Project Management Process Groups

Project management processes: 

Project management processes encompasses the skills and capabilities involved in applying the tools & techniques described in knowledge areas.

Product oriented processes specify and create the products of the projects.
PMBOK guide only describes Project management processes.
Project Management processes are grouped into 5 categories viz.
Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring & Controlling, Closing.

Initiating Process group: 

One of the most sought after skills in project management is the ability to initiate a project effectively. Defining the project, securing necessary financial resources, and setting communication in place with stakeholders are all important aspects of initiating a project.

It is in this process group that the project manager is chosen and appointed and where the stakeholder register is created.  It is vital that a project is initiated properly otherwise the objectives will be unclear, the reason why the project was started in the first place will be uncertain, and worse yet, the main deliverables are likely to be incorrect and unacceptable to the customer. 

2 Key processes that happen within Initiating Process groups are Develop Project Charter & Identify Stakeholders.

Establishing an objective -> This is when stakeholders meet and decide what information they need from the project. A small company may have multiple objectives for a project. For example, a marketing research manager may want to better understand what makes consumers buy her company's products & want to determine which demographic groups of customers spend the most money. Demographics pertain to consumers' incomes, genders or age groups. Objectives are essentially the outcomes businesses wish to obtain from completing projects. In other words, all the objectives must be clearly defined.

Planning process group:

Planning process group is the place where the PM, project teams decides what they want, how to do, when to do, who to do, money needed, time needed and so on. Once these are decided, PM will pen down every thing in formal document & gets every one’s agreement and move to next phase. This process group is the key phase in all projects and decides the fate of the project.

It creates the Project Management Plan, Project documents & Baselines.
During project planning, scope is further refined, requirements are developed, work is decomposed, a schedule is developed, cost is further refined and a project plan is developed. The process of further refining the project information is called progressive elaboration or rolling wave planning or iterative planning. This means that the project plan and details are continuously being refined as more information becomes available, and as the project dictates that changes be made.

Executing Process Group:

In layman term, the Executing process group is the place where all the project works are taking place. It involves carrying out all the works which are planned during the Planning process group.

The Executing process group is the place where the PM putting the project management plan into action mode and makes things really happening. PM works with project team to achieve the project objectives. It tracks the the project plan to ensure the future execution of project plans stays in line with project objectives. The Executing process group will utilize the most project time and resources, and as a result, costs are usually highest during the Executing process. PMs faces more conflicts, issues in this process group. Project Execution is the process or activities associated with completing the project activities defined in the project plan in order to meet the project objective defined during project initiation. This is the portion of the project where most of the project effort is expended. The focus for project management is the application of resources to project activities and the collection of information concerning the results of the project work.

The primary results of the Executing processes are the project deliverables and project performance information. In addition, when issues are uncovered while performing project activities, requests for changes to the project plan should be generated.


The objectives of the Executing the Project domain are as follows:
1. Execute Tasks Defined in Project Plan
2. Ensure Common Understanding
3. Manage stakeholders expectations
4. Implement the Procurement of Project Resources
5. Manage Resource Allocation
6. Implement Approved Changes

Monitoring & Control:

The Monitoring and Controlling process oversees all the tasks and metrics necessary to ensure that the approved and authorized project is within scope, on time, and on budget so that the project proceeds with minimal risk. This process involves comparing actual performance with planned performance and taking corrective action to yield the desired outcome when significant differences exist. Monitoring and Controlling process is continuously performed throughout the life of the project.
Key Tasks
    Scope Verification and Change Control
    Schedule Control
    Cost Control
    Quality Control
    Performance Reporting
    Risk Control
    Contract Administration
    Complete Monitoring and Controlling Phase Review

What is the difference between Project Monitoring and Project Control?
Monitoring - collecting, recording, and reporting information concerning project performance that project manger and others wish to know
Controlling - uses data from monitor activity to determine corrective actions to bring actual performance to planned performance

Example of monitoring & control:
Managers have to monitor the activities of their team and the external forces. Without that monitoring you won't know whether your plan is working or if it needs to be adjusted. And managers must then control those elements that they can control to keep everyone moving toward the goal.

In the control task, you compare the actual progress to the plan. If everything is going well, you do not need to do anything but monitor. However, that seldom happens. Someone gets sick, the database sort takes longer each iteration than projected, a key competitor drops their prices, a fire destroys the building next door and you have to evacuate for several days, or some other factor impacts your plan. The control step now dictates that you have to take action to minimize the impact and brings things back to the desired goal as quickly as possible.

That means going back to the planning stage and adjusting plans. It may require a change in the organization and you will have to re-direct everyone toward the new goals. Then you control the new plan and adjust if needed. This cycle continues until you complete the task.

Because of the unique and temporary nature of projects, project require active control. Unlike a process where the same set of activities have been performed repeatedly so that habits and expectations are stable, a project is inherently unstable. The activities are unique to the project or the sequence of activities and resources are only temporarily assigned and associated with the project and are redeployed when the project completes. Habits and patterns are not established before everything changes.

The primary results of the Monitoring and Controlling processes are the project performance reports and implementing project changes. The focus for project management is the analysis of project performance to determine whether a change is needed in the plan for the remaining project activities to achieve the project goals.