CHAPTER 7
Project Management Integration in Practice
Integration was added to the project management body of knowledge as a ninth knowledge area with the 2000 edition of the PMBOK® Guide. This addition validated the experiences many project managers had throughout their careers. It underscored the important project management role of coordinating and creating linkages among the various kinds of knowledge, activities, and processes—the role of actually having to integrate all project processes to effectively manage a project to meet its objective.
THE EVOLUTION OF THE INTEGRATION KNOWLEDGE AREA
The 2000 edition of the PMBOK® Guide attempted to define the project management processes necessary to integrate the project management activities needed on a project. The three processes described in that document included: a process that speaks about developing a plan, another about executing the project activities in the plan, and the last about coordinating changes across the project.1 In describing integration as a knowledge area, PMI attempted to provide a foundation ensuring that project management activities are properly integrated and coordinated. However, the description of integration fell short of what a project manager actually needs to effectively manage a project. For example, no mention was made about the critical processes required to initiate all project management processes, to monitor tasks to the published plan, or to integrate the closing activities across all project phases.
In 2004, the PMBOK® Guide was expanded to provide more detail on the planning, executing, and controlling processes, plus more emphasis on two areas that had not been adequately addressed in any previous editions—the processes around project initiation and project closure.2 Because a project has small chance of succeeding when either initiating or closing is done incorrectly, additional information about these two areas was provided in the update. The project manager now has specific processes to provide guidance for the initial activities needed to both develop the project charter and a preliminary project scope statement. The project manager can now find guidance for performing the integrative processes needed to produce a comprehensive project management plan, rather than nine individual documents that were implied in the prior release. A clear emphasis is also placed on what must be done during project execution. While monitoring and controlling now have a desired emphasis for any size project, the integration activities needed to effectively close a project are also defined.
Project managers have learned through trial and error that project management is really an integrated series of processes and activities. These processes are iteratively applied by skilled project managers to effectively lead a project to its completion. On any given day, the project manager—while planning and managing a project—must make decisions about needed resources, as well as anticipate problems and plan their resolutions. Trade offs made between conflicting objectives and the needed alternatives are also detailed within those groups. If the project processes have been properly integrated, the project manager will be tuned to all aspects of the project effort.
The need for integration among the project processes is evident wherever interfaces must be established for the processes to interact,3 such as a situation in which a project is assigned a specific delivery date without any regard for the overall product scope. The project manager must identify any risks resulting from this approach and communicate that information to the stakeholders. The stakeholders and the project manager use that information to negotiate a decision on whether the schedule should be extended or to reduce the overall product scope to meet the original schedule. The project manager usually performs many activities concurrently during initiation, including the following:
• Assigning members of the project team to initial activities to analyze the scope and attempt to understand the requirements, as well as any assumptions, constraints, and potential risks.
• Working with appropriate stakeholders to establish an initial schedule.
• Setting initial customer expectations. If done effectively, subsequent efforts are facilitated when a consensus among the stakeholders must be negotiated on a difficult request. A fine-grained application of this is communicating risk mitigations, including any risks that can’t be avoided or resolved.
Companies typically perform a feasibility study after the company is stimulated and becomes aware of a perceived opportunity. The organization uses various methods to make a decision to start a project, while attempting to establish value returned against the projected costs. The company may consider a project for various reasons, such as:
• The high cost of fuel requires a more efficient and clean energy source. Analysis would determine if a real market demand exists before the project is considered.
• A company does a business process analysis on its billing and receiving system and finds several areas that are costing the company a great deal of money. Therefore, a new project is established to improve that system.
• A company wants to enter the worldwide market and finds it is required to adhere to a new more restrictive standard to even enter the market in Europe or Asia.
• A start-up wants to build a new ultrasmall implantable medical device to aid patient mobility. A project can be started to research this idea and the impact of adding a high-tech manufacturing facility.
The analysis process must also support picking alternative ways of executing the project to meet defined constraints, such as doing the project offshore or purchasing a turn-key system. The result is a Project Charter document and answers at a minimum the following questions4:
• What is the relationship between what is being created and the stimuli that cause the need?
• What are the projected budget limits that will ensure a profit?
• Who is the project manager, and what is the authority level given for this project?
• What is the initial milestone schedule and will it impact the cost?
• What are the first cut assumptions and constraints identified for the project?
During the upfront effort, the project manager begins gathering data for a preliminary scope document that defines the project and its expected result. This document addresses the project’s characteristics and boundaries and its resulting products. Document content will vary depending upon the application area and project complexity, that is, is the project building a terminal extension at an international airport, or is it building an online billing system for a pet supply company? The differences in product complexity and the required coordination efforts are very clear to see in this example. A skilled project manager must be able to identify the nuances in the scope of his/her project and respond appropriately to cover the project objectives; the product requirements; any acceptance criteria; assumptions, constraints, and risks; and any contract specifics, such as a non-negotiable delivery date.
