Project Management Process Overview Lists

Process Groups

Monitoring
Initiating Planning Executing Closing
& Control

List Use

You can use these Lists to:

 Understand the overall project management process

 Find terms you do not know, and learn what they are by looking them up

 Understand why each item is in the process group it falls into

 Be able to replicate the specific order of the PLANNING process by

understanding what happens:

o When

o How previous work supports what comes next

o Why

 Knowing the PLANNING section IN THIS ORDER can help you work
through the process, especially the question “What should be done next?”
[The work in the other process groups does not have a set order]

 Understand the project management process groups of initiating through

closing and when each effort should be done on projects [Real life
presents situations that require you to know the process group the project
is in]

 Understand that project planning is an iterative process

 Think about how you might go back and redo (iterate) some of the items
in the planning section for your project
Project Management Process Overview Lists – Initiating Process Group

Initiating
Select Project Manager
Determine Company Culture & Existing Systems
Collect Processes, Procedures and Historical Information
Divide Projects into Phases
Understand the Business Case
Uncover Initial Requirements, Assumptions, Risks, Constraints and Existing
Agreements
Assess Project and Product Feasibility within given Constraints
Create Measurable Objectives
Develop Project Charter
Identify Stakeholders and Determine their Expectations, Influence, and
Impact
Project Management Process Overview Lists – Planning Process Group

Planning – [This is the only group with a SET order]

Determine how to Plan for each Knowledge Area
Determine Detailed Requirements
Create Project Scope Statement
Assess what to Purchase and Create Procurement Documents
Determine Planning Team
Create Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) & WBS Dictionary
Create Activity List
Create Network Diagram
Estimate Resource Requirements
Estimate Time and Cost
Determine Critical Path
Develop Schedule
Develop Budget
Determine Quality Standards, Processes and Metrics
Create Process Improvement Plan
Determine all Roles and Responsibilities
Plan Communications and Stakeholder Engagement
Perform Risk Identification, Qualitative and Quantitative Risk Analysis, and
Risk Response Planning
Go Back - Iterations
Finalize Procurement Documents
Create Change Management Plan
Finalize “How to Execute & Control” parts of ALL management Plans
Develop Realistic and Final Project Management Plan and Perform
Measurement Baseline
Gain Formal Approval of Plan
Hold Kick-off Meeting
Project Management Process Overview Lists – Executing Process Group

Executing
Execute the Work according to the Project Management Plan
Produce Product Deliverables (Product Scope)
Gather Work Performance Data
Request Changes
Implement only Approved Changes
Continuously Improve
Follow Processes
Determine whether Processes are Correct [Quality Assurance]
Perform Quality Audits
Acquire Final Team
Manage People
Evaluate Team and Team Performance
Hold Team-Building Activities
Give Recognition & Rewards
Use Issue Logs
Facilitate Conflict Resolution
Release Resources as Work is Completed
Send and Receive Information, and Solicit Feedback
Report on Project Performance
Manage Stakeholder Engagement and Expectations
Hold Meetings
Select Sellers
Project Management Process Overview Lists – Monitoring & Controlling
Process Group

Monitoring & Controlling

Take Action to Control the Project
Measure Performance against the Performance Measurement Baseline
Measure Performance against the other Metrics in the Project Management
Plan
Analyze and Evaluate Performance
Determine if Variances warrant a Corrective Action or other Change Request
Influence the Factors that cause Changes
Request Changes
Perform Integrated Change Control
Approve or Reject Changes
Update the Project Management Plan and Project Documents
Inform Stakeholders of the Change Requests
Monitor Stakeholder Engagement
Manage Configuration
Create Forecasts
Gain Acceptance of Interim Deliverables from Customer
Perform Quality Control
Perform Risk Reassessments and Audits
Manage Reserves
Control Procurements
Project Management Process Overview Lists – Closing Group

Closing
Confirm Work is done to Requirements
Complete Procurement Closure
Gain Final Acceptance of the Product
Complete Financial Closure
Hand Off Completed Product
Solicit Feedback from Customer about the Project
Complete Final Performance Reporting
Index and Archive Records
Gather Final Lessons Learned and Update Knowledge Base
Initiating Process Group Actions

