SE 430: Software Project

Management

The Project Management Process Groups

and
Knowledge Areas

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Learning Objectives
Describe the five project management process
groups, the typical level of activity for each, and the
interactions among them

Understand how the project management process

groups relate to the project management knowledge
areas

Discuss how organizations develop information

technology (IT) project management methodologies
to meet their needs

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Learning Objectives
Review a case study of an organization applying the project
management process groups to manage an IT project, describe
outputs of each process group, and understand the
contribution that effective initiating, planning, executing,
monitoring and controlling, and closing make to project
success

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A Process…

A process: series of actions directed toward a particular

result

Process
Input (the black Output
box)

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 The PROCESS
Think of process as a little machine –
takes inputs - turns them to output:
docs, deliverables and decision

Every single process has inputs –

tool and techniques - that are used to
do work and outputs

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 The PROCESS

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Project Management Process Groups
The PM process groups include:
Initiating processes
Defining and authorizing a project or project phase
Planning processes
Devising and maintaining workable scheme for organization needs
Executing processes
Coordination people and resources to produce products
Monitoring and controlling processes
Measuring and monitoring progress against project objectives
Closing processes
Formalizing project acceptance or phase
Where did we see these stages before?

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Percentage of Time Spent on Each Process
Group
Guidelines on how much time to spend in each process group
Alpha Project Managers: What the Top 2% Know That Everyone Else Does Not,
Andy Crowe collected data from 860 project managers in various companies and
industries in the United States.

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Process Groups interaction-I
PM Process Groups are linked by the outputs which are
produced.

The Process Groups are seldom either discrete or one-

time events; they are overlapping activities that occur
throughout the project.

The output of one process generally becomes an input to

another process or is a deliverable of the project,
subproject, or project phase.

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Process Groups Interaction-II
The process groups are not mutually exclusive. For
example, project managers must perform monitoring and
controlling processes throughout the project’s life span.

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Knowledge Areas Organizes the Processes

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The Knowledge Areas (10)

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PM Process Groups and KA Mapping (Another
perspective)

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How the things should be done?

Case Study
JWD Consulting’s PM Intranet Site

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Case Study: JWD Consulting’s PM Intranet Site

An example of what’s involved in initiating, planning,

executing, controlling, and closing an IT project
This case study: a big picture view of managing a project;
Later we will see detailed information on each knowledge
area
We will look at some aspects here!

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Case Study: JWD Consulting’s PM Intranet Site
– The Description
Ms. Maryam is in charge of the Project Management Office (PMO) for her consulting firm,
JWD Consulting, which has grown to include more than 200 full-time consultants and even
more part-time consultants. (JWD stands for Job Well Done.)

JWD Consulting provides a variety of consulting services to assist organizations in selecting

and managing IT projects. The firm focuses on finding and managing high-payoff projects and
developing strong metrics to measure project performance and benefits to the organization
after the project is implemented.The firm’s emphasis on metrics and working collaboratively
with its customers gives it an edge over many competitors.

Dr.Ahmed, the CEO, wants his company to continue to grow and become a world-class
consulting organization. Because the core of the business is helping other organizations with
project management, he felt it was crucial for JWD Consulting to have an exemplary process
for managing its own projects. He asked Maryam to work with her team and other
consultants in the firm to develop several intranet site applications that would allow them to
share their project management knowledge.

He also thought that the firm should make some of the information available to the firm’s
clients. For example, the firm could provide project management templates, tools, articles,
links to other sites, and an “Ask the Expert” feature to help build relationships with current
and future clients. Because JWD Consulting emphasizes the importance of high-payoff
projects, Dr Ahmed also wanted to see a business case for this project before proceeding.

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How the things should be done?
Case Study
JWD Consulting’s PM Intranet Site

Project Pre-Initiation

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Project Pre-initiation
Good practice: lay the groundwork for a project before it
officially starts
Senior managers often perform several pre-initiation tasks,
including the following:
Determine the scope, time, and cost constraints for the project
Identify the project sponsor
Select the project manager
Develop a business case for a project (just saw!)
Meet with the project manager to review the process and expectations for
managing the project
Determine if the project should be divided into two or more smaller projects

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JWD Consulting’s PM Intranet Site: Business
case
1.0 Introduction/ Background
World-class PM consulting services

2.0 Business Objective

Strategic goal: Growth and profitability
PM Intranet site: visibility of the firm’s expertise to potential clients
Improve profitability by reducing internal costs: standards tools, techniques,
templates and PM Knowledge to consultants

3.0 Current Situation and Problem/Opportunity Statement

JWD Consulting: Website (marketing info), intranet (HR info), Enterprise-wide PM
Opportunity: Consultant's PM Knowledge

