Project Management

Week 1 - Overview
Project & Program Management
• Project - a temporary endeavor (tangible or intangible) undertaken to create a
unique product, service, or result
• Have definitive beginnings and ends
• Ends when objectives have been met, cannot be met, or were terminated
• Project Management - application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to
project activities to meet the project requirements
• Program (definition) – a group of related projects, subprograms, and program
activities managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits not available from
managing them individually
• Program management - application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques
to a program in order to meet the program requirements and to obtain benefits
and control not available by managing projects individually
(Project Management Body of Knowledge, 2017)
Project Management Skills & Capabilities
• Effective Project Management Requires:
• Knowledge (of project management)
• Performance (what can be accomplished while applying project management knowledge)
• Personal (behavior, attitude, core personality, leadership)
• Effective Project Managers require a balance of technical, interpersonal, and conceptual skills:
• Leadership
• Team building
• Motivation
• Communication
• Influencing
• Decision making
• Political and cultural awareness
• Negotiation
• Trust building
• Conflict management
• Coaching
(Project Management Body of Knowledge, 2017)
Organizational Influences
• Culture, style, and structure influence how projects are performed
• The level of project management maturity and project management systems can influence a project
• External entities can also influence a project
• Organizational cultures are shaped by common experiences:
• Shared visions, mission, values, beliefs, expectations
• Regulations, policies, methods, and procedures
• Motivation and reward systems
• Risk tolerance
• View of leadership, hierarchy, and authority relationships
• Code of conduct, work ethic, and work hours
• Operating environments
• Organizational culture is an Enterprise Environmental Factor (EEF)
• Effective project managers identify decision makers and influencers and work with them to increase the
probability of project success
• Success is highly dependent on effective organizational communication style
(Project Management Body of Knowledge, 2017)
Organizational Structure
• An Enterprise Environmental Factor (EEF) which can affect the
availability of resources and influence how projects are conducted

(Project Management Body of Knowledge, 2017)

Organizational Process Assets (OPA’s)
• Plans, processes, policies, procedures, & knowledge bases specific to the performing organization (includes lessons learned &
historical info)
• Inputs to most planning processes
• Two Categories of OPA’s:
• Processes & Procedures (specific to Process Groups)
• Guidelines & criteria for tailoring the organization’s set of standard processes & procedures to satisfy the specific needs of the project
• Organizational standards (policies)
• Templates
• Change control procedures
• Financial controls
• Issues & defect management procedures
• Communication requirements
• Procedures for prioritizing, approving, and issuing work authorizations
• Risk control procedures
• SWI’s & performance measurement criteria
• Project closure guidelines or requirements
• Corporate Knowledge Base
• Configuration management knowledge bases containing the versions and baselines of all performing organizational standards, policies, procedures
• Financial databases (labor hrs, incurred costs, budgets)
• Historical info & lessons learned
• Issue and defect databases
• Process measurement databases
• Project files from past projects
(Project Management Body of Knowledge, 2017)
Enterprise Environmental Factors (EEF’s)
• Conditions, not under the control of the project team, but influence, constrain, or direct the project
• Inputs to most planning processes
• Examples include:
• Organizational culture, structure, and governance
• Geographic distribution of facilities and resources
• Government or industry standards (regulatory)
• Infrastructure
• Existing human resources
• Personnel administration
• Company work authorization systems
• Marketplace conditions
• Stakeholder risk tolerances
• Political climate
• Organization’s stablished communications channels
• Commercial databases
• Project management information system
(Project Management Body of Knowledge, 2017)
Project Phases
• Sometimes used when work performed is unique to another major
deliverable
• Generally completed sequentially (but can overlap if needed)
• Allow a project to be segmented into logical subsets for ease of
management, planning, and control
• Phase-to-phase relationship
• Sequential – one after another
• Overlapping – phase starts prior to completion of another

(Project Management Body of Knowledge, 2017)

Project Lifecycle
• Project life cycles
• Predictive – scope, time, cost determined as early as possible in life cycle
• Iterative – phases repeat project activities as understanding increases
• Adaptive (Agile) – high levels of change and ongoing stakeholder involvement

(Project Management Body of Knowledge, 2017)

