Project Management/Process

Process

Objectives and Skills

Objectives and skills for the process portion of Project+ PK0-004 certification include:

• Compare and contrast standard project phases.
  • Initiation
    • Project charter
    • Business case
    • High-level scope definition
    • High-level risks
  • Planning
    • Schedule
    • Work breakdown structure
    • Resources
    • Detailed risks
    • Requirements
    • Communication plan
    • Procurement plan
    • Change management plan
    • Budget
  • Execution
    • Deliverables
  • Monitor and control
    • Risks/issues log
    • Performance measuring and reporting
    • Quality assurance/governance
    • Change control
    • Budget
  • Closing
    • Transition/integration plan
      • Training
    • Project sign off
    • Archive project documents
    • Lessons learned
    • Release resources
    • Close contracts
• Identify the basic aspects of the Agile methodology.
  • Readily adapt to new / changing requirements
  • Iterative approach
  • Continuous requirements gathering
  • Establish a backlog
  • Burndown charts
  • Continuous feedback
  • Sprint planning
  • Daily standup meetings / SCRUM meetings
  • SCRUM retrospective
  • Self-organized and self-directed teams

Readings

1. Wikipedia: Project management
2. Wikipedia: Project management: Initiating
3. Wikipedia: Project management: Planning
4. Wikipedia: Project management: Executing
5. Wikipedia: Project management: Monitoring and controlling
6. Wikipedia: Project management: Closing
7. Wikipedia: Phase-gate model
8. Wikipedia: Systems development life cycle
9. Wikipedia: Agile software development

Multimedia

1. YouTube: Project Management Across the Project Life Cycle
2. YouTube: Top Deliverables in Project Management
3. YouTube: 5 Steps to Process Management Planning
4. YouTube: Monitoring and Control Functions
5. YouTube: What are Project Deliverables - Project Management

Activities

1. Read Wikipedia: Project_management and summarize each of the Project Management Process Groups (Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring/Controlling, and Closing). Identify at least 3 tasks that would occur during each phase.
2. Read Wikibooks: Project_Management/Fundamentals and list the key inputs and outputs of each of the 5 Project Management Process Groups.
3. Read Wikipedia: Project_plan#Purpose and describe why you think answering these questions Why? What? Who? and When? are important for project planning.
4. Click on PRINCE2.com. Check out the opportunities to learn the PRINCE2 process.
5. Read iSixSigma: What Is Six Sigma and define what a Six Sigma defect is. Create a flowchart showing a project process.
6. Five Major Activities of an Operating System With Respect to Process Management
7. Business Process Management Activities

Lesson Summary

• Traditionally, project management includes a number of elements: four to five project management process groups, and a control system.
• Regardless of the methodology or terminology used, the same basic project management processes or stages of development will be used. Major process groups generally include: Initiation, Planning, Execution, Monitoring/Controlling, and Closing.
• The initiating processes determine the nature and scope of the project.
• The initiating processes facilitate formal authorization to start a new project.
• After the initiation stage, the project is planned to an appropriate level of detail. The main purpose is to plan time, cost and resources adequately to estimate the work needed and to effectively manage risk during project execution.
• Project Planning generally consists of determining how to plan, developing a scope statement, identifying deliverables, creating the work breakdown structure, as well as estimating time, cost, and risk.
• The execution phase ensures that the project management plan's deliverables are executed accordingly.This phase involves proper allocation, co-ordination and management of human resources and any other resources such as materials and budgets.
• Monitoring and controlling consists of those processes performed to observe project execution so that potential problems can be identified in a timely manner and corrective action can be taken, when necessary, to control the execution of the project.
• Monitoring and controlling includes measuring the ongoing project activities, monitoring the project variables, identifying corrective actions to address issues and risks properly, and Influencing the factors that could circumvent integrated change control so only approved changes are implemented.
• Closing includes the formal acceptance of the project and the ending thereof. Administrative activities include the archiving of the files, documenting lessons learned, closing contracts and writing a Post Implementation Review.
• To manage risk, a risk register (or risk log e.g. in PRINCE2 and formatted either as a table or as a scatterplot) is used as a risk management tool to fulfill regulatory compliance acting as a repository for all risks identified and includes additional information about each risk, e.g. nature of the risk, reference and owner, mitigation measures.
• Additional processes, such as planning for communications and for scope management, identifying roles and responsibilities, determining what to purchase for the project and holding a kick-off meeting are also generally advisable.
• A work breakdown structure (WBS), in project management and systems engineering, is a deliverable-oriented decomposition of a project into smaller components.
• Quality management ensures that an organization, product or service is consistent. It has four main components: quality planning, quality assurance, quality control and quality improvement.
• The scope statement details the project deliverables and describes the major objectives. The objectives should include measurable success criteria for the project.
• Over the course of any project, the work scope may change. Change is normal and expected. This needs to be documented to show what is being changed. A change management form is used to accomplish this.
• Agile software development is an umbrella term for a set of methods and practices based on the values and principles expressed in the Agile Manifesto. Solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing, cross-functional teams and their customers/end users. It promotes adaptive planning, evolutionary development, early delivery, and continual improvement, and encourages rapid and flexible response to change.
• The most popular agile methodologies include Extreme Programming (XP), Scrum, Crystal, Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM), Lean Development, and Feature-Driven Development (FDD).
• A sprint (or iteration) is the basic unit of development in Scrum. The sprint is a timeboxed effort; that is, it is restricted to a specific duration. The duration is fixed in advance for each sprint and is normally 2-4 weeks.
• Scrum is a methodology that allows a team to self-organize and make changes quickly, in accordance with agile principles.
• A scrum master is the facilitator for an agile development team who manages the process for how information is exchanged.

