Processes of project integration management play a vital role throughout the project life cycle. So, in this article, we’ll explain 7 processes of project integration management.
Table of Contents
What Is Project Integration Management?
Project integration management includes processes and activities that help project managers identify, define, combine, unify, and coordinate the numerous processes and activities within the project management process group. In the context of project management, integration includes consolidation, communication, interrelationship, and characteristics and unification. As a project manager, you should apply these actions from the start of the project through completion. Project integration management includes making choices regarding:
- Project resource allocation
- Examining any alternative approaches
- Balancing completion demands
- Tailoring the numerous processes to meet the project objectives
- Managing the interdependencies among the project knowledge areas
As a project manager, you can select the appropriate project management software to manage and coordinate project integration management processes and activities effectively and efficiently.
Read More: 5 tips for successfully introducing new tools to the project team
Processes of Project Integration Management
Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) defines 7 processes that you and your team should take to implement project integration management.
Write a Project Charter
The project charter is the formal document that gives the authority to initiate the project which helps project managers to apply organizational resources to project activities. Furthermore, this document provides a direct link between the project and strategic objectives of the organization. Moreover, it shows the organizational commitment to the project. Remember💡 This process is performed once or at predefined points in the project life cycle. So, writing a project charter is the first process of project integration management.
Read More: What is project charter? – Tools and techniques and 7 key elements explained
Create a Project Management Plan
Creating a project management plan is the second process of project integration management. This is a document that helps project managers define, prepare, and coordinate all plan components and consolidate them into an integrated project management plan. Remember💡This process is performed once or at predefined points in the project. The following are some of the main components of a project plan:
- Schedule management plan
- Scope management plan
- Change management plan
- Stakeholder management plan
- Risk management plan
- Cost management plan
- Resource management plan
- Procurement management plan
- Stakeholder engagement plan
- Communication management plan
The project plan should also include baselines, such as the cost baseline, schedule baseline, and scope baseline. Important💡 These baselines will only change through a formal change request. Furthermore, it’s at this point that there will be kickoff meetings after this phase but before the project is executed. Moreover, this forum is used to communicate the project responsibilities of its key stakeholders.
Direct and Manage Project Work
This is the third process of project integration management. In this process, once there’s a solid project management plan describing how the project will be executed, then comes the time to direct and manage the project execution. So, this process is crucial because it involves implementing the planned activities to complete project deliverables and accomplish established objectives. Furthermore, this process can provide overall management of the project work and deliverables which help project managers increase the probability of project success.
The project manager, along with your team, directs the performance of the planned project activities and manages the numerous technical and organizational interfaces that exist in the project. Direct and manage project work process also requires a review of the impact of all project changes and the implementation of approved changes, including corrective action, preventive action, or defect repair.
Important💡 The project work performance data will be used as an input to the monitoring and controlling process group, and can be used as feedback into the lesson learned register to improve the performance of future projects.
Manage Project Knowledge
Managing project knowledge is the fourth process of project integration management. Knowledge is commonly categorized into “explicit” and “tacit.” Explicit means knowledge that can be readily codified using words, numbers, and pictures. Tacit means knowledge that is personal and difficult to express, such as experience, insights, and beliefs. This process is concerned with managing both tacit and explicit knowledge for two purposes:
- Reusing existing knowledge, and
- Creating new knowledge
So, this process helps project managers to use existing knowledge and create new knowledge to achieve the project’s objective and contribute to organizational learning.
Furthermore, this refers to the processes of managing the information that is produced by a project to leverage it for future projects. Important💡 This process is performed throughout the project life cycle.
Monitor and Control Project Work
This is the fifth process of project integration management. This process helps project managers track, review, and report the overall progress to meet the performance objectives defined in the project management plan. Furthermore, this process allows stakeholders to:
- Understand the current state of the project
- Recognize the actions taken to address any performance issues, etc
Monitoring is a crucial aspect of project management that should be performed throughout the project life cycle. This includes collecting, measuring, and accessing measurements and trends to effect process improvements. Continuous improvements help project managers identify any areas that may require special attention. Control includes determining corrective or preventive actions or replanning action plans to decide whether the actions taken resolved the performance issue. However, this process is concerned with:
- Comparing actual project performance according to the project management plan;
- Checking the status of individual project risks;
- Providing project information to support status reporting, forecasting, and progress measurement;
- Ensuring your project stays aligned with the business needs, etc.
Implement Integrated Change Control
This is the sixth process of project integration management. In this process, project managers should review all change requests, approve changes, manage changes to deliverables, project documents, and project management plan, and communicate the decisions. Change requests can impact the product scope and project scope. Furthermore, it can impact project management plan components or any other project document. Changes may be requested by any stakeholders involved with the project and may occur at any time throughout the project.
Project changes should be recorded in written form and entered into a configuration management system or change management. Furthermore, change requests may require information on estimated cost impacts and estimated schedule impacts before approval. However, a change request may impact any of the project baselines. Every documented change request needs to be either approved, rejected, or deferred by the project sponsor, project manager, or any other responsible person for the project.
When needed, the implemented integrated change control process includes a change control board, which is a formally chartered group responsible for:
- Reviewing,
- Evaluating,
- Approving,
- Deferring or rejecting changes to the project and recording and communicating such decisions.
Important💡 Approved change requests can revised or new cost estimates, activity sequences, resource requirements, and/or schedule dates. Furthermore, these changes can require adjustments to the relevant project documents and project management plan. Moreover, sponsor or customer approval may be required for certain change requests after change control board approval, unless they are part of the CCB. As a project manager, you are responsible for conducting the implemented change control process from project start through completion.
Close Out the Project
This is the seventh process of project integration management. As a project manager, you should finalize all project activities. When closing the project, you must review the project management plan to ensure that all project work is completed and that the project has met its objectives. Here are some activities that are necessary for the administrative closure of the project.
- Making certain that all deliverables and documents are up to date and that all issues are resolved;
- Closing all project accounts;
- Reassigning personnel;
- Dealing with excess project materials;
- Finalizing open claims, etc.
Conclusion
Processes of project integration management play a crucial role throughout the project life cycle. Writing a project charter, creating a project management plan, directing and managing project work, managing project knowledge, monitoring and controlling project work, implementing integrated change control, and closing out the project are the processes of project integration management.
