Project Management: Process Groups

A process is a set of interrelated actions and activities performed to achieve a pre-selected product, result or service. Each process is characterized by its inputs, the tools and techniques that can be applied, and the resulting outputs.

In order for a project to be successful, a project team, lead by the project management, must:

• Select appropriate processes required to meet the project objectives
• Use a defined approach that can be adopted to meet the requirements
• Meet stakeholder needs and expectations
• Balance competing triple constraint demands to produce the specified product, service or result

The project processes that are performed by the project team generally fall into 2 categories:

1. Product oriented processes – specifies and creates the projects product, service or result (i.e. how the physical characteristics of the product/service are put together to make it a useable product/service) 
2. Project management processes – specifies the effective execution, implementation and management of the project (i.e. how the various resources – time, money, human capital – are managed to achieve the desired result) 

Project management processes apply globally and across industry groups. They can and should be used regardless of the resulting product of the project. For any given project, the project manager is always responsible in determining which of the following processes are appropriate for the specific project they are managing.

• The Initiating Process Group – this group defines those process that are performed at the start of a project and are used to obtain the authorization to start the project
• The Planning Process Group – this group defines those processes used to establish the scope of the project and define the course of action required to attain the objectives of the project 
• The Executing Process Group - this group defines those processes used to complete the work of the project (i.e. deliver the projects product, service or result) 
• The Monitoring and Controlling Process Group – this group defines those processes used to track, review and regulate the progress and performance of the project 
• The Closing Process Group – this group defines those processes used to finalize all activities and formally close the project 

In future posts I’ll delve into the specific sub-process used by each major process group.

Projects, Programs and Portfolio's

Those of us that live and breathe in the world of project management and business analysis often hear terms like project management, program management and portfolio management being tossed around the project management office.  And certainly anyone tasked with identifying the strategic decision making of an organization are involved with certain aspects of an organizations portfolio of projects and programs.   Projects, programs and portfolio’s all strive for a common purpose -- to deliver benefits to their sponsor organizations by enhancing current capabilities or developing new capabilities for the organization to use.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with these terms or just need a refresher on the exact differences between a project, program or portfolio, feel free to read my brief summary below.

What defines a project?

A project is temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result.  This temporary nature indicates a definite beginning and end.  Every project creates a unique product, service or result.

What defines a program?

A program is a group of related projects managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits and control not obtained by managing them individually.  All projects within a program are related through a common goal.  If projects have separate goals and are only related by common funding, technology, resources and stakeholders, then these efforts are better managed as a portfolio, rather than a program.

What defines a portfolio?

A portfolio is a collection of projects or programs (and other work) that are grouped together to facilitate effective management of that work to meet strategic objectives.  A portfolio exists within in an organization and consists of a set of current and planned initiatives, linked to strategic goals and objectives, used to address a unique area of the business.  Therefore, portfolios are ongoing in nature and not temporary like projects and programs are. 

An example of a portfolio would be the development of various product offerings by Apple.  Apple could very well have separate portfolio managers for iPhone, iPod, and iMac product lines, as each of these product lines strive to meet specific strategic objectives for the company.  As we dive deeper into each of these product lines, Apple may develop individual programs for the development of each major release of the iPhone.  Each iPhone product release would consist of individual projects, used to address specific functionality required by that product offering. 

Project Management: Work Breakdown Structure

Successful project management relies on thorough planning.  The more detailed and focused your project plannning is, the more accurate your estimates are and the more manageable your project.  The work breakdown structure (WBS) is a project management deliverable that decomposes the project into smaller components.  It provides the foundation for defining work as it relates to project objectives.  It groups a project's work elements in a way that helps organize and define the total work scope of the project. 


The WBS is used in project as follows:

• To define the project’s scope of work in terms of deliverables and to further decompose those deliverables into specific work components (which facilitates tasks such as estimating, scheduling and resource allocation)
• To provide the project management team with a framework on which to base project status and progress reports
• To facilitate communication between the project manager and stakeholders, as it can be used a communication tool regarding project scope  
• To be used as a critical input to other project management processes such as: schedule network diagrams, activity definitions, project schedules, performance reports

The work breakdown is structured in the form of a tree, which shows a subdivision of effort required to achieve an objective.  The WBS is developed by starting with the end objective and successively subdividing it into manageable components in terms of size, duration, and responsibility, which include all steps necessary to achieve the objective.  Below is an example of WBS for building a car.  As you can see, the ultimate goal -- the car -- sits atop the WBS, while the individual components that go into making the car, sit underneath. 

