Project Time Management: Includes processes concerning the time constraints of
the project. It deals with Activity definition, sequencing, resource estimating, and
duration estimating. It also deals with schedule development and control.
4. Project Cost Management: Includes processes concerning the cost constrains of the
project. Some of the processes that are part of this knowledge area are Cost
Estimating, Budgeting, and Control.
5. Project Quality Management: Describes the processes that assure that the project
meets its quality obligations. It consists of Quality Planning, Quality Assurance, and
Quality Control.
 6. Project Human Resources Management: Includes the processes that deal with
obtaining and managing the project team. Some of the processes of this knowledge
area are Human Resource Planning, Acquire Project Team, Develop Project Team, and
Manage Project Team.
7. Project Communication Management: Describes the processes concerning
communication mechanisms of a project, namely, Communication Planning,
Performance Reporting, and Information Distribution.
8. Project Risk Management: Describes the processes concerned with project-related
risk management. It consists of Risk Identification, Quantitative and Qualitative Risk
Analysis, Risk Response Planning, and Risk Monitoring.
9. Project Procurement Management: Includes all processes that deal with obtaining
products and services needed to complete a project. It consists of Plan Contracting,
Select Seller Responses, Select Seller, and Contract Closer.

Project Management Process Mapping

As I stated earlier in the article, Project Management is composed of 44 processes that are
mapped to one of nine Project Management Knowledge Areas listed in the previous section.
The following table maps 44 processes to process groups and knowledge areas.

Knowledge Area Project Management Process Groups

Processes
Initiating Planning Executing Monitoring Closing
Process Process Group Process and Process
Group Group Controlling Group
Process Group
Project Develop Develop Project Direct and Monitor and Close
Management Project Management Manage Control Project Project
Integration Charter Plan Project Work
Execution
Develop Integrated
Preliminary Change Control
Project
Scope
Statement
Project Scope Scope Planning Scope
Management Verification
Scope Definition
Scope Control
Scope WBS
Project Time Activity Schedule
Management Definition Control

Activity
Sequencing

Activity Resource
Estimating
 Activity Duration
Estimation

Schedule
Development
Project Cost Cost Estimating Cost Control
Management
Cost Budgeting
Project Quality Quality Planning Perform Perform Quality
Management Quality Control
Assurance
Project Human Human Acquire Manage Project
Resources Resources Project Team Team
Management Planning
Develop
Project Team
Project Communications Information Performance
Communication Planning Distribution Reporting
Management
Manage
Stakeholders
Project Plan Purchase Request Contract Contract
Procurement and Acquisitions Seller Administration Closure
Planning Responses
Plan Contracting
Select
Sellers
Project Risk Risk Risk Monitoring
Management Management and Control
Planning

Risk
Identification

Qualitative Risk
Analysis

Quantitative Risk
Analysis

Risk Response
Planning

Figure 2: Mapping of 44 processes to process groups and knowledge areas

Initiating Process Group
Initiating process group includes two major processes:

1. Develop Project Charter: Consists of contract, project statement of work, enterprise

environmental factors, and organizational process assets.
2. Develop Preliminary Project Scope: Consists of project charter, project statement
of work, enterprise environmental factors, and organizational process assets.

Planning Process Group

The Planning Process group includes 21 major processes:

1. Develop Project Management Plan: This process integrates all the subsidiary plans
from the various knowledge areas into one plan. This complete, consistent, and
coherent document is the project management plan. It is crucial that the project
manager and the project team spend sufficient time creating the project management
plan because this document serves to reduce project uncertainty, improve the
efficiency of work, provide a better understanding of the project objectives, and
provide a basis for monitoring and controlling. This key document also serves as a
communication and educational tool for stakeholders on the project.
2. Scope Planning: The process formally specifying the project deliverables.
3. Scope Definition: The process deals with creating a hierarchical, comprehensive
description of the project work.
4. Create WBS: A work breakdown structure is accomplished by defining the scope of
the project and breaking the work down into components that can be scheduled and
estimated and easily monitored and controlled.
5. Activity Definition: In this process, the project team documents the activities
resulting from the lowest level of the project work breakdown structure (WBS) and
assigning an owner to each activity.
6. Activity Sequencing: In this process, the project team determines dependencies
between project activities.
7. Activity Resource Estimating: This process concerns primarily with human
resources. It allows the project manager to understand the type(s) and quantity of
each required skill set.
8. Activity Duration Estimating: This process deals with forecasting durations for all
identified project activities.
9. Schedule Development: This process creates a project schedule based on calendar
dates.
10. Cost Estimating: This process deals with estimating the resources required to
complete the project work. The estimate is typically quantitative and can be presented
in detail against the WBS components, or summarized in terms of a grand total
according to various phases of the project, or its major deliverables.
11. Cost Budgeting: This process deals with assigning a cost to an individual work
package. The goal of this process is to assign costs to the work in the project so it can
be measured for performance.
12. Quality Planning: This process captures the whole process of determining how a
product or service will be developed, not simply the tests and measures to inspect the
product downstream and to avoid rework and waste.
 13. Human Resources Planning: Includes defining team member roles and
responsibilities, establishing an appropriate structure for team reporting, securing the
right team members, and bringing them on the project as needed for the appropriate
length of time. Human resources planning results are achieved through the
development of an organization plan coupled with the acquisition of the staff necessary
to complete the project.
14. Communication Planning: Developing communication strategy with project
members and stakeholders.
15. Risk Management Planning: A process in which the project manager and project
team identify project risks, analyze and rank them, and determine what actions, if
any, need to be taken to avert these threats. Associated with this process are the
costs, time, and quality concerns of the project brought about by the solutions to those
risks. In addition, the reactions to risks are analyzed for any secondary risks the
solutions may have created.
16. Risk Identification: A process of identifying risks that can hinder the project's
success.
17. Qualitative Risk Analysis: A process of assessing and prioritizing known project
risks.
18. Quantitative Risk Analysis: The process of assessing risk severity in numerical
terms, such as time, cost, or effort.
19. Risk Response Planning: A process of determining how best to deal with high-
severity known risks, preventable risks, and contingency plans for other risks.
20. Plan Purchase and Acquisitions: A process of identifying what goods or services
you're going to purchase from outside of the organization and which project needs can
be met by the project team.
21. Plan Contracting: Procurement documents are a primary output of the plan
contracting process. These documents are prepared by the buyer to tell the seller its
needs and to solicit proposals.

