#4 PMP - Project Integration Management

#4 Project Integration Management

Project Integration Management includes the processes and activities to identify, define, combine, unify, and coordinate the various processes and project management activities within the Project Management Process Groups.

Project Integration Management includes making choices about resource allocation, making trade-offs among competing objectives and alternatives, and managing the interdependencies among the project management Knowledge Areas. The project management processes are usually presented as discrete processes with defined interfaces while, in practice, they overlap and interact in ways that cannot be completely detailed in the PMBOK® Guide.

The need for Project Integration Management is necessary in situations where individual processes interact. For example, a cost estimate needed for a contingency plan involves integrating the processes in the Project Cost, Time, and Risk Management Knowledge Areas. When additional risks associated with various staffing alternatives are identified, then one or more of those processes may be revisited.

The integrative nature of projects and project management can be understood by thinking of other types of activities performed while completing a project. Examples of some activities performed by the project management team are:

-          Develop, review, analyze, and understand the scope. This includes the project and product requirements, criteria, assumptions, constraints, and other influences related to a project, and how each will be managed or addressed within the project;

-          Transform the collected project information into a project management plan using a structured approach as described in the PMBOK® Guide;

-          Perform activities to produce project deliverables; and

-          Measure and monitor the project’s progress and take appropriate action to meet project objectives.

Project Integration Processes

Process	Project Phase	Key Deliverables
Develop Project Charter	Initiating	Project Charter
Develop Project Management Plan	Planning	Project Management Plan
Direct and Manage Project Work	Execution	Deliverables
Monitor and Control Project Work	Monitoring and Control	Change Requests
Perform Integrated Change Control	Monitoring and Control	Change Requests status updates
Close Project or Phase	Closure	Final product

Develop Project Charter process

The Inputs, Tools and Techniques, and Outputs of the Develop Project Management Plan process are given in the table below.

Inputs	Tools & Techniques	Outputs
Project Statement of work	Expert judgment	Project Charter
Business case	Facilitation Techniques
Contract/Agreement
Enterprise environmental factors
Organizational process assets

Project Statement of Work

The project statement of work (SOW) is a narrative description of products, services, or results to be delivered by a project. For external projects, the statement of work can be received from the customer as part of a bid document, (e.g., a request for proposal, request for information, or request for bid) or as part of a contract. The SOW references the following: Business needs, Product scope description, Strategic plan.

Business case

The business case or similar document describes the necessary information from a business standpoint to determine whether or not the project is worth the required investment. It is commonly used for decision making by managers or executives above the project level. The business case is created as a result of one or more of the following:

-          Market demand (e.g., a car company authorizing a project to build more fuel-efficient cars in response to gasoline shortages),

-          Organizational need (e.g., due to high overhead costs a company may combine staff functions and streamline processes to reduce costs.),

-          Customer request (e.g., an electric utility authorizing a project to build a new substation to serve a new industrial park),

-          Technological advance (e.g., an airline authorizing a new project to develop electronic tickets instead of paper tickets based on technological advances),

-          Legal requirement (e.g., a paint manufacturer authorizing a project to establish guidelines for handling toxic materials),

-          Ecological impacts (e.g., a company authorizing a project to lessen its environmental impact), or  

-          Social need (e.g., a nongovernmental organization in a developing country authorizing a project to provide potable water systems, latrines, and sanitation education to communities suffering from high rates of cholera).

Agreements

Agreements are used to define initial intentions for a project. Agreements may take the form of contracts, memorandums of understanding (MOUs), service level agreements (SLA), letter of agreements, letters of intent, verbal agreements, email, or other written agreements. Typically, a contract is used when a project is being performed for an external customer.

Expert Judgment

Expert judgment is often used to assess the inputs used to develop the project charter. Expert judgment is applied to all technical and management details during this process. Such expertise is provided by any group or individual with specialized knowledge or training and is available from many sources, including:

-          Other units within the organization,

-          Consultants,

-          Stakeholders, including customers or sponsors,

-          Professional and technical associations,

-          Industry groups,

-          Subject matter experts (SME), and

-          Project management office (PMO).

