 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
Introduction
Overview
The Project Management Institute (PMI®) has published “A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge” describing a subset of the PMBOK® that is generally accepted (PMBOK® Guide 3). For convenience, that document shall simply be referred to in the rest of this book as “The Guide.” Similarly, this work, “Brainstorming the PMBOK®Guide”, will be referred to as “This Book.”
The Guide is devoted almost entirely to identifying, explaining, and relating its thirty-nine project management processes. These processes are classified in two different ways to show:
1. How processes interact, from project initiation until project closeout.
2. Which project management knowledge area each process belongs to.
For the purpose of showing the process interactions, the processes are classified into the following five Project Management Process Groups (The Guide 30):
1. Initiating Processes
2. Planning Processes
3. Executing Processes
4. Controlling Processes
5. Closing Processes
Reader should note that the process groups listed above represent a project management process cycle, not the project life cycle which is described in Chapter 2 of The Guide.
For the purpose of grouping the processes by recognizable types of project management knowledge, the processes have been classified into the following nine Project Management Knowledge Areas (The Guide 7):
1. Project Integration Management
2. Project Scope Management
3. Project Time Management
4. Project Cost Management
5. Project Quality Management
6. Project Human Resource Management
7. Project Communication Management
8. Project Risk Management
9. Project Procurement Management
Accordingly, each of the thirty-nine project management processes is associated with both a Project Management Process Group and a Project Management Knowledge Area. For example, Process 8.1 (Quality Planning) belongs to the Planning Processes group and the Project Quality Management knowledge area (The Guide 38).
While describing and grouping project management processes, The Guide also defines the following three types of process-related logical relationships (i.e., dependencies):
1. Relationships between process groups.
2. Relationships between processes.
3. Relationships between inputs and outputs within each process.
Relationships between process groups and relationships between processes are defined, described and shown graphically at the process group level and the process level respectively. See Figure 3-1 and Figures 3-5 through 3-8 (The Guide 31-37). In effect, this means that each relationship description, or diagram arrow, indicates the existence of a certain relationship but it does not specify what information is being exchanged.
The relationships within each process are defined and described at the process input/output level. As a result, The Guide clearly specifies, for each process, what inputs are involved and what outputs are obtained (i.e., what information is being exchanged within the process). In addition, by listing the inputs and the outputs of each process, The Guide implies that relationships between process groups and relationships between processes also consist of the input/output level relationships.
However, The Guide does not describe or show, in terms of inputs and outputs, how each process relates with other processes. Therefore, relationships between process groups and relationships between processes also remain undefined in terms of inputs and outputs and reader is left without an explanation of exactly how processes and process groups are related. The Guide leaves an information gap and, consequently, proper chronological ordering of inputs and outputs becomes extremely complicated.
For example, consider Figure 3-5 (The Guide 33). When the processes are related at the process level, execution of Process 6.3 (Activity Duration Estimating) can start immediately after Processes 6.1 (Activity Definition) and 7.1 (Resource Planning) are completed. However, if the processes are related at the input/output level then reader can see that Process 6.3 truly has:
1. Two inputs, which were generated as outputs of Processes 6.1 and 7.1 called “Activity list”
and “Resource requirements” respectively. The corresponding process relationships are
shown with solid line in Figure 1.
2. An additional input, which is generated as output of Process 11.2 (Risk Identification)
called “Identified risks” and shown with the dotted line in Figure 1. Furthermore, in order to
generate the “Identified risks” output the reader must have completed Process 11.1 (Risk
Management Planning) but the reader would not know any of that by looking at Figure 3-5
(The Guide 33).
This simple example shows how logical relationships of processes could help produce different (and generally more desired) results if process relationships and, by implication, process group relationships are shown in terms of process inputs and process outputs. If this could be done, the previously mentioned information gap would become filled.
Figure 1. Links within Process Group (The Guide 33)
In their daily work, project managers ultimately have to think in terms of process inputs and process outputs. For example, they have to know that a Scope statement is an input required to develop a Work breakdown structure. In fact, at any given point in time, they would like to know what project activities must be completed to start a project activity of particular interest. In order to know that, project managers would have to have not only a diagram of all the logical relationships but a logical, step-by-step, sequence of all the process inputs and process outputs.
Figure 2 shows another view of the process relationships shown in Figure 1, this time in terms of an output/input chronological sequence. As reader can see from Figure 2, chronological sequencing of process inputs and process outputs effectively lines them up in the order in which they are to be performed.
Figure 2. Links within Process Group (This Book's view)
The problem due to the information gap gets more difficult when more complicated relationships are considered. Take for example the relationship between the Planning Processes group and the Executing Processes group, shown in Figure 3. Although the Planning Processes group contains 21 processes and the Executing Processes group contains 7 processes, the relationships between these two process groups are shown with a single process group level relationship, Figure 3-1 (The Guide 31). Again, this high level relationship gives no information about how these two process groups are actually related.
