Project Integration Management
Posted by sirajq on May 2, 2008
In an enterprise solution project, a large number of activities must be performed, and the project must be viewed from several perspectives. For examples, ideally, project may have difference phases like Project initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and Controlling and project Closing. Project Manager has responsibility of delivering the product that must meet clients needs and expectations on time, within budget. Project Manager has daunting task of monitoring, tracking and controlling all the activities of the project start with Project Initiation, Planning, Executing and Monitoring and end with Product delivery and closing.
As PMBOK states, in order to assist Project Manager to keep a watch and monitor and control all the activities of the project, Project Integration Management Knowledge Area is needed to identify, define, combine, unify and coordinate the various processes ad project management activities. Basically, PIMKA includes the processes and activities that help the Project Manger to keep a watch on all the activities of the project and manage, monitor, control the project better. Integration help the project manager to coordinate betweens different processes of the Project Process Groups. Integration, in the context of managing a project, is making choices about where to concentrate resources and effort on any given day, anticipating potential issues, dealing with other issues before they become critical and coordinating work for the overall project good. For example, many processes are iterative and Project Manager need to revisit them in the project for different activities. For example, Project Manage develop Project Management Plan in planning process, but later while executing the project if some change requests occur then he needs to update the project management plan. If Project Manager understands integrative nature of project and project management, then its job becomes easier and he can manage processes, resources better for the project. For example,
The Integrative Project Management processes include:
1. Project Charter
No project can start without project Charter. Project is a document that formally authorizes the project. The Project charter provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities. Usually, A project initiator or sponsor capable of funding the project issues the Project charter.
Project can be charted as a result of market demand, business needs, customer requests, technological advances, a legal requirements, social needs. Developing the project charter is primarily concerned with documenting the business needs, project product, service, or result that is intended to satisfy those requirements.
The Project Charter should include the requirements that satisfy customer, sponsor, and other stakeholder needs, wants and expectations. It should also address Project s purpose, stakeholder ‘s influence, assumptions , constraints, summary budget etc.
Developing Project Charter:
There are 4 factors which could have substantial impact on the development of Project charter which are as follows:
1. Contract
A contract from the customer’s acquiring organization is an input if the project is being done for an external customer.
2. Project Statement of Work
The SOW is a narrative description of products or services to be supplied by the project. For internal projects, Project Initiator or sponsor provides the SOW based on business needs, product, or service requirement. For external projects, SOW can be received from the customer as part of a bid document, for example, request for proposal, request for information, request for bid, or as part of a contract. SOW may include, business need, Product scope description, strategic planning.
3. Enterprise Environmental Factors ( EEF)
When developing the project charter, any and all of the organization ‘s enterprise environmental factors and systems that surround and influence the project ‘s success must be considered. EEF may include items like Organization culture and structure, Infrastructure, Human Resource, PMIS, Personal Administration, Industry standards etc.
4. Organizational Process Assets ( OPA)
When developing the project charter and subsequent project documentation, any and all of the assets that are used to influence the project ‘s success can be drawn from organization process assets. Organizational process assets can be organized differently, depending on the type of industry, organization, and application area. For example, the organizational process assets could be grouped into 2 categories i.e.
Organization ‘s process and procedures for conducting work for example Organization policies, standards, Standardized guidelines, Templates, project close guidelines, change and risk control procedure etc. and
Organizational corporate knowledge base for storing and retrieving information for example, project files, historical information, configuration and change management knowledge base, Issue and defect management database contain issue and defect status, change control, issue and defect resolution and action items results. Process measurement database used to collect and make available measurement data on processes and products. documentation from previous project.
Tool and Technique:
Project Selection Methods : Project selection methods are used to determine which project the organization will select. These methods generally fall into one of two broad categories Benefit measurement methods that are comparative approaches, scoring models, benefit contributions or economic models Mathematical models that use linear, nonlinear, dynamic, integer, or multi-objective programming algorithms.
Project Management Methodology, Project Management Information System and Expert Judgment these tools are used in almost all the processes of Project Integration Management to develop required out for that particular processes. For example, PMM, PMIS and expert judgment can help Project management to prepare Preliminary Project scope statement.
· Project Management Methodology (PMM)
A Project management methodology defines a set of Project Management Process Groups, their related processes and the related control functions that are consolidated and combined into a functioning unified whole. It can be either a formal mature process or an informal technique that aids a project management team in effectively developing a project charter.