Project Charter

The project charter is the document issued by the project initiator or sponsor that formally authorizes the existence of a project and provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities. It documents the business needs, assumptions, constraints, the understanding of the customer’s needs and high-level requirements, and the new product, service, or result that it is intended to satisfy, such as:

-          Project purpose or justification,

-          Measurable project objectives and related success criteria,

-          High-level requirements,

-          Assumptions and constraints,

-          High-level project description and boundaries,

-          High-level risks,

-          Summary milestone schedule,

-          Summary budget,

-          Stakeholder list,

-          Project approval requirements (i.e., what constitutes project success, who decides the project is successful, and who signs off on the project),

-          Assigned project manager, responsibility, and authority level, and

-          Name and authority of the sponsor or other person(s) authorizing the project charter.

Develop Project Management Plan process

Develop Project Management Plan is the process of defining, preparing, and coordinating all subsidiary plans and integrating them into a comprehensive project management plan. The key benefit of this process is a central document that defines the basis of all project work.

Inputs	Tools & Techniques	Outputs
Project charter	Expert judgment	Project Management Plan
Outputs from planning processes
Enterprise environmental factors
Organizational process assets

Project Management Plan is developed by Project Manager with inputs from the team, stakeholders and management. Project Management Plan development is iterative. A Project Management Plan is bought into, approved, realistic and formal.

A Project Management Plan includes

-          Project Charter

-          Budget

-          Schedule

-          Resources

-          Scope Statement

-          WBS (Work Breakdown Structure)

-          Responsibility charts/assignments

-          Management Plans

Project Management Plan consolidates other management plans. These are:

-          Scope management plan

-          Requirement management plan

-          Schedule management plan

-          Cost management plan

-          Quality management plan

-          Process improvement plan

-          Human resource plan

-          Communication management plan

-          Risk management plan

-          Procurement management plan

The Project Management Plan also includes project baselines. These are:

-          Schedule baseline

-          Cost performance baseline and

-          Scope baseline

Project baseline refers to the original version of the project management plan. Once the project management plan is base-lined, it may only be changed by raising a change request.

Progressive Elaboration involves the process of taking a project from concept to detailed design.

Kick-off meeting happens after the planning phase and before the project execution. It is typically used to communicate responsibilities of key stakeholders.

Direct and Manage Project Work process

Direct and Manage Project Work process includes performing the work defined in the PMP to achieve project goals. The Input, Tools and Techniques and Outputs of this process are given below.

Inputs	Tools & Techniques	Outputs
Project management plan	Expert judgment	Deliverables
Approved change requests	Project management information system	Work performance information
Enterprise Environmental factors	Meetings	Change requests
Organizational process assets		Project management plan updates
		Project document updates

Monitor and Control project work process

Monitor and Control project work process includes tracking and reviewing the progress of the project. The Input, Tools and Techniques and Outputs of this process are given below.

Inputs	Tools & Techniques	Outputs
Project management plan Schedule Forecasting Cost Forecasting	Expert judgment Analytical Techniques	Change requests Work Performance Reports
Validate Changes Work Performance Information	Project Management Information System	Project management plan updates
Enterprise environmental factors	Meetings	Project document updates
Organizational process assets

Perform Integrated Change Control process

The change requests that get generated are evaluated as part of the Perform Integrated Change Control process. The change requests on the project deliverables and project artifacts are managed in this process. The Input, Tools and Techniques and Outputs of this process are given below.

Inputs	Tools & Techniques	Outputs
Project management plan	Expert judgment	Approved Change requests
Work performance information/reports	Change control meetings	Change log
Change requests	Change Control Tools	Project management plan updates
Enterprise environmental factors		Project document updates
Organizational process assets

Change Control

Change Control Board is formed to review change requests. It is used to approve or reject change requests. After the project scope has been base-lined, each requested change must go through a change control review process.

Project Manager needs to be proactive in looking for deviations from project plan and then take timely corrective action. After that the Project Manager needs to evaluate the effectiveness of corrective action, and measure performance of corrective action, and then determine the need for further corrective action.

When a change request is received, the following steps must be taken (in this order) -

·         Evaluate (assess) the impact of change to the project

·         Create alternatives including cutting other tasks, crashing, fast-tracking etc.

·         Meet with management, sponsors etc.

·         Meet with the customer if necessary

Close Project or Phase

The Close Project or Phase is the process of formal completion of all project related activities. The Input, Tools and Techniques and Outputs of this process are given below.

Inputs	Tools & Techniques	Outputs
Project management plan	Expert judgment	Final product, service or result transition
Accepted deliverables	Analytical techniques	Organizational process assets updates
Organizational process assets	Meetings

At the end of each phase of a project, a lessons learned document must be prepared. The lessons learned document defines what was done right, wrong etc. It is required to be completed in order for the project to be completed.