Project Management Processes

Projects have always been very important and critical for capacity building and new value creation for organizations. But it has never been easy guaranteeing the success of a new project. This is where it became critical to standardize the project management methods by putting together a set of best practices and guidelines for project management.

Today, project management has become much more structured consisting of a set of well-defined processes. Project management processes provide a seamless and consistent approach for managing all projects, which assures enhanced chances of project success. 

Project is a unique endeavour to create a unique product, service or result. The entire project life cycle is seen as consisting of number of phases or stages. Dividing the project lifecycle into number of phases helps in bringing clarity about the project work for better managing the uniqueness and newness of a project.

Project management thus involves managing the entire project life cycle, phase by phase, by using progressive elaboration. The project phases in general can be defined as:

• Initiation phase, 
• Planning phase, 
• Implementation phase and 
• Closing phase. 

Hence project management can logically be seen as processes used for managing the initiation phase, managing the planning phase, managing the implementation phase and finally managing the closing phase of the project.

Project management processes are grouped into 5 process groups as below. Each management process group is used for managing the corresponding project phase. The process groups are:

• Initiating Process Group (used for managing the initiation stage of a project or a phase)
• Planning Process Group (Used for managing the planning stage of a project or a phase)
• Executing Process Group (Used for completing the actual work of the project or a phase)
• Monitoring and Controlling Process Group ( Used for monitoring progress, check variances and taking corrective actions, to keep the project on track)
• Closing Process Group (Used for logically bringing a project or a phase to an orderly end)

We can try to understand the various activities and process that will happen under each of the project groups.

Initiating Process Group

Initiating processes are used for initiating a new project or phase in the right manner. The project manager must understand the goals and objective of the project or the phase clearly. And the project manager must receive formal authorization from senior management to start the project or phase. The project feasibility study within the constraints may also be checked to be sure about the feasibility of the project. The project manager will also identify all the project stakeholders who will be involved in the project in some ways.

As per PMBOK guide 6th edition, there are 2 initiating processes in this group.

Planning Process Group

Planning is a major and comprehensive activity in project management. There is a need for developing an integrated project plan. Planning processes include elaborating the project requirements & project scope, developing a detailed project schedule, making cost estimation and budgeting, developing resource estimation, communication plans, risk response planning, procurement planning and stakeholder engagement plan. All the subsidiary plans are developed and integrated into a comprehensive plan.

There are 24 planning processes as per PMBOK guideline latest edition.

Executing Process Group

Executing processes are used to carry out the plan. All the project works as identified in the plan are executed as per plan. The right resources are brought on board and specific tasks are assigned to them. Appropriate suppliers and service providers are also selected and they are assigned specific project tasks. The deliverables of the project are created by the team and the suppliers. The project manager also focuses on team building, communication, quality assurance, stakeholder management with a clear focus with complete all project deliverables.

Executing processes include 10 processes as per PMBOK 6th edition.

Monitoring and Controlling Process Group

Monitoring the project progress and finding out variances regularly is critical to project management. Taking recommended corrective action, preventive action and defect repairs for fixing the variances are equally important to keep the project on track. Project progress is monitored against the baseline of scope, time, cost and quality. Various change requests are also monitored and controlled. These are processes are on-going throughout the project lifecycle parallel to project executing processes.

Closing Process Group

Closing process group ensures that all the activities of the project or a phase are closed properly. The project deliverables are handed over to the stakeholders. Lessons learnt are compiled. All project documentations are archived ensuring that they are available for future references.

Conclusion

Project management processes are standard processes which are followed seamlessly for all projects with some customization. Project management processes enlist the generally accepted guidelines and best practices. They provide a systematic approach for project management. More and more organizations in the world have standardized their project management processes, thereby enhancing their project success. Take a Project management professional training course to get a complete overview of project management processes.