Pm610 1103 b-02-schwappach-loren-p1-ip1

Process Groups and Knowledge Areas

Loren Karl Schwappach

Colorado Technical University

30 August 2011

Process Groups and Knowledge Areas

Introduction

Hello, my name is Loren Karl Schwappach. I am the new project manager for

the 2011 Billing System Upgrade Project (BSUP). I have been asked to create this briefing to

enlighten the customer service and billing departments about project management process

groups and the knowledge areas of project management. I hope this briefing is informative

and helps to open eyes to the upcoming challenges ahead. It is my goal to see this project to

success and as base line users you will play a large role in determining the quality and

performance of the final project.

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Overview

Today I will talk to you about the five project management process groups to

include: initiating, planning, executing, monitor and controlling and closing. I will also

introduce the nine knowledge areas of project management to include: integration

management, scope management, time management, cost management, quality management,

human Resources management, communications management, risk management, and

procurement management. I will end the briefing with a project management case study. If

you have any questions as I proceed during this briefing please feel free to speak them during

the briefing.

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Project Management Process Groups

Before the customer service and billing department’s legacy billing system

web-based upgrade project can be initiated, it is imperative for the project manager, project

team, and project stakeholders to recognize what is to pass once the project is started and the

undertakings they will be required to participate in. This briefing was designed to provide an

understanding of project management process groups and the nine knowledge areas of project

management so that IRTC employees can observe how to properly work with and structure the

project to ensure this projects success. Although, there is no way to completely anticipate and

prevent all problems, having a clear understanding of the processes will help increase the

effectiveness in managing this large upgrade project.

Group #1: Initiating

The initial phase of project management involves obtaining the necessary

permissions and approvals required to begin the project. Usually, a document outlining the

necessity for the project is created in order to reason to the project’s sponsor how the needs of

the organization will be met, and approximately how much the project will cost and how long

the project is expected to take (Babou, 2008).

The initiating process group contains the processes designed to describe the

project, subproject, or phase of an existing project and obtain authorization to begin each

project phase. The main processes of the initiating group as defined by the PMBOK are to

develop the project charter and identify stakeholders (Global Standard, 2008).

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Group #2: Planning

This project group is about planning out the project and defining project goals.

Large portions of the project need to be stripped down and deadlines will be scheduled.

Stakeholders will play a large role in authorizing and planning out resources (Babou, 2008).

This is also the phase in which the project team is put together and begins to identify tasks and

roles. Project costs are estimated to provide the groundwork for a project budget. The IRTC

project team will utilize MS Project to aid in the scheduling of costs and resources and will

utilize your departments in streamlining these plans.

The planning process group contains processes needed to establish the

projects scope, smooth and refine objectives and identify courses of action necessary to

complete project objectives. This group contains the following processes: develop project

management plan, collect requirements, define scope, create WBS, define activities, sequence

activities, estimate activity resources, estimate activity durations, develop schedule, estimate

costs, determine budget, plan quality, develop human resource plan, plan communications,

plan risk management, identify risks, perform quantitative risk analysis, plan risk responses,

and plan procurements (Global Standard, 2008).

Group #3: Executing

Now that the project team has everything in place and goals well-defined, it is

time to begin developing the end product results. Contracts are administered as needed, and

the project’s team members make periodic reports on their status. Everything that goes into

making the plan a reality takes place during the project’s execution group (Babou, 2008).

This process group contains the processes used to perform and complete work

as outlined by the project management plan and needed to satisfy project specifications. This

group contains the following processes: direct and manage project execution, perform quality

assurance, acquire project team, develop project team, manage project team, distribute

information, manage stakeholder expectations, and conduct procurements (Global Standard,

2008).

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Group #4: Monitoring and controlling

After the execution stage is under way the project team should begin

monitoring to ensure everything goes according to the project plan. As products and stages are

completed, each is submitted to the project sponsor (IRTC CIO) for approval. If adjustments

are required they are made during this stage. The project team and stakeholders should keep

an ongoing list of valuable lessons learned during the project to help in evaluating the projects

performance (Babou, 2008).

This process group contains the processes utilized in tracking, reviewing, and

regulating the performance and progress of the project, identifying areas for change, and

initiating changes. The group contains the following processes: monitor and control project

work, perform integrated change control, verify scope, control scope, control schedule, control

costs, perform quality control, report performance, monitor and control risks, and administer

procurements (Global Standard, 2008).

