Project Management Processes

The Five Process Groups

1. Start. Initiate the project.
2. Plan. Plan the project.
3. Act. Execute the project.
4. Check and Act. Monitor and control the project.
5. End. Close the project.

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Initiating Process Group

Initiating formally authorizes and starts a new project. The project manager is assigned during initiation and receives the information needed to begin. Initiating may also start the project selection process.

The team creates the project charter and identifies stakeholders and their high-level needs. The outputs are the charter, the identified stakeholders, and a strategy for managing them.

Inputs to Initiating

Possible inputs include:

• The business case.
• The product description.
• The connection between company strategy and the project.
• Likely stakeholders.
• Contracts.
• Current industry standards.
• The change control system.
• Defined processes and procedures.
• Templates from past projects.
• Historical work breakdown structures (WBS).
• Historical estimates.
• An understanding of the company’s culture.
• Possible team members.

Progressive Elaboration

Progressive elaboration means continually refining estimates and scope.

Business Case

The business case explains why the project was started. Understanding the reason helps the project manager align activities with the intended outcome and helps the team deliver that outcome.

High-Level Planning During Initiating

1. Create a high-level WBS.
2. Prepare an order-of-magnitude estimate.
3. Identify high-level risks.

This work supports creation of the project charter, which documents project objectives, milestone schedules, and the initial budget.

Planning Process Group

Planning organizes the work before it begins. It can save time, resources, and money. The project team evaluates in detail whether it can achieve the objectives, examines all knowledge areas, and charts a path to successful completion.

• Create the project management plan.
• Identify stakeholders and their needs.
• Collect requirements.
• Define scope.
• Create the WBS.
• Define work packages and activities.
• Sequence activities.
• Estimate activity resources.
• Estimate activity durations.
• Develop the schedule.
• Estimate costs.
• Determine the budget.
• Plan quality.
• Develop the human resource plan.
• Plan communications.
• Plan risk management.
• Identify risks.
• Perform qualitative and quantitative risk analysis.
• Plan risk responses.
• Plan procurements.

The outputs are the project management plan and project documents. Planning is iterative. The individual management plans become part of the overall plan, which is updated as changes occur. Match the planning effort and level of detail to the needs of the project. Organize the work into phases if the entire project cannot be planned in detail at the start.

Everyone takes part in planning. The project manager compiles the plan using stakeholder input, historical records, company policies, and other information.

Executing Process Group

Executing means carrying out the work in the project management plan to achieve the project objectives. It focuses on managing people, following processes, and distributing information.

• Direct and manage project execution.
• Perform quality assurance.
• Acquire the project team.
• Develop the project team.
• Manage the project team.
• Distribute information.
• Manage stakeholder expectations.
• Conduct procurements.

Project management is iterative, so the work can occur in different sequences. During execution, follow the latest revision of the project management plan.

Monitoring and Controlling Process Group

Monitoring and Controlling measures performance against the project management plan and involves approving change requests, including corrective actions, preventive actions, and defect repairs.

• Monitor and control project work.
• Perform integrated change control.
• Verify scope.
• Control scope.
• Control the schedule.
• Control costs.
• Perform quality control.
• Report performance.
• Monitor and control risks.
• Administer procurements.

Closing Process Group

A project is complete once formal closure is complete. The two actions are Close Project or Phase and Close Procurements.

Complete the administrative work and obtain formal sign-off from the customer, other stakeholders, and/or the sponsor that the product is acceptable. Once the project is closed, the project manager can release the resources that supported closure.