· Project Management Information System (PMIS )
The PMIS is a standardized set of automated tools available within the organization and integrated into a system. The PMIS is used by the project management team to support generation of a project charter, facilitate feedback as the document is defined, control changes to the project charter and release the approval document.
· Expert Judgment
Expert judgment is often used to assess the input needed to develop the project charter. Such judgment and expertise is applied to any technical and management detail during this process.
Developing Preliminary Project Scope Statement
Once Project charter is developed and issued and Project manager for the project has been identified, then defining the project scope statement is the task that needs to be accomplished. The preliminary Project Scope Statement specifies that what should be the goals and objectives of the project and what needs to be accomplished for the project.
A project scope statement includes Project and product objectives, Product Acceptance Criteria, Project boundaries, assumptions and constraints, project requirements and deliverables, initial defined risk, schedule milestone, WBS, Summary of budget, Configuration management etc
The preliminary project scope statement is developed from information provided by the initiator or sponsor. For developing preliminary project scope statement, project charter, Project statement of work, Enterprise Environmental Factor, Organizational Process Assets are used as input. PMM processes help the project management team in developing and controlling changes to the preliminary project scope statement. The PMIS, an automated system, is used by the project management team to support generation of a preliminary project scope statement, facilitate feedback, as the document is refined, control changes to the project scope statement, and release the approved document. Expert judgment is applied to any technical and management details to be included in the preliminary project scope statement.
Developing Project Management Plan
The Project management plan defines how the project is executed, monitored and controlled and closed. The Develop project management plan process includes the actions necessary to define, integrate, and coordinate all subsidiary plans into a project management plan. : For example, Project Scope, Schedule, Cost , Quality, Process, Staffing, Communication, Risk, Procurement Management Plan.
The Project Management Plan content will vary depending upon the application area and complexity of the project. The Project Management Plan documents the collections of outputs of the planning processes of the planning Process Group. During PMP, Project Management team select Project Management process which needs to be executed throughout the life cycle of the project, tool and technique to be used for accomplishing those process, how change and configuration control management will be monitored and controlled and how work will be executed to accomplish the objective of the project.
It may have components but not limited to: Milestone list, Resource Calendar, Schedule Baseline, Cost baseline, Quality baseline, Risk register etc
For developing Project Management Plan, Preliminary Project scope statement, project management process, EEF, OPA can be input. Tool and technique could be PMM and PMIS including Project configuration management and Change control system and Expert judgment.
Direct and Manage Project Execution
The Direct and Manage project execution process requires the project manager and the project team to perform multiple actions to execute the project management plan to accomplish the work defined in the project scope statement. Some of those actions are:
· Perform activities to accomplish project activities
· Expend effort and spend funds to accomplish the project objectives
· Staff, train, and manage the project team members assigned to the project
· Obtain quotations, bids, offers, or proposals as appropriate
· Select sellers by choosing from among potential sellers
· Obtain, manage, and use resources including materials, tools, equipment and facilities
· Implement the planned methods and standards
· Create, control, verify, and validate project deliverables
· Manage risks and implement risk response activities
· Manage Sellers
· Adapt approved changes into the project ‘s scope, plans and environment
· Establish and manage project communication channels, both external and internal to the project.
· Collect project data and report cost, schedule, technical and quality progress, and status information to facilitate forecasting
· Collect and document lessons learned, and implement approved process improvement activities
Deliverables are produced as outputs from the processes performed to accomplish the project work planned and scheduled in the project management plan. Work performance information about the completion status of the deliverables, and what has been accomplished, is collected as part of project execution and is fed into the performance reporting process.
Input for the Direct and Manage Project execution are , Project Management Plan, Approved Corrective Actions, Approved corrective actions are documented, authorized directions required to bring expected future project performance into conformance with the project management plan. Approved Preventive Actions, Approved preventive actions are documented, authorized directions that reduce the probability of negative consequences associated with project risks, Approved Change Requests, Approved change request are the documented, authorized changes to expand or contract project scope. The approved changes requests can also modify policies, project management plans, procedures, costs or budgets, or revise schedules. Approved change request are schedules for implementation by the project team.
Approved Defect Repair: The approved defect repair is the documented, authorized request for product correction of a defect found during the quality inspection or the audit process.
Validates Defect Repair: Notification that re inspected repaired items have either been accepted or rejected.
Administrative Closure Procedure
The administrative closure procedure documents all the activities, interactions, and related roles and responsibilities needed in executing the administrative closure procedure for the project.
Deliverables
A deliverables is any unique and verifiable product, result or capability to perform a service that is identified in the Project Management Plan documentation and must be produced and provided to complete the project.