Actions Involved in Project Initiating

1 Select the project manager.
2 Determine the authority of the project manager.
3 Collect historical information.
4 Divide large projects into phases.
Identify stakeholders and determine their influences, expectations, and
5
impact.
6 Determine high-level requirements, constraints, assumptions, and risks.
Turn high-level stakeholder needs, wants, and expectations into
7
requirements.
Make sure the business case and the analysis supporting the need for the
8
project are documented and understood.
Ensure the product scope is as final as practical (this will most likely be
9
documented in the project statement of work).
Understand how the project supports the organization’s strategic
10
objectives.
Collect and use any relevant existing agreements (including contracts)
11 that might be generating the project or will be required during the
project.
12 Determine measurable project and product objectives.
13 Facilitate the resolution of conflicting objectives.
14 Become familiar with the company culture and structure as they relate
to the project.
15 Find existing processes, standards, and compliance requirements that
affect the project.
16 Understand how the organization does business and what procedures
and policies are already in place to use on the project.
17 Do planning on a high-level basis using the project planning process.
18 Perform high-level estimating for the project schedule and budget.
19 Use the high-level planning and estimating data to determine whether
the product can be achieved within the given constraints.
20 Determine what form the project charter will take, including the length
and level of detail, and the reasons for the selected format.
21 Coordinate project initiating efforts with stakeholders, including the
customer.
22 Work with the customer and others to determine high-level acceptance
criteria and clarify what is and is not in the project.
23 Determine the initial project organization.
24 Identify any inherent or required milestones on the project.
25 Determine what specifically will constitute project success.
26 Finalize the project charter.
27 Obtain formal approval of the project charter.
Planning Process Group Actions

Actions Involved in Project Planning

Determine how you will plan the planning, executing, and controlling
efforts for stakeholders, requirements, scope, schedule, cost, quality,
1 process improvement, human resources, communications, risk,
procurement, changes, and configuration, and put that information into
the beginnings of management plans.
Refine the high-level requirements from project initiating so they are
2 more specific and detailed, and look for additional requirements;
analyze and prioritize requirements.
Expand on the assumptions identified in project initiating, looking for
3
new assumptions and documenting the details of the assumptions.
Refine the high-level constraints (i.e., resources, schedule, cost, etc.)
4
from project initiating so they are more specific and detailed.
Create a description of the project deliverables and the work required to
5
complete those deliverables (project scope statement).
Use the project scope statement to gain approval of the "final" scope
6
from the stakeholders before further planning is done.
Assess what may need to be purchased on the project (e.g., identify any
pieces of work that may be outside the organization's abilities to
7
complete, assess whether new equipment or technology would be
needed to perform the project work, etc.).
Create a draft of the procurement documents for necessary contracts,
8 including statements of work, source selection criteria, and contract
provisions.
Determine who will be on the project team to help with project
9
planning.
Break down into deliverables into smaller, more manageable pieces
10
(WBS).
Create descriptions of each work package in a WBS dictionary so that
11
the work can be understood by those assigned [without ‘gold-plating’]
Break down the work packages from the WBS into lists of activities to
12
produce them.
Sequence activities and determine predecessors and successors in the
13
network diagram.
Estimate resource requirements (e.g., staff, facilities, equipment,
14
materials, etc.).
15 Meet with managers to gain resource commitments.
16 Decide what level of accuracy is needed for estimates.
17 Use historical data to support estimating time and cost.
18 Have those working on the activities estimate time and cost.
Determine how long the project will take without compressing the
19
schedule (determine critical path).
20 Develop a schedule model, ignoring the schedule constraint contained
in the project charter, and use schedule compression techniques to
reconcile the two to come up with a final schedule for the project
 management plan.
Develop a preliminary budget, ignoring the budget constraint contained
21 in the project charter, and reconcile the two to come up with the final
budget for the project management plan.