The key tool a project manager uses is the project management plan. However, the project manager must first perform all activities required to define, prepare, and integrate the activities in the project management plan. An integrated and cohesive plan will define all information about how the project will be executed, controlled, and closed. The required contents for a project management plan are fairly standard. It should essentially define what, who, the process, and when (with cost).5
• The what—the project objective and deliverables.
• The who—the personnel and resources required on the project.
• The process—the project life cycle that will be incorporated into the plan. A diagram can be included to indicate needed process interactions.
• The when/cost—the scheduled due date for each deliverable, including all major milestones.
• The project’s production and delivery locations.
• Last but not least, any communication requirements. What is needed to build the stakeholders’ support and keep them involved?
The project application area directly affects project execution more than any other project process. Deliverables are produced through the project team’s effort as directed by the project manager. In addition, during execution, the team is acquired and trained if needed. Goods and tools may also be obtained so they can be used during project execution. The project manager manages the team, as the approved changes to the product are received and implemented. While managing all of this, the project manager also manages any technical and organizational interfaces required between the project and the rest of the organization. Documents produced during the project effort are also updated.
Monitoring the project requires the project manager to collect, measure, and analyze information, and to assess measurements to determine trends. Those trends are analyzed and project performance may be modified to reverse those trends. The project manager compares status data to the project management plan to determine whether the project will meet its planned objectives on the specified dates. The project manager also keeps detailed information on any identified risks to ensure the mitigation plans are implemented quickly enough to minimize negative impact to the project.
Change control is a fundamental integration concept, as it touches all project processes. Changes to the project documents and other deliverables are controlled by continually assessing any factors that cause changes and by controlling attempts at any ad hoc changes. The project manager controls factors around change control by identifying and approving only those changes that need to occur. The project manager does that by ensuring that any changes are completely documented and approved prior to allowing a baseline update.
An automated configuration management system supporting version control is an effective and efficient way to manage changes to project artifacts. An automated system typically supports a high level of security and controls baseline changes. A change control board is typically implemented in many companies to support and enforce integrated change control at the highest level in the company. A corporate configuration policy defines the change control board’s responsibilities and the needed interaction with all projects.
How does the project manager know when to start the efforts needed to close a project? A skilled project manager knows that every project process must be properly performed, since each is needed to successfully lead to project completion. The project manager uses the closing processes to establish the integrated procedures to close and transfer a project’s deliverables. Administrative and contractual activities must be defined and completed to officially close out a project or a project phase. When the project is closed, documentation and project data must be transferred to the corporate knowledgebase for future reference. The finished product must also be formally accepted by the customer as one of the last closing activities.
These closing procedures also establish the activities required if the project has to be cancelled before it successfully achieves its objectives. If a project is cancelled, there may be penalties or legal ramifications for the company, so project records and data are transferred to the appropriate authorities in the company to resolve those issues.
CONCLUSION
In practice, of course, there is no clear definition of how to integrate project processes, activities, and knowledge. The project manager’s role is made both challenging—and rewarding—by the skill gained while attempting to manage the project to facilitate and monitor efforts for success. In fact, a case can be made that integration is the capstone skill for excellent project managers—the skill that, more than any other, reflects the project management role.
It is also clear that the various activities that the project manager performs are not individual one-time events. Rather, they are overlapping integrated processes that occur at varying levels throughout the project. The project manager must be proficient in the knowledge areas; however the project manager’s experience really shows when he/she can skillfully integrate those knowledge areas to effectively deliver the project’s desired results.
Effective project integration requires emphasis on what?
When is historical information useful during the project?
What does integration mean in project management?
REFERENCES
1 Project Management Institute (PMI), A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, PMBOK® Guide, 2000 Edition, Project Management Institute, 2000: p. 41.
2 PMI, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, Third Edition, Project Management Institute, 2004: p. 77. And PMI, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, Fourth Edition, Project Management Institute, 2008: p. 33.
3 An American National Standard, IEEE Standard for Developing Software Life Cycle Processes, ANSI/IEEE Std. 1074-1991, published by Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers, Inc., 1992.
4 PMI, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, Fourth Edition, Project Management Institute, 2008: p. 62.
5 An American National Standard, IEEE Standard for Software Project Management Plans, ANSI/IEEE Std. 1058.1-1987 (reaffirmed 1993), published by Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers, Inc., 1988.