PROJECT MANAGEMENT

PROCESSES
ISRAR ALI
There’s a pattern to all of the work that gets done on your
project.
First you plan it,
then you get to work.
While you are doing the work, you are always
comparing your project to your original plan.
When things start to get off-plan, it’s your job to make
corrections and put everything back on track.
And the process framework—the process groups and
knowledge areas—is the key to all of this happening smoothly.
 Project management

 Project management is the application of knowledge,

skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to
meet the project requirements.
 This
application of knowledge requires the effective
management of the project management processes.
Process
A process is a set of interrelated actions and activities
performed to create a pre-specified product, service,
or result.
 Eachprocess is characterized by its inputs, the tools
and techniques that can be applied, and the resulting
outputs
Project Processes

The project processes are performed by the project

team with stakeholder interaction and generally fall
into one of two major categories:

 Project management processes

 Product-oriented processes
Project management processes

These processes ensure the effective flow of the project

throughout its life cycle. These processes encompass the tools
and techniques involved in applying the skills and capabilities
described in the Knowledge Areas
Product-oriented processes

These processes specify and create the project’s

product. Product oriented processes are typically
defined by the project life cycle and vary by
application area as well as the phase of the product
life cycle
Process Groups

All projects, no matter how big or small, break down into process groups. Process
groups are like the steps you use when following a recipe.

Project management processes are grouped into five categories known as Project
Management Process Groups
 Initiating Process Group.
 Planning Process Group.
 Executing Process Group.
 Monitoring and Controlling Process Group.
 Closing Process Group.
3.1 Common Project Management
Process Interactions
 The project management processes are presented as
discrete elements with well-defined interfaces. However, in
practice they overlap and interact.
 Theintegrative nature of project management requires the
Monitoring and Controlling Process Group to interact with
the other Process Groups, as shown in Figure
3.2 Project Management Process
Groups
The project management processes are linked by specific inputs
and outputs where the result or outcome of one process
becomes the input to another process but not necessarily in the
same Process Group.
3.3 Initiating Process Group

The Initiating Process Group consists of those processes

performed to define a new project or a new phase of an
existing project by obtaining authorization to start the project
or phase.
3.4 Planning Process Group

The Planning Process Group consists of those processes

performed to establish the total scope of the effort, define
and refine the objectives, and develop the course of action
required to attain those objectives.
3.5 Executing Process Group

 The Executing Process Group consists of those processes

performed to complete the work defined in the project
management plan to satisfy the project specifications.
 ThisProcess Group involves coordinating people and resources,
managing stakeholder expectations, as well as integrating and
performing the activities of the project in accordance with the
project management plan.
3.6 Monitoring and Controlling Process
Group
The Monitoring and Controlling Process Group consists of those
processes required to track, review, and execute the progress
and performance of the project; identify any areas in which
changes to the plan are required; and initiate the
corresponding changes.
3.7 Closing Process Group

The Closing Process Group consists of those processes

performed to conclude all activities across all Project
Management Process Groups to formally complete the
project, phase, or contractual obligations.
At project or phase closure, the following may occur:

• Obtain acceptance by the customer or sponsor to formally close the project or phase,
• Conduct post-project or phase-end review,
• Record impacts of tailoring to any process,
• Document lessons learned,
• Apply appropriate updates to organizational process assets,
• Archive all relevant project documents in the project management information system
(PMIS) to be used
as historical data,
• Close out all procurement activities ensuring termination of all relevant agreements, and
• Perform team members’ assessments and release project resources.
3.8 Project Information

 Throughout the life cycle of the project, a significant amount

of data and information is collected, analyzed, transformed,
and distributed in various formats to project team members
and other stakeholders
Work performance data. The raw observations and measurements identified
during activities performed to carry out the project work. Examples include
reported percent of work physically completed, quality and technical
performance measures, start and finish dates of schedule activities, number
of change requests, number of defects, actual costs, actual durations, etc.
Work performance information. The performance data collected from
various controlling processes, analyzed in context and integrated based on
relationships across areas. Examples of performance information are status of
deliverables, implementation status for change requests, and forecasted
estimates to complete.
Work performance reports. The physical or electronic representation of
work performance information compiled in project documents, intended to
generate decisions or raise issues, actions, or awareness. Examples include
status reports, memos, justifications, information notes, electronic
dashboards, recommendations, and updates.
3.9 Role of the Knowledge Areas

