The Project Integration Management Knowledge Area - Term Paper Example

INTRODUCTION Project Management is a widely growing concept that is applied to the new project creation till the implementation of the project. Project management in simple terms if the application of the knowledge, skills of the professionals, tools and techniques to any project that is undertaken in order to meet the expectations and needs of the stakeholders. The use of project management is usually associated as best practices for development and implementation of new softwares. The main purpose behind the management process is to “identify, establish, and coordinate and monitor activities, tasks, and resources necessary for a project to produce a product and/or service meeting the agreed requirements” (2001/2621ICTT - Project Management - S2, 2008). Scope, time and cost are the constraints that are acting upon the project management process. This constraint can also be associated with the one of the Knowledge Areas of the Project Management. Following are the nine Knowledge Areas of project management (2001/2621ICTT – Project Management - S2, 2008): 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 The interview with the Kevin Kocis describes the fundamental ways in order to achieve a successful project management. If the job of Kevin is analyzed properly it can be seen that to develop a strategy for implementation, a project management process is required which could ensure a successful deployment of the infrastructure and software. The implementation of Windows 2000 was the example quoted by Kevin which gave an overview of how the Knowledge Areas of the project management can be used successfully. In the example given by Kevin, the processes of Communication Management were the main focus of the implementation which was followed by Time Management and Scope Management. It is not necessary that all the nine Areas have to be used. The usage of the Knowledge Areas depends on the project being undertaken. If the analysis of the interview is done, Kevin has pointed out that in order to ensure the success of any project three factors needed to be kept in view all the time along with the goal of the project. These are the scope of the project, relationship among the teams and the communication process. PROJECT INTEGRATION MANAGEMENT Project Integration Management involves the integration or amalgamation of different processes that are involved in the project management. It is also responsible for monitoring a project work and controlling it, integrating change control and lastly the project closing. Integration includes the “unification, consolidation, articulation and integrative actions that are crucial to project completion, successfully meeting customer and other stakeholder requirements and managing expectations” (The Project Integration Management Knowledge Area). In other words, it can be said that the allocation of resources and anticipating issues and dealing with them by synchronizing the work activities for the success of the project. This part of the project management includes the following processes in accordance with the interview conducted: Develop Project Charter: The development of a project charter is the first and the formal step of starting a project or a phase. Kevin has said in his interview that a project charter serves as a roadmap for the execution of any project. A charter should have the clearly defined steps for the execution or the implementation of a project. According to Kevin, he said that “The roadmap should also include the relationship of the project to the business operational or strategic goals. Project charters should be well publicized (such as through an intranet web site) in addition to the projects progress.” (Interview with Kevin Kocis) With the help of the project charter the team or the organization knows exactly what the project is about, why it is necessary and what might be its implications. A good and well defined project charter can be the basis of the effective project management. Develop Project Management Plan: For an effective project management, it is necessary to document the actions that are vital in defining, preparing, integrating and coordinating all the small plans in a one big project (). For an effective project management, the basic step that should be taken is to collect the information that is necessary in developing the project plan and then make flowcharts for the plan. This advice was given by Kevin saying that the project development should proceed after the performance and feasibility of the project is tested. Integrated Change Control: This integration process involves the reviewing and approving the necessary change requests. It also is related to controlling the changes to the organizational process assets and deliverables (The Project Integration Management Knowledge Area). This is a necessary step because during the implementation and planning phase of the project, requirements keep changing but the start-up requirements will always be based on the current knowledge (Interview with Kevin Kocis). KNOWLEDGE AREA A-CORE FUNCTION The knowledge area that is focused in the ‘Interview with Kevin Kocis’ is the Project Scope Management. According to lecture notes, scope management is the knowledge area that describes the processes which make sure that the project contains all the necessary work and nothing else to complete it successfully. The basic concern of this knowledge area is to control the variables that are included or not included in the project. In other words, it can be said that this area defines the work done necessary to deliver a product. The main processes of this area include: Initiation Scope planning Scope definition Scope verification Scope change control This part of the project management includes