A WBS permits the aggregation of subordinate costs for tasks, materials, etc., into their successively higher level “parent” tasks, materials, etc. For each element of the work breakdown structure, a description of the task to be performed is generated.


The WBS is organized around the primary products of the project (or planned outcomes).  Since the planned outcomes are the desired ends of the project (i.e. the car), they form a relatively stable set of categories in which the costs of the planned tasks needed to achieve them can be collected.

Project Management: Earned Value Management

Feedback is critical to the success of any project. Timely and targeted feedback can enable project managers to identify problems early and make adjustments that can keep the project on time and on budget.

Earned Value Management (EVM) is a project management technique for measuring project performance and progress in an objective manner. It combines the measurements of scope, time and budget (the triple constraint) into a single integrated system. EVM has proven itself to be one of the most effective project performance measurement and feedback tools. EVM has been called “management with the lights on” because it can help clearly and objectively illuminate where a project is and where it’s going. EVM uses the fundamental principle that patterns and trends in the past can be good predictors of the future.

EVM plays a critical role in helping management answer the following questions about the progress of their project(s): 

• Are we ahead or behind of schedule?
• Are we ahead of behind on budget?
• How efficiently are we using our time?
• When is the project likely to be completed?
• What is the remaining work likely to cost?

EVM not only measures where we are (and where we are likely to go), but also helps the project manager to identify: 

• Where problems are occurring
• Whether the problems are critical or not
• What it will take to get the project back on track

EVM relies on 4 basic data points:

• Planned Value (PV) - describes how far along project work is supposed to be at any point in time (i.e. the projected cost baseline for the project)
• Earned Value (EV) - the snapshot of work progress at a given point in time
• Actual Cost (ACWS) - an indication of the level of resources that have been expended to achieve the actual work performed to date
• % complete - measured in total project hours/hours already worked

EVM is measured in relation to schedule and cost:

• Schedule performance index - measures whether the project is behind or ahead of schedule
• Cost performance index - measures whether the project is behind or ahead of budget

CALCULATIONS

• EV = PV * % complete  
• CPI = EV/AC (>1 means you're below budget)
• SPI = EV/PV (>1 means ahead of schedule)

Project Management: The Triple Constraint

Like any human undertaking, projects need to be performed and delivered under certain constraints.  We must be successful in delivering on project scope given a finite amount of time, under a certain budget, and with a limited amount of human and technical resources.  


Traditionally, these constraints have been listed as "scope," "time," and "cost”.  These are also referred to as the project management triangle, where each side of a triangle represents a constraint. One side of the triangle cannot be changed without affecting the others. A further refinement of the constraints separates product "quality" or "performance" from scope, and turns quality into a fourth constraint.

• The time constraint refers to the amount of time available to complete a project
• The cost constraint refers to the budgeted amount available for the project
• The scope constraint refers to what must be done to produce the project's end result

These three constraints are used to illustrate that project management success is measured by the project team's ability to manage the project, so that the expected results are produced while managing time and cost.  


These three constraints are often competing constraints: increased scope typically means increased time and increased cost, a tight time constraint could mean increased costs and reduced scope, and a tight budget could mean increased time and reduced scope.  If there is a requirement to shift any one of these factors then at least one of the other factors must also be manipulated.


One of the first tasks a project manager of a brand new project is faced with is the prioritization of the Triple Constraint. This can only be done by communicating with the client. Whether the client understands project management or has ever heard of the Triple Constraint, in their mind, they already know what is most important to them. They may require that the project be completed within a certain timeframe, no matter the costs.  Or, they may require that the project stay under budget, no matter how long it takes to accomplish.  And, typically, the client requires that the project finish on time and within budget, delivering on all the scope and quality aspects set forth in the project charter.  Your job, as project manager, is to find this out, and to manage to these priorities.