Actions Involved in Project Planning

Determine quality practices and standards, and determine which metrics
22
will be used to measure quality performance.
Determine what processes should be followed on the project to reduce
23 the need to supervise work, and to improve quality and make use of
standards.
24 Determine how you will improve the processes in use on the project.
Create a system for recognizing and rewarding the efforts of project
25 team members to help keep them motivated and engaged in project
efforts.
Clearly determine all roles and responsibilities so the team members
26 and stakeholders know what their roles are on the project and what
work they will need to do.
Determine what information you will need from other projects and what
27
information can be sent to other projects.
Plan what will be communicated on the project, to whom, by whom,
28
when and how.
Plan how to involve stakeholders and manage their expectations during
29
the project.
Complete detailed risk identification, subjectively analyse risks
30 (qualitative risk analysis), perform quantitative risk analysis [as
necessary] and do risk response planning.
Iterations-go back, updating project documents as necessary, in order to
31 work toward a project management plan that is bought into, approved,
realistic, and formal.
Finalize the procurement statement of work and other procurement
32
documents for each contract.
Look for potential positive and negative interactions with other projects
33
that can affect this project.
Determine the process that will be used to request, approve, and manage
34
changes on the project.
Plan ways to measure project performance, the measurements to be
35
used, when they will be taken, and how they will be interpreted.
Determine what meetings, reports, and other activities you will use to
36
control the project to the project management plan.
37 Finalize the "execute" and "control" aspects of all management plans.
Develop the final project management plan, project documents, and
performance measurement baseline by performing schedule network
38
analysis, looking for options, and confirming that project objectives can
be met.
39 Gain formal approval of the project management plan from the sponsor,
 team, and managers of resources.
Hold a kickoff meeting with all the key stakeholders, team, team
40 members' managers, and the customer to make sure everyone is on the
same page and to gain buy-in.
Executing Process Group Actions

Actions Involved in Project Executing

Communicate your expectations for stakeholders and the project, and
1 manage the involvement and needs of all stakeholders throughout the
project to ensure everyone has a common understanding of the work.
Implement the original project management plan or the project
2
management plan that was revised as a result of control activities.
3 Complete work packages.
4 Collect and document lessons learned.
5 Establish and manage communication channels.
6 Evaluate how effectively the team members function as a team.
Implement approved changes, including corrective actions, preventive
7
actions, and defect repair.
Perform quality assurance to ensure the defined procedures are being
8
followed and are still appropriate for the project.
9 Produce and distribute reports on project performance.
10 Hold team-building activities.
11 Follow ground rules at team meetings.
12 Obtain needed training for team members
Exchange information about the project according to the plan, and
13
solicit feedback to ensure communication needs are being met.
14 Remove roadblocks.
15 Achieve work results that meet requirements.
16 Meet with managers to reconfirm resource commitments.
Keep managers apprised of when their resources will be needed on the
17
project.
Commit and release project resources in accordance with the project
18
management plan.
19 Guide, assist, communicate, lead, negotiate, facilitate, and coach.
20 Utilize your technical knowledge.
Hold meetings to identify or address issues, assess risks, and keep the
21
project work moving forward.
Manage stakeholder engagement and expectations, increase project
22
support, and prevent possible problems.
Focus on preventing problems rather than just dealing with them as they
23
arise.
Make sure all team members have the skills, information, and
24
equipment needed to complete their work.
Focus on looking for exceptions to the approved project management
25 plan in team members' performance, rather than checking up on every
person's work or babysitting.
 Actions Involved in Project Executing
Recommend changes to be evaluated in the Perform Integrated Change
26
Control process.
27 Follow organizational policies, processes, and procedures.
28 Increase the effectiveness of processes.
Make updates to the project management plan and project documents to
29
reflect current information about the project.
Create recommendations for the performing organization that increase
30
its effectiveness.
Ensure continued agreement from the stakeholders to the project
31
management plan.
Keep everyone focused on completing the project to the project charter
32
and project management plan.
Keep the project’s business case in focus while managing the project,
33
especially when problems occur.
34 Solve problems.
Stop during the project to see where changes are coming from and what
35
you can do to determine the root cause of the need for change.
Implement the recognition and reward system created during the
36
planning process.
Determine team members who could not be named during the planning
37
processes.
Gather initial measurements and details about activities of project work
38
(work performance data).
39 Implement approved process improvements.
Use an issue log to record project issues and details about their
40 resolution, including who is responsible for resolving each issue and the
expected timeline.
41 Obtain seller responses to procurement documents.
Review bids and quotes, negotiate contract terms with prospective
42
sellers, and select sellers.
43 Expend and manage project funds.
44 Facilitate conflict resolution using conflict resolution techniques.
45 Assess individual team member performance.
Monitoring & Controlling Process Group Actions

