Project management process

The first two articles describe related concepts in project management, concepts and types in project organization and project life cycle. This article describes the process of project management, outlines nine fields, and five Process Groups, 44 processes (add stakeholder management in version 5, and add 47 processes)

Project Management applies knowledge, skills, tools and technologies to project activities to meet project requirements. In order to apply this knowledge, the project management process needs to be effectively managed.

A process is a series of interrelated actions and activities to create a predetermined product, service, or result. Each process has its own input, tool, technology, and corresponding output.

Project Management Process Group

The project management process can be classified into five project management process groups:

Start Process Group. Define a new stage of a new project or existing project and authorize a group of processes to start the project or stage.

Planning Process Group. Define the scope of the project, optimize the objectives, and formulate a set of processes for achieving the objectives.

Execution Process Group. A set of processes that meet the requirements of project specifications.

Monitoring Process Group. Track, review and adjust project progress and performance, identify necessary planned changes, and initiate a set of processes for corresponding changes.

Closing Process Group. End all activities of all Process Groups and formally end a group of processes of the project or stage.

Project Management Process Group

Project management process groups are linked with each other based on the outputs they generate. Process Groups are rarely isolated or one-time events, but overlap during the entire project. The output of a process is usually the input of another process, or the deliverables of a project, subproject, or project stage. Deliverables at the sub-project or project level may be referred to as incremental deliverables. The planning process group provides the implementation process group with a project management plan and project files, and updates the project management plan and project files as the project progresses.

 

Process group interaction in projects or stages

Basic Processes and interactions between process groups and specific stakeholders. The project management process is interconnected by specific input and output, that is, the results or results of a process become inputs of another process (not necessarily in the same process group.

Interaction between Project Management Process Groups

Start Process Group

During startup,Define initial scope and implement initial financial resources, and identify internal and external stakeholders who will interact and influence the overall project results, Select the project manager (if not arranged ). This information should be reflected in the project charter and stakeholder register. Once the project charter is approved, the project will be officially authorized.

A project boundary refers to a project or project stage from the authorized time point to the time point that can be completed. The main purpose of this Process Group is to ensure the consistency between stakeholder expectations and project objectives, so that stakeholders can understand the scope and objectives of the project, it also helps stakeholders understand their participation in the project and project phases to achieve their expectations. This group of processes helps set the Project VISION-what needs to be done.

 

Project boundary

By allowing the initiator, customer, and other stakeholders to participate in the launch process, a common understanding of the success criteria can be established to reduce participation costs and improve the acceptability of deliverables, improve Customer Satisfaction and other stakeholders.

The document on project initiation decisions can also describe the initial project scope, deliverables, project schedules, and resource forecasts for investment analysis. The project manager should also be authorized to use organizational resources to carry out subsequent project activities during the startup process.

 

Planning Process Group

The planning process group contains a set of processes that define the project scope, define and optimize the objectives, and develop action plans for achieving the objectives. The planning process group develops the project management plan and project documents used to guide the project implementation .. The planning process group is mainly used to determine strategy, tactics, and action plans or routes for successful completion of projects or stages. Effectively manage the planning process group, making it easier to get the approval and participation of stakeholders. The planning process clearly shows how to achieve this and determine the path to achieving the expected goal.

When planning a project, preparing a project management plan and project documents, the project team should solicit the opinions of all stakeholders and encourage the participation of all stakeholders. Since feedback and optimization documents cannot be collected endlessly, the organization should develop procedures to determine when the initial planning will end. When developing these procedures, consider the nature of the project, the established project boundaries, the required monitoring activities and the project environment.

Execution Process Group

The results of project execution may lead to planned updates and benchmark reconstruction, including the expected duration of the change, the change of resource productivity and availability, and the consideration of unexpected risks. Deviations during execution may affect the project management plan or project file, which requires careful analysis and appropriate measures for project management. The analysis result may cause a change request. Once approved, the change request may need to modify the project management plan or other project documents, or even create new benchmarks. A large portion of the project's budget will be spent in the execution process group.

Monitoring Process Group

The monitoring process group contains a set of processes that track, review, and adjust project progress and performance, identify necessary planned changes, and initiate corresponding changes. The main role of this Process Group is to regularly measure and analyze project performance when a specific event occurs or when an exception occurs, so as to identify deviations from the project management plan. Monitoring Process Group involves:

• Control Changes, recommend corrective actions, or recommend preventive actions for possible problems;
• Supervises ongoing project activities against project management plans and project performance measurement benchmarks;
• Influence factors that may cause overall change control or configuration management avoidance, and ensure that only approved changes can be implemented.

Closing Process Group

This process group is also used to formally handle the early termination of the project. Projects terminated earlier may include suspended projects, canceled projects, or projects with serious problems. Under certain circumstances, if the contract cannot be officially closed (for reasons such as claims or termination clauses), or some activities need to be transferred to other departments, specific handover procedures may need to be arranged and implemented.

When a project or stage ends, you may need:

• Obtain acceptance from the customer or initiator to formally end the project or stage;
• Post-project evaluation or end-of-stage evaluation;
• Record the impact of any cropping process;
• Record lessons learned;
• Appropriately update assets in the organizational process;
• Archive all relevant project files in the Project Management Information System for use as historical data;
• End all procurement activities and ensure the completion of all relevant agreements;
• Evaluate team members and release project resources.

Project information

Throughout the project lifecycle, a large amount of data and information needs to be collected, analyzed, and processed, and distributed to project team members and other stakeholders in various forms. Collect project data from each Execution Process and share it with the project team. In each control process, project data is comprehensively analyzed and summarized, and processed into project information. Then, project information is transmitted orally or edited into various forms of reports, storage and distribution.

Job performance data.Raw observed results and measurements collected from each ongoing activity during project execution. For example, work completion percentage, quality and technical performance measurement, start and end dates of progress activities, number of change requests, number of defects, actual cost and actual duration.

Work performance information.The performance data obtained from the collection and analysis of various control processes based on the relevant background and cross-domain relationships. Examples of performance information include deliverables, change request execution, and predicted completion estimates.

Performance Report.Physical or electronic project documents formed by compilation of work performance information for decision making, question raising, action taking, or interest. For example, the status report, Memorandum, argument report, information note, Electronic Report, Recommendation comment, or situation update.

 

Project data, information, and report Flow

Project management process group and knowledge fields

Note: The fifth version of PMBOK adds a project stakeholder to manage the knowledge field, and adds 47 small processes for three processes. The other data groups are five Process Groups, 9 fields of knowledge (overall, scope, cost, quality, progress, human resources, procurement, communication, and risk)

 

Project management process group and knowledge fields

Project management process