Online Project Management – Body of Knowledge
Often even experienced Project Managers need some guidelines or references to steer their Online Project Management to success. Promising the sustainable growth of this particular vocation, the Project Management Institute (PMI) published the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) to chronicle and institutionalize the generic practices and methodologies employed in project management. Originally commercially distributed in 1987 as a humble white paper, it is now a popular companion for software professionals for their work on Online Project Management.
Ever since its debut, it has been expanded seamlessly to cover more detailed definitions, standards, terminologies and practices. Envisaging the need for growth, the first edition of PMBOK was issued as a book in 1996. The second edition succeeded in 2000. In 2004, Institute of Engineering and Technology (IEEE) acknowledged the Project Management Body of Knowledge guide as a standard (IEEE 1490-2003) when its third issue was printed. ANSI (American National Standards Institute) followed suite when it declared the fourth edition as a standard (ANSI/PMI 99-001-2008) in the year 2008. Keeping pace with the ever evolving jargon, the guidelines for Online Project Management are soon to be included. The latest release is the sixth edition published in 2017.
The PMBOK guide labels project organization as a “process based” phenomenon. And so it talks about 42 processes in general. To certify clarity, these are bracketed into 5 process classifications and 9 knowledge areas. The process groups are the general phases of project development. The lifecycle of the entire project is projected into classified into groups of two:
- Project Management Processes: These processes delineate the management of a project. So these generalize the practices adoptable for any and every type of a project.
- Product Oriented Processes: How the generally accepted methodologies are applied to the project in question are described in this chapter. These are specific to the areas they are applied to.
The 2 classifications imbricate together to give a wholesome standardized project. The 5 process groups are created which impress upon this overlapping. Each is chained to the other one as the previous group feeds the processed information to the next group. In this manner, these process groups canvas the whole expanse of project.
- Initiation: Marks the dawn of the Online Project Management.
- Planning: Carefully documenting every small detail concerning the project.
- Execution: The actual implementation of the project plan is performed here.
- Control: Creating status reports to track the progress as well as monitoring the change management.
- Closure: The official dispatch of the project.
Once the process groups are defined, the project manager needs to be cognizant of the knowledge areas. The guide to Project Management Body of Knowledge decides on a minimum of nine areas. For each, PMBOK details the specific inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs. They cover:
- Project Integration Management: The ideas to properly synchronize various constituents of the project.
- Project Scope Management: Ensures the in-scope activities are being performed and all of the out-of-scope activities are not touched upon.
- Project Time Management: The schedule of the deliverables is strictly monitored.
- Project Cost Management: The consented budget plan must not be exceeded.
- Project Quality Management: Periodic quality assurance reviews are necessary.
- Project Human Resource Management: Team harmony is checked and workforce tracking is implemented.
- Project Communications Management: The flow of project information cannot be compromised.
- Project Risk Management: Risk assessment, identification, quantization and control are the key factors.
- Project Procurement Management: All the process requirements are administered.