Actions Involved in Project Monitoring & Controlling

Measure project performance according to the planned measures in the
1
management plans.
2 Measure against the performance measurement baseline.
3 Analyze and evaluate work performance data.
4 Determine variances.
Exercise judgment to determine what variances are important and if
5
they warrant recommending a change or corrective action.
Recommend changes, including defect repair and preventive and
6
corrective actions. Do not just wait for others to recommend them.
Make or obtain a decision in integrated change control about whether
7
changes should be approved or rejected.
Manage configuration to ensure everyone knows which version of the
8
project or product documentation is the latest version.
9 Control scope, schedule, and cost to their baselines.
10 Perform procurement inspections.
11 Refine control limits as needed.
12 Identify the root causes of problems.
13 Obtain formal acceptance of interim deliverables from the customer.
14 Identify the need for re-planning
Re-plan and make updates to the project management plan and project
15
documents to reflect approved changes and updates to the project.
Evaluate stakeholder relationships and involvement to determine if they
16
require improvement.
17 Manage the time and cost reserves.
Recalculate how much the project will cost and how long it will take,
18
and create forecasts.
19 Obtain additional funding if needed.
Prepare work performance reports from the analyzed data and
20
measurements.
21 Hold periodic inspections.
22 Make decisions to accept or reject work.
23 Evaluate the effectiveness of implemented corrective actions.
24 Reassess the effectiveness of project control systems.
25 Spend time trying to improve quality.
 Actions Involved in Project Monitoring & Controlling
Get information from stakeholders to determine if project controls need
26
to be updated.
27 Identify and analyze trends.
28 Evaluate the effectiveness of risk responses in a risk audit.
29 Look for newly arising risks.
30 Reanalyze existing risks.
31 Use milestones as a project control tool.
32 Observe and analyze.
Use variance reports to help correct small problems before they become
33
serious.
34 Calculate estimate to complete.
35 Use and interpret earned value calculations.
Use quality control tools-inspections, Pareto charts, cause
36
and effect diagrams, etc.
Influence any factors that could result in the project's change control
37
and configuration management measures being circumvented.
38 Control changes.
39 Control to make sure that only approved changes are implemented.
40 Work with the Change Control Board.
41 Evaluate customer satisfaction.
Control procurements through actions like: reviewing, approving, and
42 paying invoices; administering claims; and performing inspections and
audits.
43 Validate defect repair.
Stop during the project to see where changes are coming from and what
44
you can do to eliminate the root cause of the need for change.
Consider the project's business case and the organization's strategic
45
objectives when analyzing change requests.
Monitoring & Controlling Process Sub-Group Actions

Actions Involved in Project Monitoring & Controlling Sub Groups

Control Scope
1 Follow the change management plan.
Measure scope performance against the performance measurement
2
baseline.
3 Influence the factors that cause changes.
4 Control scope changes and the impacts of those changes.
5 Analyze work performance data and variances.
6 Request changes.
Update the scope baseline, other parts of the project management
7
plan, and requirements related documentation with approved changes.
Validate changes to make sure they do not over-correct or under-
8
correct the problems.
9 Document lessons learned.

