An updated version of
a paper first published
in PM World Today, February 2008
©Randall L. Englund.
Published here June 2008.

Introduction | The Project Management Institute's Work | Definitions of Project Success
The Process of Project Management | Working Within Constraints
 Be Careful Making Decisions Under Pressure | The Project Manager's Garden

The Process of Project Management

Let's look at the project management process:

Figure 3: The project management process sequence
Figure 3: The project management process sequence

With this framework in mind, some of the tasks that happen within each block are:

Initiating

Planning

Executing & Controlling

Closing

Conduct a situation analysis

Conduct a feasibility study

Identify the involved departments

Develop evaluation criteria

Select the core team

Write a requirements document

Develop the core project team

Identify project tasks

Complete work breakdown structure

Develop a responsibility chart

Develop a task network plan

Identify critical areas (risk analysis)

Develop baseline project schedule

Identify the critical path

Monitor project progress

Hold milestone meetings

Refine detailed plan for the next milestone

Implement plan changes

Complete regular project status reports

Complete project documentation

Conduct project review

Record and share project experiences

Close out project

Ensure project benefits get achieved

Figure 4: Table showing distribution of tasks

The above items describe the technical side of project management. Now let us focus on a few behavioral approaches that permeate all activities throughout every project.

A requirements document includes a goal or project objectives statement. It says what you will accomplish, by when, and for how much. Get this statement clear and validated by your sponsor and partners, and you just made the work much easier. Many projects suffer the plague of vague goals, scarce resources, and impossible deadlines. That should become the old story. Many teams I've facilitated through this step in the process are amazed by the power of clear, convincing, and compelling statements of purpose, vision, mission, and goals. People finally understand exactly what the project is about. Discussions then focus on how, not what, to do. This invokes their creative juices and leads to more productive projects. You are now embarking upon the new story.

Definitions of Project Success  Definitions of Project Success

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