Requested Changes
Change requested to expand or reduce project scope, to modify policies or procedures, to modify project cost or budget, or to revise the project schedule are often identified while project work is being performed. Request for a change can be direct or indirect, externally or internally initiated, and can be optional or legally/contractually mandated.
Implemented Change Requests
Approved change requests that have been implemented by the project management team during project execution.
Implemented Corrective Actions:
The approved corrective actions that have been implemented by the project management team to bring expected future project performance into conformance with the project management plan.
Implemented Preventive Actions
The Approved preventive actions that have been implemented by the project management team to reduce the consequences of project risks.
Implemented Defect Repair
During project execution, the project management team has implemented approved product defect corrections.
Work Performance Information
Information on the status of the project activities being performed to accomplish the project work is routinely collected as part of the project management plan execution. This information includes, but is not limited to:
· Schedule progress showing status information
· Deliverables that have been completed and those not completed
· Schedule activities that have started and those that have been finished
· Extent to which quality standards are being met
· Cost authorized and incurred
· Estimates to complete the schedule activities that have started
· Percent physically complete of the in progress schedule activities
· Documented lesson learned posted to the lessons learned knowledge base
· Resource utilization details
Monitor and Control Project Work
This process is performed to monitor project process associated with initiating, planning, executing and closing. Corrective or preventive actions are taken to control the project performance. Monitoring includes collecting, measuring, and disseminating performance information and assessing measurement and trends to effects process improvements.
The Monitor and Control Project Work Process is concerned with:
· Comparing actual project performance against the project management plan
· Assessing performance to determine whether any corrective or preventive actions are indicated, and then recommending those actions as necessary
· Analyzing, tracking, and monitoring project risks to make sure the risks are identified, their status is reported, and that appropriate risk response plans are being executed
· Maintaining an accurate, timely information base concerning the project’s products(s) and their associated documentation through project completion.
· Providing information to support status reporting, progress measurement and forecasting
· Providing forecast to update current cost and current schedule information
· Monitoring implementation of approved changes when and as they occur
Project Management Plan, Work Performance Information, Rejected Change Request are used as input for Monitor and Control Project Work.
As for Tools and technique is concerned, PMM, PMIS, Expert judgment and
Earned value technique.
The earned value technique measure performance of the project as it moves from project initiationt through project closure. The earned value management methodology also provides a means to forecast future performance based upon past performance.
Recommended Corrective Action
Corrective actions are document recommendations required to bring expected future project performance into conformance with the project management plan.
Recommended Preventive Actions
Corrective actions are document recommendations that reduce the probability of negative consequence associated with the project risks.
Forecast
It includes estimates or predictions of conditions and events in the project ‘s future, based on information and knowledge available at the time of the forecast.
Recommended Defect Repair
Some defects which are found during the quality inspection and audit process, are recommended for correction.
Requested Changes:
Integrated Change Control:
The Integrated Change Control Process is performed from project inception through completion. Change control is necessary because project seldom run exactly according to the project management plan. The project management plan, the project scope statement, and other deliverables must be maintained by carefully and continuously managing changes, either by rejecting changes or by approving changes so those approved changes are incorporated into a revised baseline.
Proposed changes can require new or revised cost estimates, schedule activity sequences, schedule dates, resource requirements, and analysis of risk response alternative.
Some of the configuration management activities included in the integrated change control process are:
Configuration Identification:
Providing the basis from which the configuration of products is defined and verified, products and documents are labeled, changes are managed, and accountability is maintained.
Configuration Status Accounting
Capturing, storing, and accessing configuration information needed to manage products and product information effectively.
Configuration Verification and Auditing
Establishing that the performance and functional requirements defined in the configuration defined in the configuration documentation have been met.
Every documented requested change must be either accepted or rejected by some authority within the project management team or an external organization representing the initiator, sponsor, or customer.
Close projects
The Close Project process involves performing the project closure portion of the project management plan. Two procedures are developed to establish the interactions necessary to perform the closure activities across the entire project or for project phase:
Administrative closure procedure:
This procedure details all the activities interactions and related roles and responsibilities of the project team member and other stakeholders involved in executing the administrative closure procedure for the project. Performing the administrative closure also include integrated activities needed to collect project records, analyze project success or failure, gather lesson learned, and archive project information for future use by the organization.
Contract closure procedure:
Include all activities and interactions needed to settled and close any contract agreement established for the project, as well as define those related activities supporting the formal administrative closure of the project.
References: PMBOK 3rd Edition
