Two-Minute Drill | PMP Project Management Professional Study Guide, Third Edition (Certification Press)

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Project Management Processes

q	Projects are comprised of processes. People, not things, complete processes; processes move the project or phase to completion.
q	There are two broad categories of processes across all project types: project management processes and product-orientated processes. Project management processes are universal to all projects as they control the project management life cycle. Product-orientated processes are unique to the product the project is creating.
q	The five process groups, initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing comprise projects and project phases. These five process groups have sets of actions that move the project forward towards completion.
q	Within the five process groups there are two categories of processes: core and facilitating. Core processes are logical in order and follow a somewhat stringent progression. Facilitating processes are more flexible and support the core processes.

Determining the Need for Projects

q	Projects are created to provide a solution for a problem or to take advantage of an opportunity. Projects can be created to reduce costs, reduce waste, increase revenue, increase productivity and efficiency, or produce other results. The project manager should know why the project is created in order to aim towards the project purpose.
q	Some projects require a feasibility study to prove that the problem exists or to conduct root cause analysis to find the root of a given problem. Feasibility studies also determine the possibility of the project to solve the identified problem for a reasonable cost and within a reasonable amount of time.
q	The product description describes the expected outcome of the project. The product description should define what the project is creating. If the project is solving a problem, the product description should describe how the organization will perform without the problem in existence. If the project is seizing a market opportunity, it should describe the organization with opportunity seized. Basically, product descriptions describe life after a successful project.

Project Management Framework

The three components of processes, inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs, spurn decisions, conditions, plans, and reactions to conditions and progress. The output of one process serves as the input to another. Within each process, the tools and techniques, such as expert judgment, guide and influence the output of a process. A faulty output will likely influence downstream processes negatively.

Project processes can be customized to meet the needs and demands of the project. Some processes may be moved to better meet the conditions and requirements of a given project. In some instances, a process may be removed from a project. Use caution: a process that is not completed does not necessarily mean it was not needed.

The nine knowledge areas are comprised of the project management processes we've discussed in detail in this chapter. The process groups discussed in this chapter map to the nine knowledge areas:

Project integration management
Project scope management
Project time management
Project cost management
Project quality management
Project human resource management
Project communications management
Project risk management
Project procurement management

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