Project Management Process Groups
1. Initiating - processes performed to define a new project or new phase of an existing
project by obtaining authorization to start the project or phase (Phase Gates)
2. Planning - processes required to establish the scope of the project, refine the
objectives, and define the course of action required to attain the objectives that the
project was undertaken to achieve
3. Executing - processes performed to complete the work defined in the project
management plan to satisfy the project specifications
4. Monitoring & Controlling - processes required to track, review, and regulate the
progress and performance of the project; identify any areas where changes are
required; initiate corresponding changes
5. Closing - processes performed to finalize all activities across all process groups to
formally close the project or phase
*Project phases should not be confused with Project Management Process Groups*
(Project Management Body of Knowledge, 2017)
Initiating Process Group
• Information captured in the Project Charter & Stakeholder Register
• Initial scope is defined
• Initial financial resources committed
• Internal & external stakeholders who interact & influence the outcome are identified
• Project manager selected
• The project is fully authorized after the charter is approved
• Authorizes PM to apply organizational resources to project activities
• Purpose of this phase:
• Align stakeholder expectations with the projects purpose
• Provide visibility about the scope and objectives
• Show how their participation can ensure expectations are achieved
(Project Management Body of Knowledge, 2017)
Planning Process Group
• Planning processes develop the project management, plan and the project documents
that will be used to carry out the project
• My require the repeated use of feedback loops for additional analysis
• Progressive elaboration used to develop the project management plan
• Significant changes may trigger the need to revisit one or more planning processes,
and possibly some of the initiating processes
• Planning and documentation are iterative and ongoing activities
• The key benefit is to delineate the strategy and tactics, as well as the course of action
to successfully complete the project or phase
• Updates arising from approved changes may significantly impact the project
management plan and related documents – updating these documents will provide
greater precision
(Project Management Body of Knowledge, 2017)
Executing Process Group
• Coordinating people and resources, managing stakeholder
expectations, as well as integrating and performing activities of the
project in accordance with the project management plan
• Results of execution may require planning updates and re-baselining
• Changes may require detailed analysis and could trigger change
requests
• Change requests will require project management plan updates, and may
need to establish new baselines
• A large portion of the projects budget will be expended during the
executing process group
(Project Management Body of Knowledge, 2017)
Monitoring & Controlling Process Group
• Project performance is measured and analyzed at regular intervals, appropriate
events, or exception conditions to identify variances from the project
management plan
• Provides insight into the health of the project
• Identifies areas requiring additional attention
• Monitors and controls the entire project effort
• Actions include:
• Controlling changes and recommending corrective / preventative actions
• Monitoring the ongoing project activities against the project management plan and
project performance measurement baseline
• Influencing the factors that could circumvent integrated change control or configuration
management so only approved changes are implemented
(Project Management Body of Knowledge, 2017)
Closing Process Group
• Closes a project or phase
• Prematurely closes a project that is terminated
• Specific handover procedures are arranged and finalized
• Actions include:
• Obtain acceptance by customer or sponsor to formally close the project
• Conduct post-project or phase-end review
• Document lessons learned
• Apply updates to OPA’s
• Archive all project documents
• Close out procurement activities
• Perform team member assessments
(Project Management Body of Knowledge, 2017)
Project Information
• Work Performance Data
• Raw observations and measurements identified during activities performed to carry out
project work (ex. % work complete, quality performance, start/finish dates, number of
change requests, number of defects, actual costs, actual durations)
• Work Performance Information
• Performance data collected from various controlling processes, analyzed in context and
integrated based on relationship across areas (ex. deliverable status, implementation
status of changes requests, forecasted estimates to complete)
• Work Performance Reports
• Physical or electronic representation of work performance information compiled in
project documents, intended to generate decisions or raise issues, actions, or awareness
(ex. status reports, memos, justifications, information notes, dashboards,
recommendations, updates)
(Project Management Body of Knowledge, 2017)
Project Management Knowledge Areas
• Integration management
• Scope management
• Schedule management
• Cost management
• Quality management
• Resource management
• Communications management
• Risk management
• Procurement management
• Stakeholder management
(Project Management Body of Knowledge, 2017)
Project Management Processes
• 49 Processes in total
• Inputs & Outputs
• To knowledge areas & other processes
• Many updated iteratively
• Updates require change control

(Project Management Body of Knowledge, 2017)

References
• A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®
Guide), Project Management Institute, 2017. ProQuest Ebook Central,
https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.conestoga.idm.oclc.org/lib/conest
ogac/detail.action?docID=5180849.