ADAPTING PM PROCESS

All projects are composed of processes.

Processes are a series of actions with a common, parent goal to create a result.
Processes within project management monitor and move the phases along.
5 PM Process
Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and controlling, and Closing
(IPEMC).
Process groups are not solo activities; they are a collection of activities
that contribute to the control and implementation of the project
management life cycle.
Output of one process group serves as input for another process group.
Some process groups may be repeated based on activities in the project,
particularly Planning, Monitoring and controlling and Executing.
Process groups may overlap other groups.
Process may be iterative throughout the project.

Initiating
This process group grants the approval to commit the organizations
resources to working on the project or phase and authorizes the project
manager to begin working on the project. The outputs of the Initiating process
group, including the project charter and identification of the stakeholders,
become inputs into the Planning process group.
1. Identifying Needs - a project provides a solution to a problem or take
advantage of an opportunity. Needs may include: reducing costs, increasing
revenues, eliminating waste, increasing productivity, solving a business
problem, take advantage of market opportunities, etc.
2. Feasibility Study- conducted to prove a problem actually exists, document
the opportunities at hand, determine if a project can be created to resolve the
problem or take advantage of the opportunity: compare cost of the solution to
the potential rewards gained.
3. Create a Product Description - initial product description shows what the
expected outcome of the project is to be. This may be a service, product or
even a description of the desired future state.
4. Create a Preliminary Scope Statement - identifies what the project is
supposed to achieve and expectations of the project team and manager. This

ADAPTING PM PROCESS
document identifies: the project vision, deliverable requirements, product
requirements, project boundaries, acceptance criteria, and high-level scope
control.
5. Creating project Charter + Selecting PM
Planning
Planning processes are iterative in nature. Process formulating and revising
project goals and objectives and creating the project management plan that
will be used to achieve the goals the project was undertaken to address.
Planning must encompass all areas of project management and consider
budgets, activity definition, scope planning, schedule development, risk
identification, staff acquisition, procurement planning, and more.
Should include the stakeholders to obtain buy-in of the deliverables - as part
of planning, stakeholders expectations and requirements must be analyzed.
1. Creating a Scope Statement - a scope statement shows how the project
scope will be defined, what changes will be allowed, and how the scope can
be controlled. It is a document that describes the work necessary to meet the
project objectives.
2. Creating the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) - an organized collection of
project-deliverable components to be created by the project work. WBS is not
a list of activities, activities list comes from the WBS.
3. Creating the Network Diagram - after the activity list has been created, the
activities can be sequenced in the order in which the work should be
completed. The Network Diagram shows the flow of activities which may be
scheduled sequentially or concurrently.
4. Completing Estimates - Time estimates show how long to complete each
activity and how long the project will take to complete. Cost estimates
calculated through top-down estimates, bottom-up estimates or the informal
hallway estimates.
5. Developing the Project Schedule - based on when the resources are
available, the schedule can be determined according to time constraints. The
critical path is the chain of activities within the ND that cannot be delayed
without delaying the project end date. There can be more than one critical
path and it is possible for critical path to change. Other paths within the ND
have float or slack which mean that activities may be delayed, within limits,
without delaying the end result of the project.
6. Planning for Project Financials - this involves the project budget which deals
with the cost of the project, cash flow projections, and how the monies will be
spent. Cash flow projects allow the expenses to be planned.
7. Creating a Quality Management Plan - the plan details how the project will
map to the organizational quality policy, e.g. ISO 9000 or Six Sigma metrics

ADAPTING PM PROCESS
8. Planning for Human Resource Needs -appointing the project manager and
selecting project team members.
9. Creating a Communications Plan - the plan determines who needs what
information, how they need it, and when it will be delivered, e.g. project team
members report their progress every Tuesday at the project status meeting,
then update their work electronically through the PM Information System.
10. Completing Risk Management Planning - acknowledge, document,
research and plan for risks within the project.
11. Planning for Project Contracting - follow organizational policies and
procedures for procurement.
12. Create Organization Plan + Completing Project Plan(communicate
assumption+ risk+ documents cost, schedule )
13. Officially launch the Project Work - project is officially allowed to start after
a collective agreement has been reached between the project manager,
project management team, management and the customer.
Execution
Process involves putting the project management plan into action; will
coordinate and direct project resources to meet the objectives of the project
plan.
The processes in this group include:
1. Directing and Managing Project Execution
2. Mapping to Quality Assurance
3. Developing the Project Team
4. Disseminating the Project Information
5. Managing Procurement Activities (Vender solicitation + vendor source)
Monitoring & Controlling
Ensure the project goes according to plan and the actions to be implemented
when the project is not going according to plan. The idea is to identify
problems as soon as possible and apply corrective action to control the work
of the project and assure successful outcomes. The processes in this group
include:
1. Managing Integrated Change Control - understand how each part of a
project may affect its other parts. A proposed change to the project scope
may affect the project schedule, time, cost, quality, risk, communication,
HR and procurement. Integrated Change Control sees how these issues
affect the remaining the project.

ADAPTING PM PROCESS
2. Providing Scope Verification - verify that the work results are within the
expectations of the scope.
3. Implementing Scope Change Control (Change control board that oversees
changes)
4. Enforcing Schedule Control (constant monitoring of project progress and
apply corrective action)
5. Managing Cost Control(require estimates and check and balance against
them)
6. Ensuring Quality Control
7. Managing the Project Team
8. Ensuring Performance Reporting
9. Completing Performance Reporting
10.Managing the Project Stakeholders
11.Monitoring and Controlling Project Risks
Closing
Closing brings a formal, orderly end to the activities of a project phase or to
the project itself. Once the project objectives have been met, most of us are
ready to move on to the next project. However, Closing is important because
all the project information is gathered and stored for future reference. The
documentation collected during the Closing process group can be reviewed
and utilized to avert potential problems on future projects.
1. Auditing Procurement Documents
2. Closing Vendor Contracts(demands met, paid)
3. Closing Administrative Duties
4. Complete scope verification(formal sign off with stakeholder)