Group #5: Closing

The last project management group marks the end of the project. The project

manager arranges for the final acceptance of the product, and the sponsor accepts. Everything

is carefully documented in writing, and records of contracts, transactions, and other

agreements are completed. Project debriefing and plans for necessary follow up are made at

this time (Babou, 2008).

The closing process group contains the processes for finalizing activities

across all process groups. This group contains the following processes: close project or phase,

and close procurements (Global Standard, 2008).

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Project Management Knowledge Areas

Managing projects involves applying knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques

to project activities in order to meet project objectives. IRTC’s project team will accomplish

this by performing processes at various stages of the project, as I discussed in the project phase

slides. Each aspect of a project is managed by using the corresponding knowledge area.

Each process belongs to one of the nine knowledge areas: scope management,

time management, cost management, human resource management, procurement management,

risk management, quality management, integration management, and communication

management (Kerzner, 2003).

Project Integration Management

The project is initiated, planned, and executed in pieces, and all those need to

fit together. That is where project integration management is utilized. Project integration

management includes developing the project charter (the document that authorizes the project

and identifies initial project requirements), developing the project management plan (defines

how the project is executed, monitored, and controlled), directing and managing project

execution (creating deliverables, training staff and team members, obtaining resources,

performing risk management, managing sellers and suppliers, issuing change requests),

monitoring and controlling project work (tracking, reviewing, and regulating the progress to

meet performance objectives), performing integrated change control (reviewing, approving,

and managing project changes), and closing the project or a phase of a project (review and

finalizing all activities) (Global Standard, 2008).

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Project Scope Management

Project scope management includes collecting requirements (defining and

documenting stakeholder’s needs, customer service will play a large part here), defining the

scope (develop detailed description of the project), creating a Work Breakdown Structure

(WBS) (subdivides deliverables into smaller manageable components), verifying the scope

(formalizing acceptance of deliverables), and controlling the scope (monitoring the status of

the project and scope and managing changes). Initially our project team will collect the

requirements for the project based on the stakeholders’ needs, which will determine the project

scope. Next our project team will develop the description for the project and its products,

which is the basis for the project scope. Customer service and billing departments will play a

large role in identifying the features need for this project and thus will play a large part in

defining the projects scope and deliverables. Our project team will then create the project’s

work breakdown structure (WBS). Next our project team will verify the scope and plan how

the completed deliverables of the project will be accepted. Finally in order to control the

scope, only the approved changes to the scope should be implemented. Obviously, these

components are performed by using the corresponding processes (Global Standard, 2008).

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Project Time Management

Project time management is accomplished by defining activities, sequencing

activities, estimating activity resources, estimating activity durations, developing a schedule,

and controlling the schedule. Define activities includes identifying all the work activities that

need to be scheduled to produce the project deliverables. Sequencing activities involves

identifying the dependencies among the activities that need to be scheduled so that they can be

scheduled in the correct order. Estimating activity resources includes estimate the types of

resources needed and the quantity for each type for each schedule activity. Estimating activity

durations involves estimating the time needed to complete each schedule activity. Developing

the schedule includes analyzing the data created in the previous steps to develop the schedule.

Control of the schedule involves controlling the changes to the project schedule (Global

Standard, 2008).

Project Cost Management

Cost management includes estimating the cost, determining the project

budget, and controlling the cost. Estimate cost involves developing the cost of the resources

needed to complete the project, which includes schedule activities and outsourced/procured

work. Determining the budget requires aggregating the costs of individual activities to

establish a cost baseline that includes timing. Control the cost involves monitoring and

controlling the cost variance in the project execution (Global Standard, 2008).

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Project Quality Management

Project quality management includes planning the quality, performing quality

assurance, and performing quality control. Planning quality involves determining the quality

requirements and standards that are relevant to the project at hand and how to apply them.

Performing quality assurance involves ensuring the planned quality requirements and

standards are applied. Performing quality control involves monitoring the quality activities

and recording the results of these activities in order to assess performance and make necessary

recommendations for corrective actions and changes (Global Standard, 2008).

Project Human Resource Management

Project human resource management includes developing a human resource

plan, acquiring the project team, developing the project team, and managing the project team.

Developing a human resources plan involves identifying project roles, responsibilities for each

role, and reporting relationships among the roles. The staff management plan describes when

and how the resource requirements will be met. Acquiring the project team involves obtaining

the human resources needed to work on the project. Developing the project team involves

improving the competencies of the team members and the interaction among members to

optimize the team performance. Managing the project team involves tracking the performance

of team members, provide team members with feedback, and resolve issues and conflicts

(Global Standard, 2008).

