Project

Management
Process Groups
 Module Objectives
 Describe the five project management process groups, the typical
level of activity for each, and the interactions among them
 Relate the project management process groups to the project
management knowledge areas
 Discuss how organizations develop IT project management
methodologies to meet their needs
 Review a case study of an organization applying the project
management process groups to manage an IT project
 Describe several templates for creating documents for each
process group
 Introduction
 In this session we describe each project management
process group in detail.
 We will learn samples of typical project documents
 Although you will learn more about each knowledge
area in upcoming sessions, it is important first to learn
how they fit into the big picture of managing a project.
 Understanding how the knowledge areas and project
management process groups function together will lend
context to the remaining sessions.
Mapping process group Knowledge Area
 Process Groups
 A process is a series of actions directed toward a
particular result.
 Project management process groups progress from
initiating activities to planning activities, executing
activities, monitoring and controlling activities, and
closing activities.
 Pre Initiation Tasks
 It is good practice to lay the groundwork for a project
before it officially starts.
 Senior managers often perform several tasks to lay the
groundwork, including the following:
 Develop a business case for a project.
 Identify the project sponsor.
 Select the project manager.
 Determine if the project should be divided into two or more
smaller projects
 Initiating Process
 This include defining and authorizing a project or
project phase.
 Initiating processes take place during each phase of a
project.
 Main tasks of the initiating process include
 Drafting the Project charter and
 Identify stakeholders
 Planning Process
 It includes devising a workable scheme to ensure that the
project addresses the organization’s needs.
 Projects include several plans, such as
 the scope management plan,
 schedule management plan,
 cost management plan, and
 procurement management plan.
 Planning Process
 These plans help define scope, schedule activities, to
estimate costs, and to decide what resources to procure to
accomplish the work.
 To account for changing conditions on the project and in the
organization,
 project teams often revise plans during each phase of the
project life cycle.
 The project management plan coordinates and encompasses
information from all other plans
 Planning Process
 The next step is to perform risk management identifying various
risks that would impact project with suitable mitigation plans
 Next activity is to identify all project stakeholders,
 Establish a communication plan describing the information
needed and the delivery method to be used to keep the
stakeholders informed.
 Finally, it is important to document a quality plan; providing
quality targets, assurance, and control measures along with an
acceptance plan; listing the criteria to be met to gain customer
acceptance.
 At this point, the project would have been planned in detail and
is ready to be executed.
 Executing Process
 During this phase the project plan is put into motion and performs
the work of the project.
 It is important to maintain control and communicate as needed
during implementation.
 Progress is continuously monitored, and appropriate adjustments are
made and recorded as variances from the original plan.
 During project implementation, people are carrying out the tasks and
progress information is being reported through regular team
meetings.
 Execution Process
 These include coordinating people and other resources to
carry out the various plans
 Create the products, services, or results of the project or
phase.
 Examples of executing processes include
 directing and managing project work,
 managing project knowledge,
 acquiring resources, and
 conducting procurements.
 Monitoring and Controlling
 These include regularly measuring and monitoring progress to
ensure that the project team meets the project objectives.
 The project manager and staff monitor and measure progress
against the plans and take corrective action when necessary.
 A common monitoring and controlling process is reporting
performance,
 This helps project stakeholders to identify any necessary
changes that may be required to keep the project on track
 Closing Process
 These include formalizing acceptance of the project or project
phase and ending it efficiently.
 Administrative activities are often involved in this process
group, such as
 Archiving project files,
 Documenting lessons learned, and
 Receiving formal acceptance of the delivered work as part of the
phase or project
Time to spend in each process group
 Business Case
 What Is a Business Case?
 A business case is a project management document that
explains how the benefits of a project overweigh its costs and
why it should be executed.
 Business cases are prepared during the project initiation phase
and their purpose is to include all the project’s objectives,
costs and benefits to convince stakeholders of its value.
 A business case is an important project document to prove to
your client, customer or stakeholder that the project you’re
pitching is a sound investment.
 Business Case
 The need for a business case is that it collects the financial
appraisal, proposal, strategy and marketing plan in one
document and offers a full look at how the project will benefit
the organization.
 Once your business case is approved by the project
stakeholders, you can begin the project planning phase.
 Business Case
 How to Write A Business Case
 Projects fail without having a solid business case to rest on
 This document is necessary to start the project
 It’s the base for the project charter and project plan.
 Business case should address a need that aligns with the
larger business objectives of the organization
 The following four steps will show you how to write a
business case.
 Step 1: Identify the Business Problem
 Projects aren’t created for projects’ sake. They have a goal.
Usually, they’re initiated to solve a specific business problem
or create a business opportunity.
 You should “Lead with the need.” Your first job is to figure
out what that problem or opportunity is, describe it, find out
where it comes from and then address the time frame needed
to deal with it.
 This can be a simple statement but is best articulated with
some research into the economic climate and the competitive
landscape to justify the timing of the project.
 Step 2: Identify the Alternative Solutions
 How do you know whether the project you’re undertaking is
the best possible solution to the problem defined above?
 Naturally, choosing the right solution is hard, and the path to
success is not paved with unfounded assumptions.
 One way to narrow down the focus to make the right solution
clear is to follow these six steps (after the relevant research, of
course):
1. Note the alternative solutions.
2. For each solution, quantify its benefits.
3. Also, forecast the costs involved in each solution.
4. Then figure out its feasibility.
5. Discern the risks and issues associated with each solution.
6. Finally, document all this in your business case.
 Step 3: Recommend a Preferred Solution
 You’ll next need to rank the solutions, but before doing that it’s
best to set up criteria, maybe have a scoring mechanism to help
you prioritize the solutions to best choose the right one.
 Some methodologies you can apply include:
 Depending on the solution’s cost and benefit, give it a score of 1-10.
 Base your score on what’s important to you.

 Add more complexity to your ranking to cover all bases.

 Regardless of your approach, once you’ve added up your

 After identifying your business problem or opportunity and

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