Organizational Process Assets and Environmental Factors

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Organizational process assets are the business systems, processes and procedures that are used while managing the project.  Enterprise Environmental factors are the constraints and impacts that the business and industry places on the project.

Quick reference

Organizational Process Assets and Environmental Factors

Organizational process assets are the business systems, processes and procedures that are used while managing the project.  Enterprise Environmental factors are the constraints and impacts that the business and industry places on the project.

When to use

Projects must be implemented in the imperfect business and industry environment that actually exists – not a hypothetical perfect world.  When planning and executing a project, the project manager and project team must take into consideration the existing business practices, procedures, and business conditions.  These can create both opportunities and limitations on project planning options and executing approaches.  As the project unfolds, the organizational process assets – that is the processes, procedures, and best practices – are often modified based upon lessons learned. 

Many of the project management processes list multiple tools and techniques to accomplish the work of that process.  The organizational process assets and the enterprise environmental factors often influence which techniques must be used and which techniques cannot be used.

Instructions

The organizational process assets and enterprise environmental factors are listed as inputs on most of the project management processes.  They are also listed as outputs on many of the Executing, Closing and Monitoring and Closing processes.

Organizational Process Assets

“Plans, processes, policies, procedures, and knowledge bases that are specific to and used by the performing organization.” PMBOK® Guide.

The organizational process assets are listed as an input to 47 of the 49 project management processes, across all of the project management process groups.  They are updated as outputs from 10 of the Executing, Closing, and Monitoring and Controlling project management processes. 

These are referred to as “process assets.”  This is not the personnel or equipment that is used to do the work of the project.  Rather it is the knowledge base and processes normally used by the business to organize, structure and manage that work. 

Organizational process assets include policies, standards, procedures, templates, systems, databases, project files, defect logs, process measurements and controls.  

Definition is taken from the Glossary of the Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixth Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., 2017, page 712.     

Enterprise Environmental Factors

“Conditions, not under the immediate control of the team, that influence, constrain, or direct the project, program, or portfolio.” PMBOK® Guide

The enterprise environmental factors are listed as inputs on 40 of the 49 project management processes, being used on Initiating, Planning, Executing, and Monitoring and Controlling processes. They are updated as outputs of three of the Executing project management processes in the Project Resource Management knowledge area. 

These environmental factors are imposed upon the project by the business and industry circumstances and constraints.  They cannot be controlled by the project manager or team.  The project manager and project team must react to these and take their impact into consideration when planning and executing the project.

These factors are dependent upon the industry, market dynamics, business structure, location of stakeholders, facilities and equipment that are available, procurement policies and practices, human resources policies and practices, communications technology and practices, and the skill sets of available employees.

Definition is taken from the Glossary of the Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixth Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., 2017, page 706. PMBOK is a registered mark of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

