Chapter 3:

The Project Management

Process Groups
Information Technology Project Management, Ninth Edition
Note: See the text itself for full citations

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Learning Objectives (1 of 2)

• Describe the five project management process groups, the typical level
of activity for each, and the interactions among them
• Relate the project management process groups to the project
management knowledge areas
• Discuss how organizations develop information technology (IT) project
management methodologies to meet their needs
• Review a case study of an organization applying the project
management process groups to manage an IT project, describe outputs
of each process group, and understand the contribution that effective
initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing
make to project success

Information Technology Project Management, Ninth Edition. © 2019 Cengage. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except
for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
Learning Objectives (2 of 2)

• Review a case study of the same project managed with an agile focus
and compare the key differences between an agile approach and a
predictive approach
• Describe several templates for creating documents for each process
group

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for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
Introduction

• Project management consists of 10 knowledge areas

• Integration, scope, schedule, cost, quality, resource, communications, risk,
procurement, and stakeholder management
• Projects involve five project management process groups
• Initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing
• Tailoring these process groups to meet individual project needs increases the chance of
success in managing projects

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Project Management Process Groups (1 of 2)

• A process is a series of actions directed toward a particular result

• Project management can be viewed as a number of related processes
• Project management process groups
• Initiating processes
• Planning processes
• Executing processes
• Monitoring and controlling processes
• Closing processes

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Project Management Process Groups (2 of 2)

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What Went Wrong?

• Philip A. Pell, PMP, commented on how the U.S. IRS needed to improve
its project management process
• “Pure and simple, good, methodology-centric, predictable, and repeatable
project management is the SINGLE greatest factor in the success (or in this case
failure) of any project…”
• The IRS continues to have serious problems in managing its aging IT
infrastructure, and lack of proper planning is still being questioned

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for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
Media Snapshot

• Just as information technology projects need to follow the project

management process groups, so do other projects, such as the
production of a movie
• Processes involved in making movies include screenwriting (initiating), producing
(planning), acting and directing (executing), editing (monitoring and controlling),
and releasing the movie to theaters (closing)
• Many people enjoy watching the extra features on a DVD that describe how these
processes lead to the creation of a movie
• This acted “…not as promotional filler but as a serious and meticulously detailed
examination of the entire filmmaking process.”*
• Project managers in any field know how important it is to follow a good process
• *Jacks, Brian, “Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Extended Edition (New
Line)”, Underground Online (accessed from www.ugo.com August 4,
2004).

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Mapping the Process Groups to the Knowledge Areas

• You can map the main activities of each PM process group into the ten
knowledge areas using the PMBOK® Guide, Sixth Edition
• Note that there are activities from each knowledge area under the planning
process groups
• Table 3-1 provides a big-picture view of the relationships among the 49 project
management activities, the process groups in which they are typically
completed, and the knowledge areas into which they fit

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for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
Table 3-1

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Table 3-1

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Table 3-1

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Developing an IT Project Management Methodology

• Many organizations develop their own internal IT project management

methodologies
• A methodology describes how things should be done
• A standard describes what should be done
• Different project management methodologies
• PRojects IN Controlled Environments (PRINCE2)
• Agile
• Rational Unified Process (RUP)
• Six Sigma

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Global Issues

• In 2018 PMI published their tenth annual global project management

survey (Pulse of the Profession®)
• 47 percent of projects completed in organizations in the past year used a
predictive approach, 23 percent used agile, 23 percent used a hybrid of
predictive and agile, and seven percent used other approaches
• A 2017 global survey conducted by VersionOne found that 94 percent
of respondents said their organizations practiced agile, but 60 percent
of their teams were not yet practicing it
• The top three benefits of agile listed were the ability to manage changing
priorities, increased team productivity, and improved project visibility

Information Technology Project Management, Ninth Edition. © 2019 Cengage. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except
for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
What Went Right?

• Organizations that excel in project management complete 89 percent

of their projects successfully compared to only 36 percent of
organizations that do not have good project management processes
• PMI estimates that poor project performance costs over $109 million
for every $1 billion invested in projects and programs

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for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
Case Study: JWD Consulting’s Project Management
Intranet Site (Predictive Approach)

• This case study provides an example of what’s involved in initiating,

planning, executing, controlling, and closing an IT project
• You can download templates for creating your own project management
documents from the companion website for this text or the author’s site
• Note: this case study provides a big picture view of managing a project
• Later chapters provide detailed information on each knowledge area

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for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
Project Pre-Initiation and Initiation

• Initiating includes recognizing and starting a new project

• Right kinds of projects for the right reasons
• Strategic planning should serve as the foundation for deciding which
projects to pursue
• Expresses the vision, mission, goals, objectives, and strategies of the
organization
• Provides the basis for IT project planning