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Project Communication Management

Communication management includes identifying project stakeholders,

planning communication, distributing information, managing stake holder expectations, and

reporting performance. Stakeholder identification involves identifying all individuals, groups,

and organizations that will potentially be impacted by the project and find relevant information

about them (this includes customer service and billing department staff). Planning

communications involves determining the information and communication needs of the project

at hand and the communication approach to be used. Distributing information involves

making the needed information available to the project stakeholders in a timely fashion.

Managing stakeholder expectations involves communicating and working with the

stakeholders in order to understand and meet their needs, address the issues, and manage the

expectations within the project scope and the project management plan. This maybe the most

essential process and will require a lot of brain storming between the project team and

customer service and billing departments. Finally, reporting performance involves collecting

and distributing performance information to the stakeholders to stay on the same page (Global

Standard, 2008).

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Project Risk Management

Project risk management includes risk management planning, identification of

risks, performing qualitative risk analysis, planning risk responses, and monitor and control of

risks. Planning risk management involves deciding how to determine and execute the risk

management tasks. Identifying risks included identifying the potential risks relevant to the

project at hand and determine the characteristics of those risks. Performing qualitative risk

analysis involves assessing the probability of occurrence and the impact for each risk in order

to prioritize risks for an action or for further analysis. Performing quantitative risk analysis

involves estimating the effects of identified risks on project objectives. Planning risk

responses involves developing action options for risks to maximize opportunities for and

minimize threats to satisfying project objectives. Monitor and control of risks involves

tracking identified risks, implement risk response plans, identify new risks, and evaluate the

effectiveness of risk management processes throughout the project (Global Standard, 2008).

Project Procurement Management

Procurement management includes planning procurements, conducting

procurements, administering procurements, and closing procurements. To plan procurements

the project team needs to identify purchasing needs (what hardware / software is needed,

materials, personnel outsourcing, etc.), specify the procurement approach, and identify

potential venders. Conducting procurements involves obtaining vender responses, selecting

venders, and issuing contracts. Administering procurements involves managing procurement

relationships, monitoring the procurement performance, and monitoring and controlling

changes in procurement. Closing procurements involves completing procurements with proper

closure, such as accepting products and closing contracts (Global Standard, 2008).

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Case Study

[WHY] Project management training offers advantages and clear

benefits to include reduced delivery costs, increased project efficiency, focus

advantages, prediction increases, and problem identification (Egeland, 2010). As an

example a case study of [WHO] a major investment company was completed

[WHERE] by Rosenhead (2010) of Project Agency a project management online

training agency [WHEN] in 2006 (Rosenhead, 2010). [WHAT] The investment

company studied was facing a problem where projects were not being delivered

effectively (on time or on budget). Very few staff had been involved with project

management courses and they had no overall project management approach. [HOW]

The company developed a non-standard project methodology and asked Project

Agency to benchmark their practices, and the preliminary results were poor. Project

Agency provided essential project management training to the company and projects

began being completed in record time, without breaking budget constraints, and

increased quality. The investment companies’ staff was more aware of the way to

approach change management thorough the use of and application of project

management skills. IRTC customer service employees will play a tremendous role on

the success of this project which is why an understanding of the standard processes

involved is so essential.

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Summary

Today I talked to you about the five project management process groups to

include: initiating, planning, executing, monitor and controlling and closing. I also introduced

the nine knowledge areas of project management to include: integration management, scope

management, time management, cost management, quality management, human Resources

management, communications management, risk management, and procurement management.

I concluded the briefing with a project management case study and explained some of the

benefits of project management. I would now like to open the floor to any additional

questions. Thank you.

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References

Babou, S.(2008). Project Management Processes & Process Groups. Leadership Champions, Retrieved August 30, 2011, from http://leadershipchamps.wordpress.com/2008/03/03/project-management-process-groups/

Egeland, B. (2010). “Strategic Organizational Benefits of Project Management”. Project

Management Tips, Retrieved August 30, 2011, from http://pmtips.net/strategic-organizational-benefits-project-management/

Global Standard. (2008). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (4th ed.).

Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute, Inc. Kerzner, H. (2003). Project management: A systems approach to planning, scheduling, and

controlling (8th ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Rosenhead, R. (2010). Case Studies. Retrieved August 30, 2011, from Project Agency

Website: http://pmtips.net/strategic-organizational-benefits-project-management/

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[Illustration of PMBOK Processes]. (n.d.). Retrieved August 30, 2011, from: http://www.projectmanagement-ema.com/imageprocessor.php?src=images/pmbok-processes.jpg&w=200

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