Chapter 3:
The Project Management Process Groups: A Case Study

Project Management Process Groups

It can be viewed as a number of interlinked processes

Project management process groups

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

initiating processes

planning processes

executing processes

monitoring and controlling processes

closing processes

Developing an IT Project Management Methodology

Just as projects are unique, so are approaches to project management

Many organizations develop their own project management methodologies, especially for IT projects

A methodology describes how things should be done; a standard describes what should be done

PRINCE2, Agile, RUP, and Six Sigma provide different project management methodologies

What Went Wrong?

Philip A. Pell, PMP, commented on how the U.S. IRS needed to improve its project management process.

A 2008 U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report stated that IRS had fixed just 29 of 98 information security weaknesses identified the previous year

Global Issues

A 2011 study of organizations across India

Two-thirds of organizations in some stage of Agile adoption are realizing key software and business benefits in terms of

faster delivery of products to the customer

an improved ability to manage changing requirements

higher quality and productivity in IT.

Organizations struggle with the

opposition to change

a lack of coaching and help in the Agile adoption process

magnitude of the cultural shift required for Agile

a lack of qualified people

The daily stand-up, iteration planning, and release planning are the most commonly used practices, while paired programming and open work-spaces are not popular

What Went Right?

AgênciaClick

an interactive advertising and online communications company based in São Paulo, Brazil, made PMI’s list of outstanding organizations in project management in 2007

Since 2002, the company saw revenues jump 132 percent, primarily due to their five-year emphasis on practicing good project management across the entire company

Project Pre-initiation

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 (see Table 3-2 for an example)

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

Project Initiation

Initiating a project includes recognizing and starting a new project or project phase

The main goal is to formally select and start off projects

The project initiation includes knowledge areas, processes, and outputs

Project Charters and Kick-off Meetings

*See Table 3-6 for an example of a charter

Charters are normally short and include key project information and stakeholder signatures

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

Project Planning

Every knowledge area includes planning information (see Table 3-7 on pages 101-102)

Key outputs included in the JWD project

The main purpose of project planning is to guide execution

A team contract

A project scope statement

A work breakdown structure (WBS)

A project schedule, in the form of a Gantt chart with all dependencies and resources entered

A list of prioritized risks (part of a risk register)

Project Executing

Project managers must use their leadership skills to handle the many challenges that occur during project execution

Many project sponsors and customers focus on deliverables related to providing the products, services, or results desired from the project
(Table 3-11 on p. 111 lists the executing processes and outputs. )

Usually takes the most time and resources to perform project execution

A milestone report (example on pp. 112-113) can help focus on completing major milestones

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

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

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 include project files and lessons-learned reports, part of organizational process assets

Most projects also include a final report and presentation to the sponsor/senior management

An Informed Decision

It is not a snap decision whether to use an agile approach or not, just like flying or driving somewhere on a trip

Projects with

The following example uses Scrum roles, artifacts, and ceremonies

less rigid constraints

experienced and preferably co-located teams

smaller risks

unclear requirements

more flexible scheduling

would be more compatible with an agile approach

Scrum Roles

ScrumMaster

Scrum team or development team

Product owner

The 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.

The 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.

A 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 2-4 weeks.

Scrum Artifacts

An artifact is a useful object created by people

Scrum artifacts include

Product backlog: A list of features prioritized by business value

Sprint backlog: The 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

Scrum Ceremonies

Daily Scrum: A short meeting for the development team to share progress and challenges and plan work for the day.

Sprint reviews: A meeting in which the team demonstrates to the product owner what it has completed during the sprint.

Sprint planning session: A meeting with the team to select a set of work from the product backlog to deliver during a sprint.

Sprint retrospectives: A 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.

Unique Scrum Activities by Process Group

Executing

Monitoring and Controlling

Planning

Closing

Initiating

Scrum Activities

Executing

Monitoring and Controlling

Planning

Closing

Not different from PMBOK® Guide

Different

Still create a scope statement and can use a Gantt chart for the entire project schedule; other planning similar (risk, etc.)

Descriptions of work are identified in the product and sprint backlogs, more detailed work documented in technical stories, estimate a velocity or capacity for each sprint; release roadmap often used for schedule

Not different from PMBOK® Guide

Different

Still produce products, lead people, etc.

Produce several releases of software - users of the new software might be confused by getting several iterations of the product instead of just one

Communications different because the project team meets every morning, physically or virtually

Not different from PMBOK® Guide

Different

Still check actual work vs. planned work

A sprint board is used instead of a tracking Gantt chart or other tools

Use a burndown chart vs. earned value chart

Names of key reviews are the daily Scrum and the sprint review

Different

Not different from PMBOK® Guide

Focus is still on acceptance of deliverables and reflection

The retrospective is similar to a lessons-learned report, but it focuses on a shorter period of time. It is intended to answer two fundamental questions

What could we do differently to improve the product or process?

What went well during the last sprint that we should continue doing?