Project management is the discipline of defining and achieving targets while managing and optimizing the use of resources (time, money, people, materials, energy, space, etc). Sound project management is essential for a business to deliver value and services.
The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) guide provides an overview of best practices in project management. The project management practices described are not industry specific but are generic and designed to be adapted to suit any type or size of project. PMBOK was created by the Project Management Institute (PMI).
PMBOK is defined by a project management framework, project management processes and project management knowledge areas.
The PMBOK project management framework provides a basic overview and structure for understanding and implementing project management. The framework describes how the five project management process groups and their requisite project management processes provide the basis for sound project management practice.
There are 44 project management processes defined by PMBOK which describe all of the common processes that a project team would use to manage a project. The PMBOK project management processes are divided into five process groups:
PMBOK project management knowledge areas organizes the 44 project management processes into 9 knowledge areas:
| Knowledge Area | Consists of |
|---|---|
| Project integration management | Develop project charter, develop preliminary project scope statement, develop project plan, direct and manage project execution, monitor and control project, integrated change control, and close management processes |
| Project scope management | Scope planning, scope definition, create work breakdown structure, scope verification and scope control processes |
| Project time management | Activity definition, activity sequencing, activity resource estimating, activity duration estimating, schedule development, and schedule control processes |
| Project cost management | Cost estimating, cost budgeting and cost control processes |
| Project quality management | Quality planning, perform quality assurance and perform quality control processes |
| Project human resource management | Human resource planning, acquire project team, develop project team and manage project team processes |
| Project communication management | Communications planning, information distribution, performance reporting and manage stakeholders processes |
| Project risk management | Risk management planning, risk identification, risk analysis, quantitative risk analysis, risk response planning and risk monitoring and control processes |
| Project procurement management | Plan purchases and acquisitions, plan contracting, request seller responses, select sellers, contract administrators and contract closure processes |
Project Management Institute <http://www.pmi.org>
PRojects IN Controlled Environments (PRINCE) is a project management methodology for the organization, management and control of projects. PRINCE was initially developed in 1989 by the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA) as a UK Government standard for information technology (IT) project management; PRINCE2 was later developed in 1996 as a project management methodology to be applied outside the purely IT environment.
The PRINCE2 methodology is defined by a set of processes, components and techniques. The PRINCE2 manual provides detailed guidelines on how to combine and implement these processes, components and techniques for successful project management.
The processes are each defined by activities, objectives, inputs and outputs.
| Process | Description |
|---|---|
| Starting a project | Pre-project process for ensuring all prerequisites are in place |
| Initiating a project | Process for initiating a project to ensure it meets the business case |
| Directing a project | Process for monitoring and controlling a project's goals, structure and resources |
| Controlling a stage | Process for monitoring and controlling day to day activities |
| Managing product delivery | Process for ensuring development and delivery of planned products (outputs) |
| Managing stage boundaries | Process for managing the successful progression of a project |
| Closing a project | Process for controlling the end of a project |
| Planning | A repeatable process used in four of the above; Starting a project, initiating a project, managing stage boundaries and managing product delivery |
| Component | Description |
|---|---|
| Business case | The central focus of the project |
| Organization | The project team |
| Plans | The project plan |
| Controls | A set of controls to enable the management of the project |
| Management of risk | Risk management is a key component of PRINCE 2 in ensuring project success |
| Quality in a project environment | Defines a quality approach for management and technical processes |
| Configuration management | Preparation for delivery |
| Change control | A technique to ensure change control is enforced |
PRINCE2 was released in 1996 as a generic project management method. PRINCE2 is now accepted as the standard for project management in the UK. Its use has spread beyond the UK to more than fifty other countries. The most current revision was released in 2005 by the Office for Government Commerce (OGC), which has replaced the CCTA. The objective of the revision was to improve the usability and clarity of the PRINCE2 manual; however the underlying concepts, principles and approach of the PRINCE2 method have not changed.
PRINCE2 Homepage <http://www.ogc.gov.uk/prince2/>
The Scrum approach was first referred to in the mid 80s and was formalized in the mid 90s as an "agile" method for project management in software development projects where requirements and priorities change rapidly and regularly. However Scrum can be applied anywhere there is a small team of people working together to achieve a common goal.
A key principle of Scrum is its empirical approach, accepting that the problem cannot be fully understood or defined, and focusing instead on maximising the team's ability to respond in an agile manner to emerging challenges. Hence there are no specific prescribed guidelines or control processes for scrum.
Scrum is based on a 'Sprint' which is a 30 day period in which to deliver a working part of a system or a deliverable increment of software. The scrum approach is characterised by:
| Scrum Terminology | Description |
|---|---|
| Sprint or Product Backlogs | A living backlog of prioritised work to be done |
| Sprints | Completion of a largely fixed set of backlog items in a series of short iterations or sprints |
| Daily Scrum meeting | A brief daily meeting or scrum, at which progress is explained, upcoming work is described and impediments are raised |
| Sprint planning meeting | A brief planning session in which the backlog items for the sprint will be defined |
| Sprint review meeting | A brief heartbeat retrospective, at which all team members reflect about the past sprint |
| Scrum Master | Leads daily meetings, primary job is to remove obstacles preventing the team from delivering the sprint goal. NB The scrum master is not the leader of the team as scrum teams are self-organizing |
| Product Owner | Product customer prioritises sprint or product backlogs |
| Scrum Team | Typically 5 to 9 team members who are collectively responsible for meeting the sprint goal |