Project Integration Management

Project Integration Management is the PMP Knowledge Area. Project Integration Management Examples:

During Project Initiation, we do high level thinking about 9 Knowledge Areas and record it in Project Charter.
During Planning, we do detailed level thinking in all the 9 Knowledge Areas and then create Project Baselines and Management Plans. After that we put the together to integrate and develop Project Management Plan.
During Execution, efforts are made to implement what we decided about 9 Knowledge Areas. We integrate these efforts to ensure that we are able to perform according to the plan.
During Monitoring & Controlling, we check performance in all 9 Knowledge Areas and put them together to get overall view of the health of the project.
During Closing, we integrate the final tasks we are required to perform in all the 9 Knowledge Areas to close the project successfully.

Processes & Outputs

Process	Output
Develop Project Charter [Initiating]	Project Charter
Develop Project Management Plan [Planning]	Project Management Plan
Direct and Manage Project Work [Executing]	Deliverable, Work Performance Data, Change requests
Manage Project Knowledge [Executing]	Lessons learned are collected and saved in the corresponding register
Monitor and Control Project Work [Monitoring and Controlling]	We collect work performance information from all other controlling processes related to scope, time, cost, quality, communication, risk, procurement, stakeholder and then generate overall performance report to know the overall performance of the project.
Perform integrated change control [Monitoring and Controlling]	This process plays the role of change control board. All change requests are presented here and reviewed. Output will be approval or rejection.
Close Project or Phase [Closing]	Product Verification and Administrative Closure

Process Description
1. Develop Project Charter [Process / Initiating] – Before a project is started, there is a need. We conduct need analysis and feasibility study. After that we create Business Case for the project i.e. justification for investment in the project. Business Case contains cost-benefit analysis of the project. For authorizing the project, we need followings:

Project Statement of Work (high level description of project)
Business case for the project
Organization Process Assets (OPAs) – Knowledge base, historical information, lessons learned, policies & procedures.
Enterprise Environmental Factors (EEFs)
For vendor companies, project is authorized internally after getting the contract.

Enterprise Environmental Factors (EEFs)

1. External
a. Market Conditions
b. Standards and Regulations
c. Economic and Political conditions
d. Commercially available databases related to estimation and planning
2. Internal
a. Cultural and Organizational Structure
b. Infrastructure
c. Resource Pool
d. Work Authorization System
e. Project Management Information Systems (PMIS)

Project is authorized by developing project charter, which is signed by the project sponsor. Project Sponsor has got the funding authority for the project. It is better to identify and involve Project Manager in the development of the project charter because project charter gives authority to the project manager to use resources on the project.

Contents of Project Charter:

1 – Project purpose or justification
2. Measurable project objectives
3. Initial requirements or high level scope

4. Summary, Schedule, Budget

5. High level constraints, assumptions and risks

6. Name of Project Manager with authority and responsibility

7. List of key stakeholders

8. Project approval requirements

2. Develop Project Management Plan [Process / Planning] – Planning effort requires 24 processes. It is in the last process that we are able to finalize Project Management Plan. In rest of the 23 processes, we create project baselines and management plans.

Project Baselines	Management Plans
1. Scope Baseline 2. Cost Baseline 3. Schedule Baseline	1. Scope Management Plan 2. Requirements Management Plan 3. Schedule Management Plan 4. Cost Management Plan 5. Quality Management Plan 6. Resource Management Plan 7. Communication Management Plan 8. Risk Management Plan 9. Procurement Management Plan 10. Stakeholder Management Plan

We put together outputs of 23 planning processes to develop Project Management Plan in which we enter followings:

1. All Baselines (3)

2. All Management Plans (10)

3. Life-cycle selected and Work Methods selected

4. Results of tailoring

5. Key Management Reviews

Tailoring – Project Manager along with his project management team is responsible for determining project management processes and their degree of rigor according to the needs of the project. Such process customization is known as Tailoring. Example – Out of 49 processes, 30 are relevant. How much in depth we follow each process?

* We obtain approval of the Project Management Plan to avoid conflicts later on.

* We hold kick-off meeting to ensure that everyone is on the same page.

3. Direct and Manage Project Work [Process / Executing] – This is the main process for execution. Work is authorized by using Work Authorization System to ensure work begins at the right time and in the right sequence. People perform the work and provide Deliverable, Work Performance Data, and Change Requests. Also, approved change requests are implemented in this process.

Deliverable goes for inspection by Monitoring & Controlling.

Work Performance Data goes for variance analysis by Monitoring & Controlling.

Change Requests go for evaluation and impact analysis by Monitoring & Controlling processes and thereafter recommended to CCB for approval.

4. Manage Project Knowledge [Process / Executing] – This process uses the existing knowledge to create new knowledge to complete project objectives and improve organizational learning. It uses 2 types of knowledge:
1. Explicit – It is fact based and can be expressed in words.
2. Tacit – It includes experience and ability which is difficult to communicate.
Project Manager manages Information Management and Knowledge Management.

5. Monitor and Control Project Work [Process / Monitoring and Controlling] – It is consolidated process of Monitoring and Controlling. For doing this process, we collect work performance information from all other Monitoring and Controlling processes and generate work performance report to know overall project performance.

In case of variance:

a. Find causes

b. Find corrective actions

c. Recommend it to CCB for approval

After approval, there are 4 duties:

a. Give it to execution for implementation

b. Write approved changes in the Project Management Plan

c. Write lessons learned in OPAs

d. Inform concerned stakeholders

6. Perform Integrated Change Control [Process / Monitoring and Controlling] – This process plays the role of CCB. All recommendations and change requests are presented before this process for review and approval. Change control meetings are conducted for the review of the requested changes and after that they are approved or rejected and then return to the people who made the requests. This process is responsible for maintaining the integrity of the project baselines by permitting only controlled changes.

Controlled changes are one whose impact has been fully understood on all aspects of the project and it has been duly reviewed and approved.

Scope Creep – Uncontrolled scope changes are known as scope creep.

This process is responsible for the timely disposal of the change requests.

7. Close Project or Phase [Process / Closing] – We perform product verification and administrative closure.

Administrative Closure means:

1. Provide formal acceptance of the product

2. Collect all documents, organize it in the index file and archive.

3. Compile lessons learned and archive (go under PMO in OPAs)

4. Make final payments

5. Release resources

In the case of project, administrative closure is done at the end of each phase as well as at the end of project so that important information is not lost.

Note:

1. When completed deliverable are verified, we are into Monitoring and Controlling in the process called Validate Scope. Verification of completed deliverable is therefore known as Scope Validation.

2. When product is verified, we are into closure in the process called Close Project. It is called Product Verification.

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