Overview
Project Management process areas cover the project management activities related to planning, monitoring, and controlling the project. There are 5 key process areas and the details are provided below.
- Project Planning - This process area is about the step by step tasks required to create a project plan and make changes to the project plan if required while ensuring consistent communication with all team members. The purpose of Project Planning (PP) is to establish and maintain plans that define project activities.
- Project Monitoring & Control - This process area is about the step by step tasks required to monitor the project and take corrective action to resolve any issues. The purpose of Project Monitoring and Control (PMC) is to provide an understanding of the project's progress so that appropriate corrective actions can be taken when the project's performance deviates significantly from the plan.
- Integrated Project Management - This process area is about the step by step tasks required to establish the project plan and the integrated teams for the project. The purpose of Integrated Project Management (IPM) is to establish and manage the project and the involvement of the relevant stakeholders according to an integrated and defined process that is tailored from the organization's set of standard processes. This area also covers the establishment of a shared vision for the project and the establishment of integrated teams that will carry out objectives of the project.
Risk Management - This process area is about the step by step tasks required to prepare a risk management strategy, identify and mitigate the potential risks in a project. The purpose of Risk Management (RSKM) is to identify potential problems before they occur so that risk-handling activities can be planned and invoked as needed across the life of the project to mitigate adverse impacts on achieving objectives.- Quantitative Project Management - This process area is about the step by step tasks required to select the sub-processes for improvement and to statistically manage their process performance. The purpose of Quantitative Project Management (QPM) is to quantitatively manage the project's defined process to achieve the project's established quality and process-performance objectives.
In this section, we have provided details of the control processes carried out by the company to ensure that the specified process steps are diligently followed across the company during the execution of projects. There is a further objective to hold discussions for ensuring that the company is organized for success and is constantly identifying / implementing opportunities related to continuous incremental / step improvements related to quality, client satisfaction and repeat business. The summary emails in these processes must be copied to Business Leader as well as HR & Accounting Manager. There are the 3 control processes related to project management and the description is provided below:
Weekly Project Review
We have provided an excerpt from our System manual for this process step:
Purpose Project Manager reviews every project weekly to identify and implement improvement opportunities
Entry Criteria & Inputs
- Email from Client stating that project is awarded
- Email from Quality Analyst describing the discussion in last week review meeting
- Proof that the project is awarded (Email copy is acceptable)
- Proposal in prescribed format from Sales Group (Template 1)
- Electronic copy of all deliverables for completed steps
- Project Status Sheet (Template 19)
- Project Metrics Sheet (Template 15)
- Project Issue Log (Template 20)
- Project Non-Compliance Log (Template 21)
- Weekly Client Review Log (Template 22)
- Project Suggestion Log (Template 44)
List of Activities
- BA maintains Project Folder in prescribed format (PROC 6)
- BA maintains Project Status Sheet in prescribed format
- Quality Analyst maintains Project Metrics Sheet in prescribed format
- Quality Analyst maintains Project Issue Log in prescribed format
- Quality Analyst maintains Project Non-Compliance Log in prescribed format
- Business Analyst maintains Weekly Client Review Log in prescribed format
- Business Analyst maintains Project Suggestion Log in prescribed format
- Project Manager convenes the meeting on any work day
- Meeting is held once a week and should last less than 30 min
- Review Project Status Sheet (Verification)
- Review Completed Deliverables (Verification)
- Review Project Metrics (Verification)
- Review Issue Log and Decide / Track Corrective Action (Verification)
- Review Non-Compliance Log and Decide / Track Corrective Action (Verification)
- It is critical and is the responsibility of Project Manager that at least one improvement action is decided during this review meeting
- Quality Analyst circulates the summary of discussion by email (Exit Criterion)
Outputs
- Line Items may be added or status updated in Project Issue Log
- Date Commitments are provided for deliverables or issues
- Participants are answerable for their project commitments
- Backup of Project Folder till completion of latest step or bundle
- Corrective actions that are either decided or fulfilled are documented
Daily Project Status Report
We have provided an excerpt from our System manual for this process step:
Purpose BA sends a daily email to key project stakeholders to update progress and highlight issues
Entry Criteria & Inputs
- Email from Client stating that project is awarded
- Work done by team in the day for which the report is sent
List of Activities
The report is sent by BA over email in prescribed format (Template 23)
- What was done by the project team during the day
- Any requirements or questions related to the project
- Commitment for the next few days
- List of people who worked on the project during the day
- Enclose project status sheet and / or URL links with passwords
Quality Analyst records non-compliance if report is not sent and flags a red alert to Project Manager and Business Leader the next day. (Verification)
Quality Manager is accountable to ensure that immediate corrective action is taken in the event that the daily project status report is not sent on ant day. This non-compliance must be logged and escalated (Exit Criterion)
Outputs
- Daily Project Report emails are archived by Quality Manager
- Summary of instances when report is not sent is recorded
Daily Project Team Review
We have provided an excerpt from our System manual for this process step: Purpose Project Manager meets the Business Analysts every day and sends a daily email to Business Leader and all key internal stakeholders to update the overall status and progress of the active projects
Entry Criteria & Inputs
- This activity is mandatory and will be done by Project Manager or Quality Manager every day
- Work done by team in the day for which the report is sent
- There is at least one live project on the specific day
List of Activities
Project Manager decides the agenda for the daily meeting and all Business Analysts provide an update on their respective projects
Report is sent daily over email by Project Manager to Business Leader with copy to Quality Manager
Quality Manager sends the report in absence of Project Manager
The report is made in spreadsheet or document format and sent as attachment to the email (Template 24)
There are 4-5 bullet points about every project. The following areas must be highlighted:
- Number of client reviews done during the week for each project
- Emerging problems or constraints in any project
- Expect delay in achievement of any committed milestones
- Repeat business opportunities from any client
Quality Analyst records non-compliance if report is not sent and flags a red alert to Project Manager and Business Leader the next day. (Verification)
Quality Manager is accountable to ensure that immediate corrective action is taken in the event that the daily project status report is not sent on ant day. This non-compliance must be logged and escalated (Exit Criterion)
Outputs
- Number of client reviews done during the current week can be seen for all live projects
- Problems, delays and opportunities are immediately highlighted
- All key people in the company stay informed about the progress of active projects