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Pre-initiation Tasks

• It is good practice to lay the groundwork for a project before it officially

starts
• Senior managers often perform several pre-initiation tasks
• Determine the scope, time, and cost constraints for the project
• Identify the project sponsor
• Select the project manager
• Develop a business case for a project
• Meet with the project manager to review the process and expectations for
managing the project
• Determine if the project should be divided into two or more smaller projects

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Initiating (1 of 5)

Knowledge Area Initiating Process Initiating Process

Project Integration Develop project charter Project charter

Management Assumption log
Project Stakeholder Identify stakeholders Stakeholder register
Management Change requests
Project management plan
updates
Project documents updates
Source: PMBOK® Guide – Sixth Edition, 2017

Table 3-3 Project initiation knowledge areas, processes,

and outputs

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Initiating (2 of 5)

Name Position Internal/E Project Role Contact Information

xternal
Joe Fleming CEO Internal Sponsor [email protected]

Erica Bell PMO Director Internal Project [email protected]

Manager
Michael Chen Senior Consultant Internal Team Member [email protected]

Kim Phuong Business Analyst External Advisor [email protected]

Louise Mills PR Director Internal Advisor [email protected]

Table 3-4 Stakeholder Register

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Initiating (3 of 5)

Name Level of Level of Potential Management Strategies

Interest Influence

Joe Fleming High High Joe likes to stay on top of key projects and make
money. Have a lot of short, face-to-face meetings
and focus on achieving the financial benefits of the
project.
Louise Mills Low High Louise has a lot of things on her plate, and she does
not seem excited about this project. She may be
looking at other job opportunities. Show her how
this project will help the company and her resume.

Table 3-5 Stakeholder Management Strategy

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Initiating (4 of 5)

• Drafting the project charter

• See Table 3-6 for an example
• Holding a project kick-off meeting
• It’s good practice to hold a kick-off meeting at the beginning of a project so
that stakeholders can meet each other, review the goals of the project, and
discuss future plans

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project charter

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project charter (cont.)

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Initiating (5 of 5)

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Project Planning (1 of 3)

• The main purpose of project planning is to guide execution

• Every knowledge area includes planning information (see Table 3-7)
• Key outputs included in the JWD project
• Team contract
• Project scope statement
• Work breakdown structure (WBS)
• Project schedule, in the form of a Gantt chart with all dependencies and
resources entered
• List of prioritized risks (part of a risk register)
• See sample documents

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Project Planning (2 of 3)

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Project Planning (3 of 3)

Ranki Potential Risk

ng
1 Lack of inputs from internal consultants

2 Lack of inputs from client representatives

3 Security of new system

4 Outsourcing/purchasing for the article retrieval and Ask the Expert features

5 Outsourcing/purchasing for processing online payment transactions

6 Organizing the templates and examples in a useful fashion

7 Providing an efficient search feature

8 Getting good feedback from Michael Chen and other senior consultants

9 Effectively promoting the new system

10 Realizing the benefits of the new system within one year

Table 3-10 List of Prioritized Risks

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Project Execution

• Usually takes the most resources to perform

• Project managers must use their leadership skills to handle the many
challenges that occur during project execution
• Table 3-11 lists the knowledge areas, executing processes, and outputs
of project execution
• Many project sponsors and customers focus on deliverables related to
providing the products, services, or results desired from the project
• It is equally important to document change requests and update planning
documents
• A milestone report can help focus on completing major milestones

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Best Practice

• One way to learn about best practices in project management is by

studying recipients of PMI’s Project of the Year award
• The Quartier international de Montreal (QIM), Montreal’s international district,
was a 66-acre urban revitalization project in the heart of downtown Montreal
• This $90 million, five-year project turned a once unpopular area into a thriving
section of the city with a booming real estate market and has generated $770
million in related construction

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Project Monitoring and Controlling

• Involves measuring progress toward project objectives, monitoring

deviation from the plan, and taking correction actions
• Affects all other process groups and occurs during all phases of the project life
cycle
• Outputs include performance reports, change requests, and updates to
various plans
• See Table 3-13

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Project Closing

• Involves gaining stakeholder and customer acceptance of the final

products and services
• Even if projects are not completed, they should be closed out to learn from the
past
• Outputs may include project files and lessons-learned reports
• Also may include a final report and presentation

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Case Study 2: JWD Consulting’s Project Management
Intranet Site (Agile Approach)

• An agile project team typically uses several iterations or deliveries of

software instead of waiting until the end of the project to provide one
product
• Teams do not normally make a snap decision about whether to manage a
project using an agile approach or not

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Scrum Roles, Artifacts, and Ceremonies (1 of 5)