Figure 3. Links Among Proces Groups (The Guide 31)
However, when the group level relationship is shown in terms of relevant process inputs and outputs, it becomes possible to see what information is being exchanged between the process groups. Furthermore, it becomes possible to chronologically sequence the inputs and the outputs in the same way as shown in the previous example. As shown in Figure 4, reader gains sufficient insight into the group relationship without having to negotiate what would otherwise be a process diagram tangled with abstract process relationships.
Figure 4. Links Among Process Groups (This Book's view)
Therefore, the difficulty of logically relating and chronologically ordering the process inputs and process outputs limits the practical applicability of The Guide and creates the need for This Book. This Book bridges the information gap left in The Guide by revealing and describing the relationships between process groups and the relationships between processes at the most detailed relationship level mentioned in The Guide, the level of inputs and outputs.
In addition, This Book provides the chronological sequence of all the inputs and outputs in order to help the reader understand and apply The Guide. For simplicity, the concept of “chronological sequencing” of inputs and outputs will in the remainder of this text be simply referred to as “sequencing”.
The Purpose Of This Book
As mentioned above, one of the objectives of The Guide is to define and describe relationships between process groups and relationships between processes. However, successful initiating, planning, executing, controlling and closeout of any project and measuring the performance of each supplier requires explanation of the relationships in terms of items that can be documented (i.e., inputs and outputs). In addition, these practical purposes also require sequencing of inputs and outputs.
Yet neither the output/input-based explanation of relationships nor the output/input sequences were provided anywhere until now.
This Book is therefore subordinate to The Guide’s view of the relationships and it is meant to supplement The Guide by providing both the explanation of the relationships and the sequence of inputs and outputs.
As shown in the preceding examples, the relationships that are defined in terms of inputs and outputs are the foundation for assigning a sequence number to each input and output mentioned in The Guide. In This Book, sequence numbers are assigned by performing the standard procedure for schedule development. The assignment of sequence numbers to all inputs and outputs made possible the design of a series of templates which are provided in This Book for better understanding and easier application of The Guide. The templates represent the core added value of This Book.
Accordingly, the objectives of This Book are:
1. To show relationships between process groups and relationships between
processes in terms of The Guide’s inputs and outputs.
2. To show the chronological order (i.e., the sequence) of The Guide’s inputs and outputs,
whose existence was only implied but was not actually shown, in The Guide.
By fulfilling these two objectives, This Book lays a strong foundation for analysis, summarizing and dissemination of information at any higher level of the system (process level, process group level, contract level, project level, program level or company level). Consequently, This Book helps turn The Guide into a powerful engine for application of project management knowledge.
Based on the analysis of standard project management practices, as recognized by the project management community and described in The Guide, This Book does the following:
1. Helps the reader understand relationships between process groups and relationships
between processes by revealing details that are the foundation of those relationships. A
grasp of those details, which are the input/output relationships and the input/output
sequencing, is indeed critical for complete understanding of The Guide itself.
2. Directs the reader in applying The Guide to actual projects by using the templates provided.
The templates contain step-by-step guidelines for completing each input/output, each
process, each process group and all process groups.
3. Reduces the amount of variation in application of The Guide because the key relationships
and sequences given in the templates do not allow user to stray far from The Guide.
This Book increases the awareness of The Guide-oriented practice that eliminates the need
for development of original project management frameworks. Therefore This Book saves
the reader’s time and money (that would otherwise be spent on development of original
project management systems).
4. Reduces the gap between the spectacular circulation of The Guide on the one hand and its
modest application on the other by exposing the application features of The Guide.
Therefore, since This Book provides information of practical value, it facilitates the acceptance of The Guide as a practicum for project management.
The content of This Book can be read with or without the end-of-section questions although the questions were designed to help the reader learn the material. In any case, it should be noted that the questions are not of the traditional multiple-choice type with a single correct answer and several incorrect answers. As reader can see, the questions were generated directly from the text and the correct answers are unique and can easily be proven by referring to the text.
In fact, reader can also generate questions. For example, by studying Process 5.2 (Scope Planning) reader can generate a number of questions such as: If, where and why is Input 5.2.1.1 (Product description) also an input into some process other than Process 5.2? What output from Process 5.2 must be completed so that Project plan development can continue (The Guide 55-57)? This approach frees reader from analyzing answer choices that have little or nothing to do with the particular question.
The reader most likely to benefit from This Book is a professional who has found The Guide a valuable resource of project management knowledge. This Book is also a challenging and an important reading for educators, Project Management Professional candidates, researchers and other persons who want to base their competency development framework on The Guide.
Finally, unlike many books about project management, This Book describes complex technical details. For that reason, This Book should not be considered the sole source of information. Reader must refer to, at least, The Guide while reading This Book. Also, This Book is particularly useful as the reader’s desk reference since most of its text explains to the reader how to do something with The Guide, not just what to know about it.