the following processes in accordance with the interview conducted: Initiation: In this process the, the need of new a project is recognized. This links the project and its activities and work till the completion. It is important to know why the project is being initiated. It should be made sure that the project will meet the objectives of the organization before the development of a project charter. The initiation can take place after the performance and feasibility study of the undertaken project is complete. These studies can help in determining whether the project will meet the organization’s objectives and goals if it is initiated. Projects are initiated due to market demand, organization need, technological advancement or any legal constraint. Another reason for initiating a project could be to optimize the internal processes of the organization or to control the return on investment for the company Scope Verification: This is the process in which the formal scope plan is conveyed to the stakeholders of the company which includes the sponsors, clients, customers and so on. The project scope is verified by these stakeholders as it is very important to get the acceptance of the stakeholders because they need to know why is the project being carried out and how the goals of the company will be met. The process of scope verification involves the reviewing of the project to ensure that all the activities undertaken in the project are correct and satisfactory. It is important that all the business management and the project team participate in order to determine that each and every person has a clear understanding of the goals of the project. This is because if the plan needs to changed it can be done. According to the IT Project Manager, Kevin, if the initiation of the project is not good or it is not done properly, it might jeopardize the success of the whole project management. Therefore, it is very necessary to focus on the initiation process for effective project management. KNOWLEDGE AREA B- FACILITATING FUNCTION According to Kevin, the facilitating function that is the most the important in any effective project management is the Procurement management. Kevin has talked about this function or the knowledge area throughout his interview. Procurement management is related to the requirement and acquisition of goods and services by outsourcing these services. It consists of the following processes: Procurement planning Solicitation planning Solicitation Source selection Contract administration Contract close-out This phase of the project management is important as it deals with the materials and services that the company might need. Therefore in order to ensure timely delivery so that the project time duration is not jeopardize, Kevin has pointed out the following processes that might be important in an effective and successful project management. Procurement Planning: This process involves the planning of the procurement goods and services as when and what should be required for the project. Before the commitment of any supplier, it is important to address vendor-related critical paths if any occur as pointed out by Kevin. The suppliers can come up with an alternate solution if the timely delivery of the hardware or good might be critical to the whole project. These types of contingency plan should be taken into account before the selection of any supplier to ensure that the chosen supplier can deliver in the time constraint. Contract Administration: In this process, the company tries to manage its relationship with the chosen which suppliers. The purpose of this is to ensure that the supplier can fulfill the delivery of the necessary goods and hardware which are the requirements of the undertaken project. In the interview Kevin has pointed out that the key to effective project management is to notify the vendors or the suppliers as soon as the project need is indentified. This will ensure that the suppliers will know that they have to be ready to deliver any requirements the company asks for and can give the project management team as well as the suppliers the time to arrange a meeting in which the particulars of the order can be discussed. This advance notice of the order can help in the procurement process as they can work in parallel with the project team if the need is there. Another reason for notifying the suppliers is that many hardware suppliers “do not build 0or prepare hardware until they are issued a pur5chase order” (Interview with Kevin Kocis). If the suppliers are notified early they can start to build the hardware while the team works on the planning and documentation of the communication management. CONCLUSION According to the ‘Interview with Kevin Kocis’ many managers do not respond practically if any hardship or a contingent situation occurs during the project planning and implementation. Therefore it is very necessary to listen to the team members, develop contingency plans. Also to ensure a successful project management the communication management should be well planned. The above three knowledge areas give the direction in which to prioritize the planning for an effective project management. The project integration management, scope management and procurement management are very necessary before any of the other knowledge areas because these will determine the time, risks, cost and other variables involved in the project. APPENDIX Yancy PM Project Management. May 3, 2007. Retrieved August 28, 2008 from http://www.yancy.org/research/project_management/ The Project Integration Management Knowledge Area. 2006. E. Project Coach.com. Retrieved August 28, 2008 from http://www.e-projectcoach.com/The-Project-Integration-Management-Knowledge-Area.html 2001/2621ICTT – Project Management - S2, 2008. Lecture Notes. Griffith University. Read More