• Product owner: person responsible for the business value of the

project and for deciding what work to do and in what order, as
documented in the product backlog
• ScrumMaster: person who ensures that the team is productive,
facilitates the daily Scrum, enables close cooperation across all roles
and functions, and removes barriers that prevent the team from being
effective
• Scrum team or development team: cross-functional team of five to
nine people who organize themselves and the work to produce the
desired results for each sprint, which normally lasts two to four weeks

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Scrum Roles, Artifacts, and Ceremonies (2 of 5)

• An artifact is a useful object created by people

• Scrum artifacts
• Product backlog: list of features prioritized by business value
• Sprint backlog: highest-priority items from the product backlog to be
completed within a sprint
• Burndown chart: shows the cumulative work remaining in a sprint on a day-by-
day basis

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Scrum Roles, Artifacts, and Ceremonies (3 of 5)

• Scrum ceremonies
• Sprint planning session: meeting with the team to select a set of work from the
product backlog to deliver during a sprint
• Daily Scrum: short meeting for the development team to share progress and
challenges and plan work for the day
• Sprint reviews: meeting in which the team demonstrates to the product owner
what it has completed during the sprint
• Sprint retrospectives: meeting in which the team looks for ways to improve the
product and the process based on a review of the actual performance of the
development team

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Scrum Roles, Artifacts, and Ceremonies (4 of 5)

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Scrum Roles, Artifacts, and Ceremonies (5 of 5)
Process Group Scrum Activity
Initiating
Determine roles

Decide how many sprints will compose each release and the scope of software
to deliver
Planning

Create product backlog

Create sprint backlog

Create release backlog

Plan work each day in the daily Scrum

Document stumbling blocks in a list

Executing

Complete tasks each day during sprints

Produce a shippable product at the end of each sprint

Table 3-18 Unique Scrum activities by process group

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Project Pre-Initiation and Initiation

• Main differences between pre-initiation in this case and the first case
• Determining roles and deciding what functionality would be delivered as part
of each release
• How many sprints will be required to complete a release
• How many releases of software to deliver

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Planning (1 of 3)

• Because Scrum implies that team members work as a self-directed

group, coached by the ScrumMaster, a team charter should not be
necessary
• Descriptions of work are identified in the product and sprint backlogs
• More detailed work is documented in technical stories
• Team must estimate a velocity or capacity for each sprint

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Planning (2 of 3)

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Planning (3 of 3)
Product Backlog Sprint Backlog

1. User story templates, samples, and point person 1. User story templates, samples, and point person

2. WBS templates, samples, and point person 2. WBS templates, samples, and point person

3. Project schedule templates, samples, and point 3. Project schedule templates, samples, and point
person person
4. Ability to charge customers for some intranet 4. Ability to charge customers for some intranet
products and services products and services
5. Ability to collect user suggestions 5. Ability to collect user suggestions

6. Business case templates, samples, and point

person
7. Ask the Expert feature

8. Stakeholder management strategy templates,

samples, and point person
9. Risk register templates, samples, and point
person
10. Etc.

Table 3-19 Product and Sprint Backlogs

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Executing

• The most time and money should be spent on executing

• Plans are implemented to create the desired product
• Agile approach: team produces several iterations of a potentially
shippable product
• Users can access and make suggestions
• Communications are different
• Project team meets every morning, physically or virtually

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Monitoring and Controlling (1 of 2)

• The two main tools for monitoring and controlling in the Scrum
framework
• Daily Scrum: held each morning to plan and communicate work for the day and
discuss any risks, issues, or blockers
• Sprint review: work progress within a sprint can be represented on a sprint
board maintained by the ScrumMaster
• Burndown chart: an important artifact used to graphically display progress on each sprint

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Monitoring and Controlling (2 of 2)

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Closing

• After the sprint review, the ScrumMaster leads a sprint retrospective

• Team reflects on what happened during the sprint
• Sprint retrospective is intended to answer two fundamental questions
• What went well during the last sprint that we should continue doing?
• What could we do differently to improve the product or process?

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Templates by Process Group

• Table 3-20 lists several templates used to prepare the documents

shown in this chapter and later chapters
• Download these and additional templates in one compressed file from the
Companion website for this text or from the author’s website.

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for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
Advice for Young Professionals

• Most organizations have templates for many different kinds of

documents
• Ask your boss, co-workers, and other colleagues for templates
• If you don’t like the templates you find, look at other sources
• If you can improve them, share your work with others
• Templates are great, but completed templates with good information
are even more useful

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for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
Chapter Summary

• The five project management process groups are initiating, planning,

executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing
• You can map the main activities of each process group to the ten
knowledge areas
• Some organizations develop their own information technology project
management methodologies
• The JWD Consulting case study provides an example of using the
process groups and shows several important project documents
• The second version of the same case study illustrates how to use
Scrum, the leading agile method, to manage the project

Information Technology Project Management, Ninth Edition. © 2019 Cengage. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except
for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.