Project Monitoring And Control Process Group Information Technology Essay

The PMI A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge,Third Edition defines project management as: “Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements. Project management is accomplished through the application and integration of the project management processes of initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing.”

Before we go deep in understanding what is project management let us first understand each term separately. Project, is a temporary state of tasks undertaken to build a uniquely identifiable services, products, or outcomes. Temporary state means that those set of tasks have a clear beginning and a clear end. The end is when those set of tasks have achieved the set objectives, cannot be met, objectives are no longer relevant to present circumstance or can be other evident reasons.

Management is confined set of procedures or process performed to maintain and attain set of tasks objectives. Hence Project management is application of knowledge skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to achieve the objectives. It includes; identify the specified requirements, establishment of clear cut objective that can be achieved, and chalked out plans, processes, and procedures to satisfy all the corners of the project stakeholders.

Project manager is one who is whole and sole responsibility is for the successful initiation, planning, execution, and closure of the project while meeting the objectives. Project managers usually mention project management is a bundle of triple factors, i.e. scope, time, and cost, which steer requirements, quality, and delivery of project artifacts.

Hence the project management is often illustrated as an approach an organizational through its managerial processes and procedures defining a set of defined procedures and processes which can be suitably redefined to achieve set objectives both in the project perspective and organizational agreeable standards.

Introduction

This report is an elaborative work on understanding the basic and important concepts of project management to name a few the resource allocation and communication, risk management, and project closure procedures. To understand the effective implementation of various important aspects of the project management planning through utilization of software application tools called the Method 123 Project Management Method tool version 10.0.0.0. trial version. This tool is built on the Microsoft Windows NT 6.0.6002.0, internet explorer 8.0.6001.18975, and .Net framework. A comprehensive study is carried on resource and communication management process, risk management phase, and project closure process along with brief description on the project management plan processes effectively maintaining and tracking project progression and completion to achieve the set objectives of projects.

Project Management Framework

Overview of Project management process and knowledge areas.

Project Management Processes

Project management processes are distinct set of activities with clear cut interfaces of various processes which intended to meet project requirements. Project management will be accomplished following a set of defined processes using project management knowledge, tools, skills, and techniques, so the right combination of processes and procedure will lead to accomplishing those set objectives. The project team involved should need to consider and select upon set of appropriate processes within the defined processes groups (sample list in the above image), adapt to product specifications and plan to achieve various requirements of project, by abiding to customer and other stakeholders wants including their expectations, and last but not the least, draw out effective balance of demands from scope, time, cost, quality, resources, and risk to churn out quality outcome.

To accomplish the general set of artifacts needed would be the project initiation, project plan, project execution, project monitoring and control, and project closure. The best endeavor would be to analyze and select the best possible practice that is most successful on most of the projects completed at most of the times.

Project team and project manager should formulate the most complying of processes needed to accomplish the laid out objectives for any project. Understanding that process is a set of interrelated actions or tasks which are performed to accomplished pre-set objectives of product, services, or results as outcomes. There are two general project processes sets one is called the process oriented. This is set of processes common, project manager abiding to a set of process which are common to most of the project at most of the times and combined by the project team performances for their set purposes. The fundamental of processes include the project initiation, project plan, project monitoring and control, and project closure.

The other general project process is the product oriented, this is specifically need to be created to accomplish project’s end product and can usually be explained by the project life cycle adapted and also could vary by area of application.

These two project management processes overlap multiple times during various phases of project life cycle. Hence the project management is not a single criteria process but amalgamation of various processes to achieve set objectives of clients, organization and alignment of various stakeholder requirements. These can be generalized into five process groups;

Project initializing process group.

Project planning process group

Project execution process group.

Project monitoring and control process group.

Project closure process group.

These required processes allow a platform to utilize project management tools, knowledge, and skills during the project life cycle. Every basic process within itself follows a set of processes which enable its objective being met, i.e. plan, do, check, and act. This is most simple of steps or procedures undertaken in very process. The outcome of one process feeds as input to the following process.

Project Initiation Group

In this phase, formal authorization of the project takes place. This is usually carried outside the parameters of project scope such as;

conducting project feasibility study,

alternate process evaluation,

build on distinct project boundaries, objectives,

define and confirm on the scope of project deliverables, duration, forecast resource for organizational investment feasibility

build relationship of the project with the organizational strategic plan

In large projects this initiating process are usually overlapped during the various phases of project life cycle to validate the phase completion objectives.

Project Initiation Phase

This phase is important as it sets objectives for the rest of the project life cycle phases. This phase is validation point for the outcomes of very following phase in the project life cycle.

