initiating the project

8/2/2019 Initiating the Project

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Initiating the project

The initiating domain is worth 13% of the exam score. This domain is about the initial project definition, identifyingstakeholders, and getting project approval. You will see information about

Evaluating project feasibilityDefining high level scopeAnalyzing stakeholdersProposing an implementation approachCompleting a project charterGaining project charter approval

Planning the project

The planning domain is worth 24% of the exam score. Topics in this domain cover all aspects of planning the project fromscope, time, and cost to risks, change, and holding the kick-off meeting.

Gathering and documenting requirementsDocumenting assumptions and constraintsCreating a work breakdown structure (WBS)Estimating and budgeting costsDeveloping a project scheduleDefining project team roles and responsibilities and the organizational structureDeveloping a communication management planPlanning project procurementsCreating a change management planIdentifying risks and risk strategiesFinalizing the project management planObtaining project management plan approvalConducting a project kick-off meetingExecuting the project

The executing domain is worth 30% of the exam score. These questions deal with the day-to-day management of theproject after the majority of the planning is done.

Managing resources to perform project activitiesCreating deliverables on time and in budgetFollowing the quality management planFollowing the change management planEmploying risk management techniquesProviding leadership, motivation, and other skills to maximize team performanceMonitoring and controlling the project

Monitoring and controlling questions comprise 25% of the test. The questions are about managing performance andcontrolling change.

Measuring project performanceApplying change managementControlling quality for project deliverablesConducting risk managementManaging issuesCommunicating statusManaging procurements


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Closing the project

This domain comprises 8% of the questions. The questions deal with closing a phase, a procurement, or the overallproject.

Closing contractsGaining final acceptanceTransferring ownership and managementConducting a project reviewDocumenting lessons learnedWriting the final project reportArchiving project recordsMeasuring customer satisfaction

The Project Management OfficeA Project Management Office (PMO) is common these days. PMOs can have all different functions, depending upon theneeds of the organization.

Project Management Office (PMO). An organizational body or entity assigned various responsibilities related to thecentralized and coordinated management of those projects under its domain. The responsibilities of a PMO canrange from providing project management support functions to actually being responsible for the direct management of aproject.

Here are the four basic families of PMOs:

Home for project managers: In this type of PMO, all project managers (PMs) report to the director or head of thePMO. The head of the PMO assigns PMs to projects, monitors progress, and serves as the functional manager for projectmanagement. This PMO also serves as a communication hub and allocates resources across multiple projects.

Administrative: An administrative PMO develops policies, procedures, templates, forms, and reports for projectmanagement in the organization. The PMO makes sure that everyone is applying consistent project managementpractices across the organization.

Support: A support PMO provides mentoring, assistance, training, kickoff support, and project consulting expertise.Project-specific: Some large projects have a PMO set up to manage a specific project. After the project is complete,the PMO dissolves. Of course, PMOs can provide multiple functions, or a little bit of each, but those in the preceding listare the general descriptions of the most common services that PMOs provide.

Project managementSome additional definitions you need to be aware of are project management and, of course, project manager.

Project Manager (PM). The person assigned by the performing organization to achieve the project objectives.

Project Management. The application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the projectrequirements. Shortly, I talk about some fundamentals of what makes a successful project manager.

The three main aspects of project management are

Identifying requirementsManaging stakeholder expectationsManaging the competing constraints (or demands)Part of your job as a project manager is to first identify the competing constraints and then manage your project tobalance them appropriately.

ScopeQualityScheduleBudgetResourcesRisk


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Projects and organizational strategy

I mention earlier that projects are initiated to meet strategic objectives.

The PMBOK Guidelists these strategic reasons for initiating a project:

Market demand: This includes new products and updating existing products.Business need: This can include projects to make operations more efficient and thereby increase net profits.Customer request: A customer request can occur via a bid process, or an existing customer can approach you andask you to perform work.Technological advance: Anything that helps automate operations or helps your company do things better, faster, orless expensively.

Legal requirements: When a new law or regulation is passed, you need to understand the implications and make sureyour organization can comply.

The word objective is frequently misunderstood.

Objective. Something toward which work is to be directed, a strategic position to be attained, or a purpose to beachieved, a result to be obtained, a product to be produced, or a service to be performed.

What makes a successful project manager

It isnt enough to know whats in the PMBOK Guide, or pass the PMP exam, to be a successful project manager. You alsoneed subject matter knowledge, the appropriate personality, and good performance. Beyond that, you need to masterprogressive elaboration and the fine art of tailoring.

