Project Integration Management, the One Ring

    Today’s topic is on project integration management.  Project Integration Management according to Kathy Schwalbe is, “… coordinating all of the other project management knowledge areas throughout a project’s life cycle.”  I like to think about project integration management as the one ring from the Lord of the Rings.  Only replace the three rings for the elven kings with the four constraints, scope, time, cost, and quality.  The seven rings for the dwarven lords with the four facilitating functions, communication, risk, human resources, and procurement.  The nine rings for the mortal men with the eight other knowledge areas.  Then say, “One area to rule them all, one area to find them.  One area to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.”  While some of the numbers doen’t work, the basic idea works.   Project Integration Management binds the other areas together to help the project succeed.

    There are six main processes involved in project integration management.

                     1) Initiating/ Developing  a charter

                     2) Planning/ Developing a project management plan

                     3) Executing/ Direct and manage project execution

                     4) Monitoring and Controlling

                     5) Perform integrated change control

                     6) Closing

Do these sound familiar?  They should, because the six main processes of project integration management mirror the five project management processes group, which were discussed in the last blog post.  

     With this familiar starting point, let’s move on to the one subject that isn’t a direct correlation of the project management processes, change control.   Integrated change control involves identifying, evaluating, and managing changes through the project life cycle.  The three objectives of change control are influencing the factors that create changes, determining the changes occurring, and managing the changes as they occur.  While changes can occur through informal and formal ways, the best way to manage changes is to establish a Change Control Board (CCB).   The CCB’s purpose is to gather leaders, stakeholders, and subject matter experts to determine whether a change is beneficial to the project’s success.  A successful company should hold a CCB on a regular basis dealing with all significant changes to major projects.   Setting up the CCB in this fashion uses the higher level executives time in the best manner and allows the project manager to settle disputes that they might not have the authority to control.   

    Well, that’s it for now, tune in next time for scope management, which ties right into change management.  Also, there is an exam next week, not for you, but for me.

Project Management Processes and Project Phases: Similar but Different

    Today, let’s talk about the project management process groups.  The confusing thing about the project management groups is that they are not the same as project phases, but they are very similar to project phases.  The four project phases are concept, development, implementation, and close-out.  Keep in mind, that these are not concrete.   A project manager may change or add phases to fit the needs of a particular project.  There are five project management process groups; initiating, planning, executing, monitoring, and closing.   Looking at the processes versus the phases, there are some differences and many similarities.  The key difference is that the process groups are more concrete and will occur in every phase, while the phases can be renamed and adjusted.  Also, a project manager executes all the processes during every phase, but every phase does not have a specific corresponding process.   It makes sense to me that way.

    Let’s clear it up.  If I am performing a vehicle reset, then I can split it into five phases; initiating, planning, executing, monitoring, and closing.  In the initiating phase, I decide if the vehicles need overhauling (reset), if the funds are available, and if this fits in with the strategic plan.  In the planning phase, I decided which organization gets reset, where they get reset and so forth.  In the executing phase, I reset the vehicles.  In the monitoring and controlling phase, I check the vehicles to ensure they are free of defects.   Finally in the closing phase, I return the vehicles to the unit and write down lessons learned.   Each of these phases has their own process groups.  In the executing phase, there is an initiating process that checks to see that the planning is complete and it is time to execute.  There is a planning process, which begins the details of getting the vehicles to the reset center and repair schedule.  Then in the executing process, the vehicles are repaired.   Simultaneously, the project manager is inspecting and measuring progress per the goals of the monitoring and controlling process.  Finally, the vehicles are complete and the closing process begins so that the next phase can begin.   This makes it clear that phases can align with the processes, and phases always contain the processes.

    What about another case.   Let’s say that I am developing a program called World of Tanks.  Well, I have an initiating phase, a planning phase, and an executing phase.  But then I add a phase as the project manager called the Alpha phase.  This is not similar to the monitoring and controlling process, rather it is a hybrid of testing and executing.   Here the processes don’t align with the phases.   The Alpha phase is its own animal created by the project manager to fulfill the project.   Keep in mind, the Alpha phase contains all the five processes.  The point being, that if you know the processes you may not know the phases.   Then the program manager adds a Beta phase.  The Beta phase mirrors the Alpha phase only there are more testers than developers at this point.  Once again deviating from our idea of processes, but still keeping in line with the idea of phases.   Thus all phases have all five processes.   But, all processes do not define all phases.

    Hope this clears some things up.  If it doesn’t I suggest you read a project management book or ask your professor.  

Begin at the Beginning

    A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result.  A child building a sand castle or an adult changing the landscaping of their lawn finished a project.  So really anything short term can be a project and everyone completed a project at one point in their life.  However, the projects mentioned are not too large or complex enough to require proper planning.  The redesign of an automobile plant for the construction of a new vehicle model is also a project. We can all agree that no one can pick up a bucket or shovel and just start modifying the factory.   This is where project management comes into play.

    Project management is the planning and orchestration of a project to finish it within the time, cost and scope restraints.   Project management can be split into 9 knowledge area.   The four core functions are scope, time, cost and quality management.   The four facilitating functions are human resource, communications, risk, and procurement management.  These four core and four facilitating functions are combined using the ninth knowledge area project integration management.  I elaborate on these areas as the blog continues.  Since this is a beginner’s journey, I fill in the blanks as I learn them.   A project manager oversees all this with the input from the project sponsor.  The project sponsor being a person who is invested in the project and give the project manager the majority of the guidance on the objectives of the project. 

     So why is this important to me?  Well, almost anything can be considered a project.   However, not everything should fall under project management.  For instance, I want to organize my closet.  Should I really spend a day meeting with myself and drawing up papers and diagrams to do it in the most efficient way possible?  No, that would be a waste of time, any efficiencies gained would be negated by the planning process.   My closet does not have that much stuff in it.  However, I am planning a move across the country.  Should I start a formal project for that objective?  Yes, a move across the country is complex, requires a lot of communication with different organization, and the risks of poor planning are great.  In other words, one does not simply walk into Mordor.   That is why project management is important to me.  For me project management should be applied to large scale, complex projects with great risks for failure.   Proper project management helps me see the constraints, in terms of scope, time and costs.   Project management also identifies the risks and mitigates them through proper planning and communication.   Thus, I start this journey to become a better planner which produces smoother projects, which means more time spent relaxing and less time worrying.