Understanding Project Management Knowledge Areas- Your "Tool Box"

Managing projects requires applying knowledge, skills, and tools and techniques to project activities in order to meet the project objectives. In otherwords, before you can manage a project, you need to make sure you have the proper tools, skills and knowlege required. You then need to undersand what processes are required at various stages of the project, discussed in the Project Process Groups section. So you need to not only know what order to do use processes, but also understand what these processes are and how they are used. Hence processes are part of both the "process groups" or order of a project, but also the "knowledge" required to manage projects.

Each aspect of a project is managed by using the corresponding "knowledge area". To be an effective project manager, you will need to understand each of the nine knowledge areas of project management.

For example, each project has a scope that needs to be managed, and the knowledge required to manage scope is in the knowledge area called project scope management. To perform the project work within the project scope, you need human resources (e.g. UVU Enactus team members), which need to be managed; the knowledge used to manage human resources is called human resource management. You get the idea.

Each process belongs to one of the nine knowledge areas discussed in the following list.

Project scope management. The primary purpose of project scope management is to ensure that all the required work (and only the required work) is performed to complete the project successfully. This is accomplished by defining and controlling what is included in the project and what is not. To be specific, project scope management includes the following:

◆ Collect requirements. Collect the requirements for the project based on the stakeholders’ needs, which will determine the project scope.

◆ Define scope. Develop the description for the project and its products, which is the basis for the project scope.

◆ Create the work breakdown structure (WBS). Decompose the project deliverables into smaller, more manageable work components. The outcome of this exercise is called the work breakdown structure.

◆ Verify scope. Plan how the completed deliverables of the project will be accepted.

◆ Control scope. Control changes to the project scope— only the approved changes to the scope should be implemented.

Obviously, these components are performed by using the corresponding processes. So, project scope management, in part, defines the work required to complete the project. It’s a finite amount of work and will require a finite amount of time, which needs to be managed as well.

Project time management. The primary purpose of project time management is to develop and control the project schedule. This is accomplished by performing the following components:

◆ Define activities. Identify all the work activities that need to be scheduled to produce the project deliverables.

◆ Sequence activities. Identify the dependencies among the activities that need to be scheduled (that is, the schedule activities) so that they can be scheduled in the right order.

◆ Estimate activity resources. For each schedule activity, estimate the types of resources needed and the quantity for each type.

◆ Estimate activity durations. Estimate the time needed to complete each schedule activity.

◆ Develop schedule. Analyze the data created in the previous steps to develop the schedule.

◆ Control schedule. Control changes to the project schedule.

You perform these tasks by using the corresponding processes. It will cost you to get the activities in the schedule completed, and the cost needs to be managed, too.

Project cost management. The primary goal of project cost management is to estimate the cost and to complete the project within the approved budget. Accordingly, cost management includes the following components:

◆ Estimate cost. Develop the cost of the resources needed to complete the project, which includes schedule activities and outsourced (procured) work.

◆ Determine budget. Aggregate the costs of individual activities to establish a cost baseline that includes timing.

◆ Control cost. Monitor and control the cost variance in the project execution— that is, the difference between the planned cost and actual cost during execution, as well as changes to the project budget.

You will use the appropriate processes to accomplish these tasks. The resources needed to complete the project activities include human resources, which need to be managed as well.

Project human resource management. The primary purpose of project human resource management is to obtain, develop, and manage the project team that will perform the project work. To be specific, project human resource management includes the following components:

◆ Develop human resources plan. Identify project roles, responsibilities for each role, and reporting relationships among the roles. Also, create the staff management plan that describes when and how the resource requirements will be met.

◆ Acquire project team. Obtain the human resources. Develop project team. Improve the competencies of the team members and the interaction among members to optimize the team performance.

◆ Manage project team. Track the performance of team members, provide them with feedback, and resolve issues and conflicts. This should all be done with the goal to enhance performance— that is, to complete the project on time and within the planned cost and scope.

These components are performed by using the corresponding processes. There will be situations in which your organization does not have the expertise to perform certain schedule activities in-house. For this or other reasons, you might want to acquire some items or services from an outside vendor. This kind of acquisition is called procurement, which also needs to be managed.

Project procurement management. The primary purpose of procurement management is to manage acquiring products (that is, products, services, or results) from outside the project team in order to complete the project. The external vendor who offers the service is called the seller. Procurement management includes the following:

◆ Plan procurements. Identify purchasing needs, specify the procurement approach, and identify potential sellers.

◆ Conduct procurements. Obtain seller responses, select sellers, and issue contracts.

