Project Integration Management Tips

by Project Management Process Group

1. Develop Project Charter

• Agreements. The PMP exam sometimes mentions the agreements as “contracts“, even though not all projects have contracts.
• Develop Project Charter Vs. Identify Stakeholders. Develop Project Charter and Identify Stakeholders are the two initiating processes in the PMBOK Guide. Develop Project Charter process, though, must be executed first, as its input – project charter – features as output of the Identify Stakeholders process.
• Deviations from Baselines. Incomplete risk identification and risk management often cause changes from the baselines created during planning. Whenever the PMP exam asks you what to do if the project deviates remarkably from the performance measurement baseline, choose the answer that implies a review of the risk management process.
• Enterprise Environmental Factors Vs. Organizational Process Assets. In a certain way, enterprise environmental factors limit the project, while organizational process assets support it.
• Project Authorization. A business case documents the justification for the undertaking of a project, but it doesn’t officially authorize its existence. A project is authorized by the project charter.
• Project Sponsor Vs. Customer. The project sponsor is always internal. The customer may be internal or external but is the recipient of the deliverable. The same person may fill both roles, but the role of customer and the role of sponsor should not be confused.
• Project Sponsor Vs. Project Manager. The sponsor of the project is in charge of creating the project charter and provides financial and political support for the project. The project manager manages the project.
• Project Statement of Work (SOW). Important but not mandatory input, there is no need for SOW in the presence of business case, contract, or agreement.
• Project selection. There may be three types of questions on the PMP exam about project selection:
  • direct, project selection mentioned openly as the core of the question
  • indirect, project selection relates to the business case
  • distracting, project selection concepts as distractions in questions on other topics, to mislead you.

2. Develop Project Management Plan

• Gantt Chart. The Gantt chart is a scheduling and communication tool, not the project management plan.

3. Direct and Manage Project Work

• Direct and Manage Project Work. If the PMP exam mentions “direct and manage project work”, it may not mean the entire executing process group, but it may refer to the integration piece of executing.

4. Manage Project Knowledge

• Explicit Knowledge Vs. Tacit Knowledge. Explicit Knowledge—or know-what—is formalized and codified knowledge. Explicit knowledge is found in: databases, notes, memos, documents, etc. Tacit knowledge—or know-how—is intuitive, hard to define knowledge that is largely experience based. Tacit knowledge includes cultural beliefs, values, attitudes, mental models, etc. as well as skills, capabilities, and expertise. It is shared via stakeholders’ interactions.
• Knowledge Management Vs. Information Management. Knowledge management uses conversation and interactions between the project team and other stakeholders. Information management uses codification of explicit knowledge. Both concur to knowledge sharing.
• Project Manager as Communications Facilitator. Good leadership skills—especially relationships and conflict management by building a no-blame culture—are crucial to creating an atmosphere of trust where people are motivated to share willingly their skills, experience, and expertise.

5. Monitor and Control Project Work

• Expert Judgment. Subject matter experts provide the expert judgment mentioned in the PMBOK Guide. Whereas experts may include also the project manager, specialist knowledge is not exclusive decision of the latter.
• Flow of Information. Progressive development of information from work performance data to work performance information, concluding with work performance reports.
• Validate Vs. Verify. Validation implies that the product, service, or system meets the needs and requirements of the customer and other important stakeholders – kind of external process. Verification implies that the product, service, or system complies with documented regulations, specifications, or imposed technical conditions – kind of internal process.

6. Perform Integrated Change Control

• Project Constraints. A project manager can always make changes to the project without implementing change control if this modification has no impact on the project constraints – cost, schedule, and scope.
• Work Performance Data Vs. Information Vs. Reports.
  • Work performance data – raw information
  • Work performance information – raw information analyzed and contextualized to incorporate the integrated nature of project management
  • Work performance reports – information customized for a particular group of stakeholders.

7. Close Project or Phase

• Closing. Every project always needs to end, regardless of the context under which it stops, is terminated, or is completed.
• Flow of Contractual and Administrative Closure. A project manager completes contractual closure first, then administrative closure.

• Flow of Deliverables.
  1. Created in Direct and Manage Project Work process
  2. Verified as correct in Control Quality process
  3. Inspected and accepted by customer in Validate Scope process
  4. Formal recognition by a client with sign off in Close Project or Phase process.

Click here for a detailed analysis of each project management process group and knowledge area.