Chapter Descriptions
This Book contains the following four chapters and an Appendix. In summary:
1. Process Relationships: Identifies relationships between inputs and outputs of each
process and inputs and outputs of other processes defined in The Guide. By revealing this
information, this chapter helps reader gain an instant overview of the context of each
input and output with respect to each process in which the input or output occurs.
As shown in Figure 5, the context of an input or an output with respect to a particular
process is the unique set of occurrences of that input or output in other processes. By
extension, the context of a process is the unique set of contexts associated with each input
and output of that process.
Figure 5. Output and its Context
Consequently, knowing the contexts of inputs and outputs, it is possible to develop a
more complete picture of relationships between the process groups and
relationships between processes defined in The Guide. This is true because all
relationships within The Guide, including relationships between process groups and
relationships between processes, are implied by the input/output relationships.
Finally, reader is able to start applying the input/output relationships in defining the
process logic necessary for managing a particular project. To identify input/output
relationships, This Book walks reader through Chapters 4 through 12 (The Guide 41
-159). Having thus revealed relationships between inputs and outputs of each process
and inputs and outputs of other processes defined in The Guide, reader can easily
answer many important questions related to the application of The Guide. For detailed
examples, refer to Chapter 1.
2. Process Sequencing: Derives and appropriately assigns a sequence number to each
output defined in The Guide by examining the Project Management Processes material
described in Section 3.3, Process Interactions (The Guide 32-37).
As mentioned above, The Guide shows global relationships between process groups and
global relationships between processes. Based on representation of the relationships in
terms of process inputs and outputs, revealed and described in the previous chapter, it
becomes possible to take the next logical step in fully describing the relationships. That is,
it becomes possible to chronologically sequence The Guide’s inputs and outputs.
The sequence of outputs (which implies the corresponding sequence of preceding inputs)
was further used to develop sequences of processes and process groups. The developed
sequences are in fact procedural templates that give reader the ability to understand and
directly apply The Guide to management of a specific project. Having revealed the flow of
information from process to process, for all process groups given in The Guide, reader
can easily answer many important questions related to application of The Guide. For
detailed examples, refer to Chapter 2.
3. Iterated Process Loop: Reveals how feed-forward and feedback exchange of
information takes place between inputs and outputs of The Guide. This information
exchange results in an iterated process loop between the three central process groups:
Planning Processes Group, Executing Processes Group and Controlling Processes
Group. Understanding what and how information is constantly exchanged between the
central process groups is crucial for application of The Guide to any real project.
By expanding Figure 3-1 into a detailed picture consisting of inputs and outputs, this chapter
gives reader sufficient insight into the iterated loop (The Guide 31). Finally, reader
will fully understand how working at the input/output level will allow better planning,
execution and control in projects.
To explain the iterated loop, This Book walks reader through Section 3.2, Process
Groups, of The Guide. Having revealed and described the entire iteration mechanism
existing between the central process groups in terms of sequenced inputs/outputs, reader
can easily answer many important questions related to the application of The Guide.
For detailed examples, refer to Chapter 3.
4. Talk The Walk: Presents a narrative explanation of critical output sequences derived and
described in the Process Sequencing chapter of This Book. Unlike many other narratives
about project management, this presentation is unique in its substance and it is strictly
based on the input/output sequence derived in This Book. The narrative explanation is also
important because complex technical details, derived and described in terms of process
inputs and outputs, could perhaps be more easily absorbed and understood when
presented in the simplified form.
Because its content is less technical than the remainder of This Book, this chapter will be
of particular interest to project managers who are not interested in studying the details. By
being able to follow the chronological flow of the input/output level project activities, these
individuals could carry out their responsibilities more effectively.
5. Appendix: Provides reader an integrated, more rigorous, final test of knowledge and
understanding of the material presented in The Guide and This Book. The appendix is
organized as a microcosm of This Book.
The sections of the appendix correspond to the first three chapters of This Book. Each
section contains questions to which answers could be found in the corresponding chapter
of This Book. During this review reader is occasionally directed to refer to The Guide.
This is to ensure that full understanding of the material presented is achieved. This way of
self-testing is particularly suitable for group learning sessions where participants can start
a creative discussion and find correct answers to questions they consider important.
Each chapter has one or more sections that essentially show:
1. How the section can help reader. The purpose of the section is explained here and
reader is prepared to do something useful, not just know and accept something that is
difficult to apply. Reader is given advice on using the material presented in the section
and is thereby led to accept, remember, apply and understand the material.
2. If reader has learned the material presented in the section. Reader is provided test
questions and helped in assessing which topic or skill needs more learning.
Understand the PMBOK® Guide
Apply the PMBOK® Guide
Prepare for the PMP® Certification Exam
Copyright © 2005 Project Management Publications. All rights reserved. • Privacy Policy • Company Info.
