What Is Project Management?

Project management is facilitation of the planning, scheduling, monitoring, and controlling of all
work that must be
done to meet the project objectives. PMI states that “project management is the application of
knowledge, skills,
tools and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements” (PMI, 2013). It is a
systematic process for
implementing systems on time, within budget, and in line with customer expectations of quality.
Project managers
must not only strive to meet specific scope, time, cost, and quality project goals, they must also
facilitate the entire
process to meet the needs and expectations of the people involved in or affected by project
activities.
Introduction to the Five Process Groups
The project management process groups progress from initiation activities to planning activities,
executing activities,
monitoring and controlling activities, and closing activities. Each of these will be described in
detail in ensuing
sections of this chapter. However, it is important to note here that these groups are integrated and
not linear in nature,
so that decisions and actions taken in one group can affect another. Figure 14.1 shows the five
groups and how they
relate to each other in terms of typical level of activity, time, and overlap. Of course, the level of
activity and length
of each process group varies for each project (Schwalbe, 2014).
• FIGURE 14.1. Level of Activity and Overlap of Process Groups Overtime. (Republished, with
permission of
Course Technology, Cengage Learning, from Schwalbe K. (2006). Information Technology
Project Management,
4th ed. (p. 73). Permission conveyed through Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.)
Project Management Knowledge Areas
The Project Management Knowledge Areas describe the key competencies that project managers
must develop and
use during each of the Process Groups. Each of these competencies has specific tools and
techniques associated with
it, some of which will be elaborated in the following sections of this chapter. Table 14.1 shows
the nine knowledge
areas of project management. The four core areas of project management (bolded in the table)
are project scope,
time, cost, and quality management. These are considered core as they lead to specific project
objectives. The four
facilitating knowledge areas of project management are human resources, communication, risk,
and procurement
management. These are considered facilitating as they are the processes through which the
project objectives are
achieved. The ninth knowledge area, project integration management, is an overarching function
that affects and is
affected by all of the other knowledge areas. Project managers must have knowledge and skills in
all of these nine
areas.
TABLE 14.1