Project Planning Group

This phase is the most important phase of the project as it constitutes processes and interactions of planning and managing on a regular basis. This phase builds-in more on the project management plan by developing in-depth maturity and analysis of the project scope, cost, schedules/durations that follow further in the project life cycle phases. This multifaceted analysis leads to regular looping through the PDCA cycle in this phase leading to re-analysis of plan and rework of activities and/or follow-on actions as required. The deliverable in this phase i.e. the project management plan thus require regular and sometimes untimely iterations to accommodate and to regularly balance on scope, time, and cost per ever rising project requirements both from within and outside i.e. customer’s requirements.

In this phase with the appropriate and successful involvement of the relevant stakeholders would effectively ease down functionality of the rest of processes. Thus this phase sometimes is also referred as the “rolling wave planning,” meaning the constant planning and iterations processes required. But there is limitations as to how much and how regularly these iterations can be carried along the project life cycle and hence these have to meet to the organizational set objectives or standards to curtail unnecessary iterations. Some of the activities include;

Developing project management plan

Scope; scope planning (enhanced) and analyzed scope definition.

Creation of Work breakdown structure, i.e., this is effectively spilling out the beans and dividing into efficient smaller structure which can be easily managed.

Time, Activity definition (clarity of tasks), sequencing (which one and when), resource estimation (estimation of type of resource and its allocation), duration estimation (activity scheduling).

Costs, estimation of costing, budgeting.

Quality, quality planning activities of the end products to organizational standards and to match to customer’s requirement and satisfaction.

Planning the human resource by identifying and defining roles and responsibility and deciding on relationship channels, This lays foundation for communication planning to include who and how to communicate during the phases in the project life cycle.

Risk management planning; this tackle and identify risk management activities via identification, quantizing, qualitative, response planning.

Purchase and contracting of resources both human resource and technical.

Project Resource Plan

A Resource Plan is a concise presentation of all the basic enablers to run project to complete. A comprehensively documented project resource plan will throw light on the quantities of labor (both human resource and man hours), logistics required run the project to completion. This documented is usually authenticated by the project management team or project sponsor. This is developed in the resource planning phase of the project. The effectively planned document will ease the following steps like budgeting forecasting project phase deliverables. The project management team is formed with sole intention of planning, controlling, and closing and is integral and core team of the project team. This team is in direct connect with the project sponsor (one who owns the project and sets project objectives) and take control of project funding, deciding on project scope, provide clarifications, and influence others in the team and important decision making process pertaining to the project. Project team is consisted looking and gauzing the strength of organization resource pool and team is formed matching with the project requirement. Process including are;

Method123 Project Management Methodology Tool (MPMM)-Resource Management

This Project management methodology tool is very handy as it explains the fine points of Resource Management and also explains the areas and their importance to assist the project manager to read, understand and build the resource management plan in accordance to the project plan. The template provided as the brief description of naming convention (document ID, owner, etc) detail about configuration mapping to enable the latest updated version, to be available, approvals obtained. The template has option of entering human resource (contract or full time) required with their roles, responsibility, and skill set along with resource start date and end date. This information helps in maintain and tracking of the resource in complete and in accordance the organizational standards. The table below has the information to track, maintain, and update information pertaining to the equipment (software and hardware equipment including any instilled equipments like network cabling and telecommunications). The template also has provision to track, maintain, and update information pertaining to materials (non-consumable) office materials like printers etc. The template also has provision to plan for the schedule of resources further to assist in planning and fund (money) allocations and utilization. The template also enables the option of maintaining the assumptions and constraints which usually vary from project to project and also with respect to various resources for utilization. During the project execution to maintain the resources, there is provision for maintaining the time management, timesheet form, timesheet registry.

Execution Process Group

This is where the actual execution of project requirements takes place. The activities include quality assurance, project execution, project team building and allocation, distribution of information, and seller responses and their selection.

Project Process communications

In practice the project management process groups are interconnected by the objectives they are set to accomplish and end products they deliver. In practice one process end products feeds into other process initiation process. The level of interactions between every phase of project life cycle may vary in intensity but is continuous throughout the project life cycle. This is well demonstrated in the below image.

Interaction of process during project life cycle

This interaction is vital for the project to accomplish to set objective as end product of one process is initiation point of another process thus any deviations or variance between in interactions may lead to devastating effect on the project end product.

Method123 Project Management Methodology Tool (MPMM)-Communication

The tool has provision of maintaining communication plan in Project plan phase and at during project execution phase. This template has provision to enter information pertaining to identification of communication requirements among various stakeholders, their role, and organization, information requirement (per stakeholder involvement and restriction levels). The template has complete description and whole captive information pertaining to maintain, tracking, and updating the communication process for effective communication plan among various levels of the project life cycle. This is based on the formulation “the right information to the right people, at the right time.” To maintain that project execution phase, there is communication register to maintain and track the information transfer taking place along with the artifacts within the project phases and during project life cycle.