Executing Process Group

The Planning Process group includes seven major processes:

1. Direct and Manage Project Execution: This process is used to identify problems
and issues so that corrective action can be taken. As the product of the project is
created, performance against project baselines must be monitored and reported.
2. Perform Quality Assurance: This process enforces structured reviews to ensure the
project will comply with the planned quality standards. This is usually done by Quality
Audit. There are five quality audit techniques such as Deming, Crosby Absolutes of
Quality, Juran Trilogy, Total Quality Management (TQM), Continuous Improvement
Process (CIP) or Kaizan, and Taguchi. You will learn more of these in more detail in the
class.
3. Acquire Project Team: This process involves selecting the right people. The selection
is usually done by the project manager.
4. Develop Project Team: This outgoing process involves developing individual team
members as well as interactions between them. The results are archived through team
building methods and leadership techniques.
5. Information Distribution: This process provides timely status information to the
project team, stakeholders, managers, and others and achieves periodic, accurate
reports and presentations, and a thorough, accessible archive for project data
6. Request Seller Responses: This process obtains responses, such as bids and
proposals, from prospective sellers on how project requirements can be met. The
 prospective sellers, normally at no direct cost to the project or buyer, expend most of
the actual effort in this process.
7. Select Sellers: This process receives bids or proposals and applies evaluation criteria,
as applicable, to select one or more sellers who are both qualified and acceptable as a
seller.

Monitoring and Controlling Process Group

The Panning Process group includes 12 major processes:

1. Monitor and Control Project Work: This process includes collecting, measuring, and
assessing measurement and trends. The monitoring and control happens throughout
all phases of a project (initiating, planning, executing, and closing). Continuous
monitoring gives the project management team insight into how well the project is
progressing and can point to areas that can be improved. Some of the tasks in this
process include comparing actual results with expected results, working with project
risk, keeping track of documentation, providing information to support project status
and forecasting, and monitoring implementation of approved changes.
2. Integrate Change Control: This process, performed throughout the project's
lifecycle, deals with determining whether changes are beneficial, determining if a
change has occurred, and managing the approved occurred and not-yet-occurred
changes.
3. Scope Verification: This process deals with obtaining formal acceptance of project
deliverables. The result of this process is a signed-off (by stakeholders) scope
document.
4. Scope Control: This process deals with managing specification change to the project
deliverables. The result is an acceptance or rejection or deferral of proposed changes.
5. Schedule Control: This process deals with managing specification change to the
project deliverables. The result is an acceptance or rejection or deferral of proposed
changes.
6. Cost Control: This process deals with monitoring project costs and resources. The
outcome of this process is a record of project costs and adjustments to the budget
according to expectations.
7. Quality Control: This process deals with monitoring project works compared with
plans.
8. Manage Project Team: This process involves tracking and appraising team member
performance, resolving issues, providing feedback, and managing conflicts.
9. Performance Reporting: This process involves collecting and distributing status
reporting, progress measurement, and forecasting.
10. Manage Stakeholders: This process involves communicating and resolving issues
with stakeholders.
11. Risk Monitoring and Control: This process involves tracking identified project risk
triggers and responding preemptively. This process reduces the number of surprises in
a project.
12. Contract Administration: This process deals with relationships between buyers and
sellers, tracking seller's performance. Also, it might involve managing relationships
with outside buyers of the project.

Closing Process Group

The Planning Process group includes two major processes:
 1. Close Project: This process involves activities across all process groups. The process
delivers administrative closure procedure, final product, service or result, and contract
closure procedure.
2. Contract Closure: This is the process necessary for completing and settling each
contract, including the resolution of any open items, and closing each contract
applicable to the project or a project phase.

Documentation
There are three major documents produced throughout the project:

1. Project Charter
Charters vary in specific content, but most include:

• Project objective statement

• Project priorities
• High-level scope statement, describing all expected deliverables
• Description of the expected users or customers
• The business case for the project (benefit or return on investment analysis)
• Rough cost estimates
• Target milestones and deadlines
• Project leader and initial staffing information
• Identified dependencies
• Key constraints and assumptions
• Known issues and high-level risks

2. Project Scope Statement

"The scope statement provides a documented basis for making future project decisions and
for confirming or developing common understanding of project scope among the
stakeholders. As the project progresses, the scope statement may need to be revised or
refined to reflect approved changes to the scope of the project".

3. Project Management Plan

The Project Management Plan documents the procedures and processes that are in effect to
provide timely information to the project decision makers to effectively manage the scope,
costs, schedules, and quality of the project.

All three documents are composed using various project management processes. These
documents will be described in more detail in the subsequent articles in this series.

Summary
In this article, you defined and identified nine project management knowledge areas. You also
identified 44 project management processes for a project and the mapping between
processes and knowledge areas. In the class you will discover the project management
context and project lifecycle. You also will be able to define who stakeholders are and
summarize characteristics of different organizational structures.

Hope this summary will help you prepare for the class before you join us! Thank you.

Kayode Ajewole, PMP.

* This material is adapted from a white paper by a world renowned project manager, Aleksey
Shevchenko.