A Knowledge Area represents a complete set of

concepts, terms, and activities that make up a
professional field, project management field, or area
of specialization.
Knowledge Areas
Knowledge Areas
1. Which of the following is NOT a type of project management office?
A. Directive
B. Value-driven
C. Supportive
D. Controlling
2. Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of a project?
A. Temporary
B. Strategic
C. Specific result
D. Progressively elaborated
4. Which of the following is NOT a responsibility of a project manager?
A. Managing stakeholder expectations
B. Managing project constraints
C. Gathering product requirements
D. Sponsoring the project
5. Which of the following is NOT an interpersonal skill?
A. Motivation
B. Brainstorming
C. Team building
D. Coaching
7. Which of the following is NOT true about portfolio management?
A. The portfolio manager judges the success of the portfolio by combining data from all of its programs and
projects.
B. A portfolio can contain projects and programs.
C. A portfolio is organized around a business goal.
D. A portfolio is always a group of programs.
8. You’re managing a project to remodel a kitchen. You use earned value calculations to figure out that
you’re going to run $500 over budget if your project continues at the current rate. Which of the following
core characteristics of a project manager are you using to find the problem?
A. Knowledge
B. Performance
C. Personal
D. None of the above
9. At the beginning of a project, a software team project manager is given a schedule with everyone’s
vacations on it. She realizes that because the software will be delivered to the QA team exactly when they
have overlapping vacations, there is a serious risk of quality problems, because there won’t be anyone to
test the software before it goes into production. What BEST describes the constraint this places on the
project?
A. Quality constraint
B. Time constraint
C. Resource constraint
D. Risk constraint
3. Which of the following is NOT an example of operational work?
A. Building a purchase order system for accounts payable
B. Submitting weekly purchase orders through a purchase order system
C. Deploying weekly anti-virus software updates
D. Yearly staff performance evaluations
4. You’re managing a project to build a new accounting system. One of the accountants in another
department really likes the current system and is refusing to be trained on the new one. What is the
BEST way to handle this situation?
A. Refuse to work with him because he’s being difficult
B. Appeal to the accountant’s manager and ask to have him required to take training
C. Get a special dispensation so that the accountant doesn’t have to go to the training
D. Work with him to understand his concerns and do what you can to help alleviate them without
compromising your project
5. Which of the following is used for identifying people who are impacted by the project?
A. Resource List
B. Stakeholder Register
C. Enterprise Environmental Factors
D. Project Plan
8. A project coordinator is having trouble securing programmers for her project. Every time she asks her boss to give a
resource to the project he says that they are too busy to help out with her project. Which type of organization is she working
in?
A. Functional
B. Weak Matrix
C. Strong Matrix
D. Projectized
9. A project manager is having trouble securing programmers for her project. Every time she asks the
programming manager for resources for her project, he says they’re all assigned to other work. So she is constantly having to
go over his head to overrule him. Which type of organization is she working for?
A. Functional
B. Weak Matrix
C. Strong Matrix
D. Projectized
10. The project manager for a construction project discovers that a new water line is being created in the neighborhood where
he’s managing a project. Company policy requires that a series of forms for city environmental changes need to be filled out
before his team can continue work on the project. This is an example of:
A. A portfolio
B. A program
C. An enterprise environmental factor
D. A project
1. You’re a project manager working on a software engineering project. The programmers have
started building the software, and the testers have started to create the test environment. Which
process group includes these activities?
A. Initiating
B. Planning
C. Executing
D. Closing
2. Which of the following is not a stakeholder?
A. The project manager who is responsible for building the project
B. A project team member who will work on the project
C. A customer who will use the final product
D. A competitor whose company will lose business because of the product
3. A project manager runs into a problem with her project’s contractors, and she isn’t sure
if they’re abiding by the terms of the contract. Which knowledge area is the BEST source of
processes to help her deal with this problem?
A. Cost Management
B. Risk Management
C. Procurement Management
D. Communications Management
6. Which of the following is NOT a project?
A. Repairing a car
B. Building a highway overpass
C. Running an IT support department
D. Filming a motion picture
7. A project manager is running a software project that is supposed to be delivered in phases. She was
planning on dividing the resources into two separate teams to do the work for two phases at the same time, but one of her senior
developers suggested that she use an agile methodology instead, and she agrees. Which of the following BEST describes the
relationship between her project’s phases?
A. Sequential relationship
B. Iterative relationship
C. Constrained relationship
D. Overlapping relationship
8. Which of the following is NOT true about overlapping phases?
A. Each phase is typically done by a separate team.
B. There’s an increased risk of delays when a later phase can’t start until an earlier one ends.
C. There’s an increased risk to the project due to potential for rework.
D. Every phase must go through all five process groups.
9. You’re the project manager for an industrial design project. Your team members report to you, and you’re responsible for
creating the budget, building the schedule, and assigning the tasks. When the project is complete, you release the team so they
can work on other projects for the company. What kind of organization do you work in?
A. Functional
B. Weak matrix
C. Strong matrix
D. Projectized
10. Which process group contains the Develop Project Charter process and the Identify Stakeholders process?
A. Initiating
B. Executing
C. Monitoring and Controlling
D. Closing