Project Monitoring and Control Process Group

In this process effective identification of risk and timely corrective steps initiation, and effective tracking of risk is collected, monitored, and closed for efficiency of project output thus assist in smooth execution of the project. This is very essential and integral part of the project life cycle as it marks the performance and regularly identifies variances from the adapted and accepted project management plan. This also encompasses the change requests coming in from project stakeholders during various phases of project life cycle. Thus the process groups maintain and caliber the health of the project process and improve supervision as when required.

In this process, as and when there is variance occurrence from the project management plan, during any phase, as per its objectives and process adapted will allow the project manager to review the process followed and make necessary corrections required. The PDCA cycle of activities is the simple and most basic tool that comes handy to improve the outcome of each and every phase of project life cycle and reduce the compliance issues creping in. This process group comprises of following;

Monitor and control project; this is where assimilation and dissimilation of performance information and its measurement while maintaining the trend to undertaken improvements in process.

Change control integration; this is where change requests are tracked and ensured their reflection is having positive impact on the project process involved i.e. from project initiation phase to project closure.

Scope verification and control; track and monitor the acceptance of project end of phase deliverables.

Schedule control; track and monitor project completion as per project management plan.

Cost control; track and monitor factors creating variance and change control the project budget.

Performance reporting; tracking and monitoring of performance information through reporting, measuring, and forecasting of performance information.

Risk Management and Plan:

Risk monitoring and control is set of activities that track the risks identified, monitoring any remaining risks, identifying risks, executing rescue plan for the risks identified, track the effectiveness throughout the project life cycle. The main objective is to increase the probability and impact of positive events and decrease probability and impact of events that adversely affect the project objectives. The following set of activities include are:

Risk identification, management, and planning; determine and document risk characteristics, formulate plan of action in managing the risk alleviating actions.

Risk quantitative and qualitative analysis; numerically analyze and evaluate effects and prioritize risks for subsequent further occurrences of the risks.

Risk response planning and monitor and control; document and develop categories of actions to improve the chances and alleviate threats to accomplish project objectives. Tracking identified risks, monitor residual risks or new risks while executing risk response plans and document their performances throughout the project life cycle.

Method123 Project Management Methodology Tool (MPMM)-Risk Management

The risk plan has provision to enlist all the identifiable risks categories and other pertaining information during various phases of project life cycle. Risks can also be quantified according to the probability of individual risk occurrence rate and impact capacity. In the plan one can assign priority rating in line with likelihood score priority rating. Provision for plan for the risk scheduling along with predefined preventive actions, resources, contingent actions with corresponding dates.

For the effective risk management during the project execution of risk form to include risk mitigation plans and procedure undertaken for prevention actions. The risk register has comprehensive information pertaining to a particular risk from the date it is raised and the complete information to include the description, priority, prevention actions, and contingency actions. There is also provision for issue creation in the issue form to fill the information of issue. There is also provision for issue registry to include issue raised, issue description, and issue resolution.

Project Closure Group

It looks easy, but it is more to closing a project than meet of the eye. This is set of processes and procedure undertaken to formally close all related project or a phase. Project closure is concluding release of the final deliverable to the customers. This includes confirming all the processes have completed or terminated by handing over their concluding artifacts have been passed over. The various steps include are;

Project closure report; complete project process artifacts which arise from various phases during the project life cycle.

Project contract closure, including the human resource and other logistics involved for the project completion.

Once the project sponsor has approved the project closure an independent team sits on the project plan, deliverables and artifacts to ascertain the process followed and any lesions learnt for future references.

Method123 Project Management Methodology Tool (MPMM)-Closure Plan

Tool has elaborate laid forms and spreadsheet to maintain complete project closure plan and procedure. This form has comprehensive and complete project closure process, following the confirm project completion, identify closure actions, and complete closure actions. For the review project completion process to include the project review performance, review project conformance, identifying project achievement, identify project failures, and lesions learnt. There are spreadsheets in the project closure phase or execution phase.

Method123 Project Management Methodology Tool (MPMM)

This project management tool is a real time and comprehensive tool to match to the present and any project scenario circumstances. The project manager can make informed planning and decision making decisions regarding every stage and phase of the project life cycle. This MPMM tool is more towards the process oriented tool than towards the product oriented processing tool. This software tool asserts the present day scenario where usage of tools is enhancing the performance of the project managers and decreasing the probability of failure through efficient and robust project management tools and techniques which are ever evolving.

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