Actions Involved in Project Monitoring & Controlling Sub Groups

Control Schedule
1 Follow the change management plan.
Measure schedule performance against the performance measurement
2
baseline.
3 Influence the factors that cause changes.
4 Control schedule changes and the impacts of those changes.
5 Analyze work performance data and variances.
6 Request changes.
Update the schedule baseline, other parts of the project management
7
plan, and schedule related documentation with approved changes.
8 Document lessons learned.
9 Manage the time reserve.
10 Use earned value analysis to create schedule forecasts.
Validate changes to make sure they do not over-correct or under-
11
correct the problems.
 Actions Involved in Project Monitoring & Controlling Sub Groups
Control Costs
1 Follow the change management plan.
Measure cost performance against the performance measurement
2
baseline.
3 Influence the factors that cause changes.
4 Control cost changes and the impacts of those changes.
5 Analyze work performance data and variances.
6 Request changes.
Update the cost baseline, other parts of the project management plan,
7
and cost estimates.
8 Document lessons learned.
9 Manage the budget reserve.
Use earned value analysis to recalculate the estimate at completion
10
and other cost forecasts.
11 Obtain additional funding when needed.
Validate changes to make sure they do not over-correct or under-
12
correct the problems.

Actions Involved in Project Monitoring & Controlling Sub Groups

Control Quality
1 Hold periodic inspections.
2 Ensure the deliverables are meeting the standards.
3 Influence the factors that cause changes.
4 Request changes or improvements to work and processes.
5 Make decisions to accept or reject work.
6 Evaluate the effectiveness of implemented changes.
7 Reassess the effectiveness of project control systems.
8 Analyze work performance data and variances.
Update the quality management and process improvement plans, as
9
well as quality and process related documentation.
Validate changes to make sure they do not over-correct or under-
10
correct the problems.
11 Document lessons learned
 Actions Involved in Project Monitoring & Controlling Sub Groups
Control Communications
Ensure information is being communicated to the appropriate people
1
in the right way and at the right time.
2 Analyze work performance data and variances.
3 Request changes.
Update documentation related to forecasts, performance reports, and
4
issue logs.
Analyze information about communications to make sure they are
5
meeting stakeholder needs.
6 Document lessons learned.
Validate changes to make sure they do not over-correct or under-
7
correct the problems.

Actions Involved in Project Monitoring & Controlling Sub Groups

Control Procurements
Monitor performance to make sure both parties to the contract meet
1
contractual obligations.
2 Inspect and verify the contract deliverables.
Follow the defined procurement management procedures, including
3
the contract change control system.
Analyze work performance data, seller work performance reports, and
4
variances.
5 Request and manage changes.
6 Authorize contract-related work.
7 Issue and review claims.
8 Maintain comprehensive records.
9 Report on seller performance compared to contract.
10 Review invoices and make payments.
11 Update the project management plan and procurement documentation.
Validate contract changes, control to updated version, and evaluate
12
effectiveness of changes.
13 Document lessons learned.
 Actions Involved in Project Monitoring & Controlling Sub Groups
Control Stakeholder Engagement
1 Analyze work performance data and variances.
Evaluate stakeholder engagement and stakeholder relationships and
2
look for opportunities for improvement.
Assess whether stakeholders' expectations are aligned with the
3
project.
4 Resolve conflicts.
5 Maintain an issue log.
6 Request changes.
7 Update the stakeholder management plan and the stakeholder register.
8 Document lessons learned.
9 Validate success of changes to stakeholder engagement strategy.
Closing Process Group Actions

Actions Involved in Project Closing

1 Confirm that all project requirements have been met.
Verify and document that the project, or project phases, meets
2
completion or exit criteria set in place during project planning.
Obtain formal (legal) sign-off and final acceptance of the product of the
3
project from the customer.
If the project was terminated before completion: document the reasons
4 for termination of the project, plus the status of the project and
deliverables.
5 Make final payments, and complete cost records
6 Gather final lessons learned.
7 Update project records.
8 Ensure all the project management processes are complete.
Update corporate processes, procedures, and templates based on lessons
9
learned.
10 Add new skills acquired to team members' human resource records.
11 Complete procurement closure and project (or phase) closure.
12 Analyze and document the success and effectiveness of the project.
13 Create and distribute a final report of project (or phase) performance.
14 Index and archive project records.
Evaluate customer satisfaction regarding the project and the
15
deliverables.
Hand off the completed project deliverables to the appropriate
16
stakeholders (e.g., the customer, operations and maintenance, etc.).
17 Celebrate!