Knowledge: Think about it: Without the requisite subject matter knowledge, how would you know whether an estimatea team member gives you is reasonable or out in left field? You have to know something about the type of project youremanaging. How else can you expect people to respect you and your expertise?

Personality: Another key aspect in project success comprises your personal traits. Your attitude, personality, andleadership ability are key aspects in your success. It might not seem fair that personality plays a role, but really, this job isnot for everyone. Someone who is withdrawn or hypercritical wont do well in this job.

Performance: You can know everything about project management and your industry and technical area, and you can

be well liked and respected, but if you cant deliver or perform, you wont be successful.Dont be surprised if you run intoa question that indicates that the project manager has to be knowledgeable about the technical and professional aspectsof the project.

Enterprise Environmental Factors. Any or all external environmental factors and internal organizational environmentalfactors that surround or influence the projects success. These factors are from any or all of the enterprises involved in theproject, and include organizational culture and structure, infrastructure, existing resources, commercial databases, marketconditions, and project management software.

A companys cultural norms include policies, procedures, values, authority levels, and work ethics. In addition to theculture, other EEFs include:

Standards, codes, and regulations

The organizations infrastructure, such as IT systems, supply chains, and organizational structureMarketplace conditions, including the availability of material and technical skillsStakeholder risk tolerances and the ability to work with uncertaintyExtreme geography and weather

Project Life Cycle. A collection of generally sequential project phases whose name and number are determined by thecontrol needs of the organization or organizations involved in the project. A life cycle can be documented with amethodology.


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Project Phase. A collection of logically related project activities, usually culminating in the completion of a majordeliverable. Project phases are mainly completed sequentially but can overlap in some project situations. A project phaseis a component of a project life cycle. A project phase is not a project management process group. For example, aninformation technology project might have the following phases:

Concept definitionRequirements gatheringPlanningDevelopmentTestDeploy

Product versus project life cycleSometimes confusion occurs about the difference between a product life cycle and a project life cycle. A product life cycleis the life of a product from conception through retirement. It is common for the development of a new product to beconsidered a project. However, at some point, the development project ends, and the product continues. Throughout theproduct life cycle, the organization may use projects to update and modify the product. Therefore, you can say thatproduct life cycles can include multiple project life cycles.

The decision to initiate a project isnt made in a vacuum. Several steps occur before a project is initiated. Here is a briefgeneric summary of some of the activities that take place:

Someone defines a need or proposes a concept.Some high-level project definition is done, and alternatives to meet the need are developed and discussed.A business case is put together, which can include market opportunity, f inancial investment, payback period, netpresent value, and other financial metrics.

The business case is presented to the person or group with the authority to initiate projects.

Initiating processesInitiating processes happen at the beginning of a project and are revisited at the start of each project phase.Initiating Processes. Those processes performed to define a new project or a new phase of an existing project byobtaining authorization to start the project or phase.

Planning processesPlanning processes occur throughout the project. The bulk of your time planning will occur right after the project charter isapproved.

Rolling wave planning. A form of progressive elaboration planning where the work to be accomplished in the near termis planned in detail at a low level of the work breakdown structure, while the work far in the future is planned at a relativelyhigh level of the work breakdown structure, but the detailed planning of the work to be performed within another one ortwo periods in the near future is done as work is being completed during the current period.

Planning Processes. Those processes performed to establish the total scope of the effort, define and refine theobjectives, and develop the course of action required to attain those objectives.

Executing processesAs shown in Table 4-3, the Executing processes are where the majority of the project budget is expended and the majorityof time is spent. This is where the project team creates the deliverables and meets the requirements and objectives of theproject.

Executing Processes. Those processes performed to complete the work defined in the project management plan to

satisfy the project objectives.


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Monitoring and Controlling processesMonitoring and Controlling processes measure the performance of the project, take action based on the performanceanalysis, and maintain the integrity of the baseline by ensuring that only approved changes are integrated into the projectmanagement plan.

Monitoring and Controlling Processes. Those processes required to track, review, and regulate the progress andperformance of the project, identify any areas in which changes to the plan are required, and initiate the correspondingchanges. Almost every process in this process group has the following outputs:

Organizational process asset updatesChange requestsProject management plan updatesProject document updates

Closing processesEven though there are only two processes in the Closing process group, several activities occur.

Closing Processes. Those processes performed to finalize all activities across all project management process groups toformally close the project or phase.

initiating the project

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