Key Terms

agile methods

Agile software development describes a set of principles for software development under which requirements and solutions evolve.

artifact

An artifact is one of many kinds of tangible by-products. Artifacts are significant from a project management perspective as deliverables.

burndown chart

A burn down chart is a graphical representation of work left to do versus time.

closing processes

Closing involves gaining stakeholder and customer acceptance of the final products and services and bringing the project or project phase to an orderly end by verifying that all deliverables are complete. It should include a final project report and presentation.

daily Scrum

Each day during a Sprint, the team holds a Daily Scrum which is a timeboxed meeting with specific guidelines.

executing processes

The execution/implementation phase ensures that the project management plan's deliverables are executed accordingly. This phase involves proper allocation, co-ordination and management of human resources and any other resources such as material and budgets. The output of this phase is the project deliverables.

initiating processes

The initiating processes determine the nature and scope of the project.

kick-off meeting

A kickoff meeting is the first meeting with the project team and the client of the project. This meeting would follow definition of the base elements for the project and other project planning activities.

methodology

A software development methodology is a splitting of software development work into distinct phases (or stages) containing activities with the intent of better planning and management.

monitoring and controlling processes

Monitoring and controlling consists of those processes performed to observe project execution so that potential problems can be identified in a timely manner and corrective action can be taken, when necessary, to control the execution of the project.

planning processes

Planning processes are used to plan time, cost and resources adequately to estimate the work needed and to effectively manage risk during project execution.

product backlog

The Product Backlog comprises an ordered list of requirements that a Scrum Team maintains for a product. It consists of features, bug fixes, non-functional requirements, and whatever else must be done to successfully deliver a viable product.

product owner

The Product Owner represents the product's stakeholders and the voice of the customer; and is accountable for ensuring that the team delivers value to the business.

project management process groups

Traditionally, project management includes four to five project management process groups and a control system. Major process groups generally include Initiation, Planning, Execution, Monitoring and Controlling, and Closing

PRojects IN Controlled Environments (PRINCE2)

The project-management methodology PRINCE2 encompasses quality management, control and organization of a project with consistency and review to align with project objectives.

Rational Unified Process (RUP) framework

The Rational Unified Process is an iterative software development process framework intended to be tailored by the development organizations and software project teams that will select the elements of the process that are appropriate for their needs.

scrum

Scrum is an agile methodology that allows a team to self-organize and make changes quickly.

Six Sigma methodologies

Six Sigma is a set of techniques and tools for process improvement which seeks to improve the quality of the output of a process by identifying and removing the causes of defects. Two methodologies, composed of five phases each, bear the acronyms DMAIC and DMADV.

sprint

Sprint is the basic unit of development in Scrum and is restricted to a specific duration, which is usually 2-4 weeks.

Review Questions

1. Initiating processes takes place during _____ phase of a project.

   Initiating processes takes place during each phase of a project.
2. What is a method based on interactive and incremental development, which requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration?

   Agile is a method based on interactive and incremental development, which requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration.
3. Performance reports are common outputs of _______ and _______.

   Performance reports are common outputs of monitoring and controlling.
4. The _____ is a ______ that describes best practices for what should be done to manage a project.

   The PMBOK Guide is standard that describes best practices for what should be done to manage a project.
5. _____ _____ _____ is a form of adaptive software development.

   Agile software development is a form of adaptive software development.
6. A ______ ______ is a document that includes details related to the identified project stakeholders.

   A stakeholder register is a document that includes details related to the identified project stakeholders.
7. A ______ ______ is a technique that project managers can use to help understand and increase the support of stakeholders throughout the project.

   A stakeholder analysis is a technique that project managers can use to help understand and increase the support of stakeholders throughout the project.
8. A ____ _____ is a meeting that is held at the beginning of the project so stakeholders can meet, review project goals, and discuss future plans.

   A kick-off meeting is a meeting that is held at the beginning of the project so stakeholders can meet, review project goals, and discuss future plans.
9. ____ is the leading agile development method for completing projects with a complex, innovative scope of work.

   Scrum is the leading agile development method for completing projects with a complex, innovative scope of work.
10. Many people use ______ to have a standard format for preparing various project management documents.

    Many people use template to have a standard format for preparing various project management documents.

Assessments

• Agile maturity assessment: [1]
• Agility self assessment: [2]
• Project management skills assessment: [3]

See Also

1. Watch: YouTube: Project Management Life Cycle vs Delivery Life Cycle.
2. Read: Best Practices: Project Life Cycle Framework - State of California
3. Watch: IT Project Management.
4. Download & Read: CDC: Change Management Plan Template & Change Management Form[DOC]
5. Intro to Scrum in Under 10 Minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XU0llRltyFM
6. Sheetsmart: Demystifying the 5 Phases of Project Management
7. AZENDOO: Top 13 Project Management Methodologies and Styles
8. CIO From IDG: Agile project management: A comprehensive guide
9. TechTarget: SearchCIO: Agile project management, from agile to waterfall
10. TechTarget: SearchCIO: Agile Project Management

References

Type classification: this is a lesson resource.