The PMBOK® Guide Fifth Edition emphasizes the relationship between all ten knowledge areas of project management to illustrate that the entire planning process is a combination of interrelated activities and processes (Saladis & Kerzner, 2011, p130). This paper will first discuss each of the ten knowledge areas in detail, and then evaluate two project case studies as they relate to these ten knowledge areas.
Scope Management
Scope management is an important process for any project. It is the process that ensures all processes are defined and also what measures are taken in controlling these processes. There are six tasks involved in this process (a) planning scope; (b) collecting requirements of scope; (c) defining the scope; (d) creating the
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The project budget has to be determined during the planning phases of the project. The budget for a project needs to be realistic to satisfy the project stakeholders, and to control costs during the project implementation and execution.
There are four processes involved in project cost management (a) planning cost management; (b) estimating costs; (c) determining the budget; and (d) controlling costs. The first three of these processes need to be addressed during the planning phase of the project. The fourth process, controlling costs, is an ongoing process from the beginning to the completion of the project (Schwalbe, 2014, pp. 274-275).
Quality Management
The definition of project quality management is “ensuring that a project will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken” (Schwalbe 2014, pg. G10). It is important in the planning stages of a project that the specifications of the stakeholder’s requirements be stated in writing. This ensures the “conformance to requirements”, and “fitness for use” objectives are met and the resulting product can be used as intended (Schwalbe 2014, pg.
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The goal was to reduce defects to 3.4 defects per million. “Over ten years, Motorola achieved $414 billion in savings, a five-fold increase in sales, and a 20 percent increase in annual profits” (Rose, 2005, p.32) by using the Six Sigma method.
Human Resource Management
The PMBOK Guide states: “Project Human Resources Management includes the processes that organize, manage and lead the project team” (Jarocki, 2014, p.15). This knowledge area is broken down into four distinct processes (a) planning the project team; (b) acquiring the talent; (c) developing the teams; and (d) managing the project team.
First, to develop a human resource management plan for a project, it is crucial to start by identifying and documenting the roles, required skills, and work responsibilities of the project team. This planning process will often include the drafting of an organizational chart to detail, in writing, the specific roles and responsibilities for each team member and will become the project staffing management plan (Schwalbe, 2014, pp. 363-393). Once there is an understanding of the project staffing needs the task moves to the next process; acquiring the
Identify the common roles in a human resource project. Then, analyze these roles to typical human resources functions. The common roles in a human resources project are the executive, managerial, and associate roles. The executive role consist of the steering team, chief projects officer, and sponsor. The responsibility of the steering team are to select, prioritize, and resource projects in accordance with the organization’s strategic planning and to ensure that accurate progress is made and adjustments are made. The chief project officer’s role is to provide support functions to the direct manager of the project. Finally the executive level project role is the sponsor. The sponsor is the person that provides the financial support in cash or in kind for the project. The sponsor takes an
The project management plan will help the organization to manage all the foreseeable risks in a timely, proactive, effective, and appropriate manner. The aim of the project management process is to maximize the chances of the project achieving its objectives, while minimizing the risks and keeping them at an acceptable level. The scope and objective of the risk management plan are as follows:
The project manager should also consider backup plans for the project to ensure the projectit will end within the budget limitation. There are four ways to keep budget planning from becoming a game. The first is the sSteer clear of too-precise estimates, which can imply the total time taken to finish the project is a reality and not an estimation. Stakeholders could deal with business choices by considering these evaluations. The second way is considering leverage cost-estimating experts.
Gray, C., Larson, E. (2008). Project Management: The managerial Process. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.
Kezner, H. Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling. 6th. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc, 1998. Print.
I often develop a high-level budget plan in the Initiate Stage follows by a much more detailed estimate. My experience preparing budgets includes the budget specifies costs for staff labor, materials procurement, ongoing operating costs, contingency reserve, management reserve and other direct costs. The detailed budget provides the project sponsor with a best estimate of how much the project will cost. The budget plan helps manage expectations and gives the Chain of command, County officers and other key stakeholders, a better outlook on department strategic planning. Throughout the project, I would continually forecast the budget, regularly forecast resource usage, keep the team informed and manage scope meticulously to prevent project budget shortfalls.
Project Management Institute . (2008). A Guide to the Project Management body Of Knowledge. Newton Square, PA: Project Management Institute, Inc.
A budgetary estimate is used to allocate money into an organization's budget. Many organizations develop budgets at least two years into the future. Budgetary estimates are made one to two years prior to the software project completion. The accuracy of budgetary estimates is typically ten percent below to twenty-five percent above the actual final cost of the project.
PMBOK, (2013). A guide to the project management body of knowledge : (PMBOK guide). 5th ed. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute, Inc..
A project manager should have a clear vision of the desired outcome and he/she should be aware of
To test the financial feasibility and plan acceptability, there must be information on the magnitude, and share of estimated project cost that are reimbursable. This information can be derived from cost allocation. Also where cost sharing is required in the multipurpose planning process cost allocation can be applied. Cost allocation also provides information necessary for allocating the real expenditures ensuring that the cost account are maintained in line with plan formulation and allocation principles during the subsequent c...
The purpose of this Quality Management Plan is to document the necessary information require to effectively manage project quality from project planning to delivery. It defines the project’s quality policies, procedures, criteria for and areas of application, and roles, responsibilities and authorities. (Project Quality Management Plan, n.d.)
Defining a proper scope of a project is the basic layout, on which everything goes out then, if you lay out a good sound scope and define your processes up to the extension then only it will be easier to work on simpler tasks.
Project planning falls in the Planning Process Group which consists of those processes to establish the projects total scope, define the projects objectives, and courses of action to achieve those objectives. During the planning process, all the documents that are needed to carry the project through the project lifecycle will be developed such as the project management plan. Project management requires repeated feedback loops as additional information becomes available and is better understood. The planning process delineates the strategy, tactics, and path to successfully complete the project. With that, the planning of a project must walk through all the those processes from executing, monitoring and controlling through the closing process.
When planning a new project, how the project will be managed is one of the most important factors. The importance of a managers will determine the success of the project. The success of the project will be determined by how well it is managed. Project management is referred to as the discipline that entails the processes of carefully planning, organizing, controlling, and motivating the organization resources so as to foster and facilitate the achievement of specific established and desired goals and meet the specific criteria of success required in the organization (Larson, 2014). Over the course of this paper I will be discussing and analyzing the importance of project management.