4.0 Critical Assumption and Constraints

Proposed Intranet: Current consultants and clients must support actively
Must pay itself in one year(reducing internal cost and generating new business)

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JWD Consulting’s PM Intranet Site: Business
case
1. Analysis of Options and Recommendation
1. Do nothing
2. Purchase
3. Design and implement new Intranet
6.0 Preliminary Project Requirements
Access: 1. PM templates and tools 2. Articles 3. Links: Website 4. “Askthe Expert”, 5.
Security 6. Payment for some info 7. Features proposed by users
7.0 Budget Estimate and Financial Analysis
$140000/- , recruiting expenditure
8.0 Schedule Estimate
Six months
1. Potential Risks
• Lack of interest by consultants and clients, user input are crucial for populating the
info,
• Technical risks (type of software to search the system, check security, process
payments)
• Main business risk: invest time and money but do not get the benefits
10.0 Exhibits
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Exhibit A: Financial Analysis
How the things should be done?
Case Study
JWD Consulting’s PM Intranet Site

Project Initiation

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Project Initiation
Initiating a project: includes recognizing and starting a new
project or project phase
The main goal: formally select and start off project

Project initiation knowledge areas, processes, and outputs

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 Project Initiation : Identify Stakeholders

Stakeholder Register

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 Project Initiation : Identify Stakeholders

Stakeholder Management Strategy

Contents are often sensitive, so do not publish this document.

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 Project Initiation : Develop Project Charter

Project Charters and Kick-off Meetings

Charters are normally short and include key project
information and stakeholder signatures
Good practice: kick-off meeting at the beginning of a
project
Stakeholders intro, review the goals of the project, and discuss
future plans

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Kick-off Meeting Agenda
Project Initiation : Develop Project Charter

Initiation

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 Project Charter
Project Title: Project Management Intranet Site Project
Project Start Date: May 2010 Projected Finish Date: Nov 2010
Project Information: budget, time
Project Objectives:

Main Project Success Criteria

Approach
• Develop a survey to determine the features of the new Intranet site and
solicit input from consultants and customersInitiation
• Review internal and external templates and examples of the PM documents
• Research software: security, manage users, & facilitates articles retrieval,
“Askthe Expert”
• Iterative approach: user feedback
• Value: reduced cost, new revenues ; during and after the one year

Roles and Responsibilities

Sign off
Comments 34
How the things should be done?
Case Study
JWD Consulting’s PM Intranet Site

Project Planning

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Project Planning (Planning
Process Group)
The main purpose of project planning: guide execution
Every knowledge area includes planning information (See
the handout and on LMS)
Key outputs included in the JWD project include:
A team contract
Scope statement
Work breakdown structure (WBS)
Schedule, in the form of a Gantt chart with all dependencies and
resources entered
A list of prioritized risks (part of a risk register)

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 Project Planning
(Planning Process Group)

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Team Contract
Team Contract...
Scope Statement
Scope Statement…
Work
Breakdown
Structure
(WBS)

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JWD Consulting Intranet Site Project
Baseline Gantt Chart

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Table List of Prioritized Risks

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Project Executing
Usually takes the most time and resources to perform project
execution

Project managers must use their leadership skills to handle the

many challenges that occur during project execution

The executing processes and outputs; many project sponsors

and customers focus on deliverables related to providing the
products, services, or results desired from the project

A milestone report can help focus on completing major

milestones

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Executing processes and outputs-I

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Executing processes and outputs-II

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Part of Milestone Report

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Project Monitoring and Controlling

Involves measuring progress toward project objectives,

monitoring deviation from the plan, and taking correction
actions

Affects all other process groups and occurs during all

phases of the project life cycle

Outputs include performance reports, change requests, and

updates to various plans

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Monitoring and controlling processes and
outputs

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Monitoring and controlling processes and
outputs

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Project Closing
Involves gaining stakeholder and customer acceptance of
the final products and services
Even if projects are not completed, they should be closed out to
learn from the past

Outputs include:
project archives and lessons learned,
part of organizational process assets

Most projects also include a final report and presentation

to the sponsor/senior management

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Summary
The five project management process groups are
initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling,
and closing

You can map the main activities of each process group to

the nine knowledge areas

What happens in each of the process groups (a broader

perspective)!

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Quiz 2 – 06-10-2021
1. What are the Triple Constraints?
2. Names of Project Management Process Groups?
3. In the figure below, where is the highest interaction among process
groups?

4. Who are external project stakeholders?

5. Which frames of organizations can help PM understand stakeholder
needs and expectations?