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  • 00:04 Hi, this is Ray Sheen.
  • 00:06 I'd like to talk with you about two factors that often are inputs to project
  • 00:10 management processes, and whose updates may be outputs of those processes.
  • 00:15 They embody many of the constraints, and
  • 00:17 project attributes that the project manager must address, and
  • 00:21 these are organizational process assets, and enterprise environmental factors.
  • 00:26 Projects must be planned and
  • 00:29 executed in the real world not an artificial perfect world.
  • 00:33 The business environment is often imperfect and changing.
  • 00:36 The systems and processes may not be the latest best practice, or
  • 00:40 maybe in an upgrade process, there's a hybrid of new and old processes.
  • 00:44 External factors, such as regulatory constraints may limit options for
  • 00:48 the project management team.
  • 00:50 Internal factors such as project team personnel changes, business system
  • 00:55 changes, or a project crisis may create sudden impacts on the project.
  • 01:00 This has led the PMBOK guide to identify two categories of factors that will
  • 01:04 affect almost every project management process.
  • 01:07 In another lesson, we discussed the project artifacts which are used for
  • 01:11 almost all the processes.
  • 01:12 Now we'll look at the organizational environmental aspects of the real world.
  • 01:16 Organizational process assets represent the systems and
  • 01:19 procedures that describe and determine how the business operates.
  • 01:23 This is how the business is normally managed.
  • 01:26 These normally do not undergo massive changes during the short duration of
  • 01:30 the project.
  • 01:30 Or if there is a change, it's usually well communicated and
  • 01:33 the impact can be assessed.
  • 01:35 The project can count on these assets when planning and executing the project.
  • 01:39 And when the organizational process asset is missing or weak,
  • 01:43 the project team must account for that in project planning and execution.
  • 01:47 In contrast, the enterprise environmental factors represent the current events of
  • 01:51 the day that will impact the project.
  • 01:53 It is the immediate conditions within the team, the business, the industry and
  • 01:58 the economy that open or close options for the project team.
  • 02:02 These can be changing from day to day.
  • 02:05 The project measure body of knowledge the PMBOK guide defines the organizational
  • 02:09 process assets as:
  • 02:11 Plans, processes, policies, procedures, and
  • 02:14 knowledge bases that are specific to and used by the performing organization.
  • 02:18 What that means is that these are the ways you get things done in your organization.
  • 02:23 These are inputs for many of the project management processes and
  • 02:26 are often updated as one of the outputs from the project management processes.
  • 02:30 The processes and procedures are referred to as organizational process assets can be
  • 02:35 categorized in one of these categories.
  • 02:37 Standards that are used for defining how good is good enough.
  • 02:40 Policies that provide guidance and set boundaries on acceptable actions.
  • 02:44 Procedures that explain how an activity should be done within the organization.
  • 02:48 Templates that illustrate the information required to successfully
  • 02:51 complete an action.
  • 02:53 Systems that organize work and information and speed the process.
  • 02:56 And controls that measure report and performance of individuals teams and
  • 03:01 processes.
  • 03:02 They may highlight the knowledge base portion of this definition for
  • 03:05 organization process assets.
  • 03:07 This would include technical databases that describe product and process
  • 03:11 performance and financial databases used for estimating and forecasting.
  • 03:16 It includes the historical information of what has happened on other projects which
  • 03:20 informs the estimation and risk management processes.
  • 03:23 There is a knowledge base associated with defects.
  • 03:26 What has gone wrong with materials, systems, products and processes and
  • 03:29 the associated corrective and preventive actions.
  • 03:32 Finally, there's a knowledge base of how the business processes perform.
  • 03:35 These databases may be formally codified and managed or
  • 03:39 it may be informal knowledge shared over a cup of coffee or tea.
  • 03:43 Now let's look at the Enterprise Environmental Factors.
  • 03:46 The project management body of knowledge, the PMBOK guide, defines enterprise
  • 03:50 environmental factors as conditions not under the immediate control of the team
  • 03:54 that influence, constrain, or direct the project, program, or portfolio.
  • 03:59 That means it's the items in your news feed and email that impact the project.
  • 04:04 Like the organizational process assets, Enterprise Environmental Factors
  • 04:08 are inputs on most project management processes.
  • 04:11 Unlike the organizational process assets, Enterprise Environmental Factors
  • 04:15 are typical unique for each project due to the unique timing of the project
  • 04:19 activities and the unique nature of the resources and actions within the project.
  • 04:24 The business conditions that will influence and
  • 04:26 determine enterprise environmental factors for our project include the industry and
  • 04:31 its regulatory structure and maturity.
  • 04:33 The market dynamics and the nature of competitions and the product life cycle.
  • 04:37 The business structure such as privately held, publicly traded or
  • 04:41 dominant functions.
  • 04:42 The locations of stakeholders, are they global, national, external or internal?
  • 04:47 The team members, their personal strengths and weaknesses.
  • 04:51 HR and procurement policies that can dictate what resources are available and
  • 04:55 how you must interact with them.
  • 04:57 The specific facilities and equipment that are available for
  • 05:00 the team and the idiosyncrasies of the facilities.
  • 05:03 And then finally, the communication systems.
  • 05:06 What information is shared?
  • 05:07 When is it shared?
  • 05:08 And how is this filtered?
  • 05:10 The organizational process assets and the enterprise environmental factors
  • 05:15 represent the real world and the impact that it will have on your project.

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PMI, PMP, CAPM and PMBOK are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

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