◆ Administer procurements. Manage procurement relationships, monitor the procurement performance, and monitor and control changes in procurement.

◆ Close procurements. Complete each project procurement with proper closure, such as accepting products and closing contracts.

Be it the procured or the in-house work, there are always some uncertainties that give rise to project risks, which need to be managed.

Project risk management. A project risk is an event that, if it occurs, has a positive or negative effect on meeting the project objectives. The primary purpose of project risk management is to identify the risks and respond to them should they occur. To be specific, project risk management includes the following:

◆ Plan risk management. Decide how to determine and execute the risk management tasks.

◆ Identify risks. Identify the potential risks relevant to the project at hand and determine the characteristics of those risks.

◆ Perform qualitative risk analysis. Assess the probability of occurrence and the impact for each risk in order to prioritize risks for an action or for further analysis.

◆ Perform quantitative risk analysis. Estimate the effects of identified risks on project objectives.

◆ Plan risk responses. Develop action options for risks to maximize opportunities for and minimize threats to satisfying project objectives.

◆ Monitor and control risks. Track identified risks, implement risk response plans, identify new risks, and evaluate the effectiveness of risk management processes throughout the project.

These tasks related to risk management are performed by using the corresponding processes. The goal of risk management is to help meet the project objectives. The degree to which the project objectives and requirements are met is called quality, which needs to be managed.

Project quality management. Project quality is defined as the degree to which a project satisfies its objectives and requirements. For example, a high-quality project is a project that is completed on time and with all the work in the project scope completed within the planned budget. Project quality management includes the following:

◆ Plan quality. Determine the quality requirements and standards that are relevant to the project at hand and how to apply them.

◆ Perform quality assurance. Ensure the planned quality requirements and standards are applied.

◆ Perform quality control. Monitor the quality activities and record the results of these activities in order to assess performance and make necessary recommendations for corrective actions and changes.

These tasks of project quality management are performed by using the corresponding processes. In order to unify different pieces into a whole project, the different project management activities need to be integrated.

Project integration management. The project is initiated, planned, and executed in pieces, and all those pieces are related to each other and need to come together. That is where integration management comes in. For example, integrating different subsidiary plans into the project management plan needs to be managed. Project integration management includes developing the project charter, developing the project management plan, directing and managing project execution, monitoring and controlling project work, performing integrated change control, and closing the project or a phase of a project.

So, while managing all the aspects of the project, you, the project manager, will need to coordinate different activities and groups, and for that you need to communicate.

Project communication management. It is absolutely imperative for the success of the project that the project information is generated and distributed in a timely fashion. Some would say communication is the most important aspect of a project and the most important skill for a project manager to have. But without a doubt, it is certainly a critically important component of project management and a common thread that runs through the project lifecycle. Communication management includes the following:

◆ Identify stakeholders. Identify all individuals, groups, and organizations that will potentially be impacted by the project and find relevant information about them.

◆ Plan communication. Determine the information and communication needs of the project at hand and the communication approach to be used.

◆ Distribute information. Make the needed information available to the project stakeholders in a timely fashion as planned. Manage stakeholder expectations. Communicate and work with the stakeholders to understand and meet their needs, address the issues, and manage the expectations within the project scope and the project management plan.

◆ Report performance. Collect and distribute performance information to the stakeholders to stay on the same page.

As you have seen, managing a project largely means performing a set of processes at various stages of the project, such as initiating and planning. Accordingly, processes are grouped corresponding to these stages, and the groups are called process groups. This is how Project in a Box is organized, according to these stages.

In order to manage a project, you need to understand two things:

1. How to organize projects (Process Groups) "Your Road Map"- The common stages, required processes, order of processes, and corresponding tools that projects commonly follow. These are called "process groups" This is like your "road map" of how you should order your project using your knowledge to manage different processes in projects.

2. Project Management Knowledge (Knowledge Areas) "Your Tool Box"- The skills, tools and techniques, processes, and knowledge required to run a project. These are called "knowledge areas" in project management. This is like your project management "tool box". Processes are part of the knowledge required to manage projects. Each of these processes belongs to one of the nine knowledge areas identified in the Project Management Institute's (PMI) PMBOK Guide.

So a process has a dual membership— one in a process group, indicating at what stage of the project the process is performed, and the other in a knowledge area, indicating what aspect of the project is managed by using the process.

(INSERT TABLE OF ALL KNOWLEDGE AREAS AND PROCESS GROUPS AND THIER RELATIONSHIPS)