Project Initiation Process Group

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About this lesson

The two initiating project management processes define the boundaries of the project and authorize the project manager to start work.

Quick reference

Project Initiation Process Group

The two initiating project management processes define the boundaries of the project and authorize the project manager to start work.

When to use

A project is a temporary endeavor – therefore it has a start and end point.  The initiating processes define the start point.  They should be accomplished at the beginning of every project.  On large multi-phase or multi-year projects, you may need to repeat the Initiating processes at the beginning of each phase or year.  Events within the company and project may require that the outputs from the original Initiating project management processes will need to be revised to reflect the new situation.

Instructions

Project Management Process Groups

The relationship between the process groups is illustrated in the figure below.  The Initiating processes are the catalyst for the rest of the project management process groups.  The “start” boundary for a project occurs near when the Initiation process group begins.  The figure shows a zone instead of a sharp dividing line for project start.  That is because the start point is designated differently depending upon the types of projects and the project management methodology.   The precise moment of project start is not as important as doing the Initiating process group activities.

Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixth Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., 2017 Figure Part 2, 2-1, Page 562 and Glossary definition, Page 543.        

Initiating Process Group

“Those processes performed to define a new project or a new phase of an existing project by obtaining authorization to start the project or phase.” PMBOK® Guide

The focus of the Initiating process group is to define the project boundaries.  To do this, the stakeholders must be identified and their input sought.  On small compact projects, this group may be completed within a day.  On large complex projects with multiple stakeholders and competing views of project success, this process group can take months.  However, at the end of the Initiating processes the scope boundaries should be defined, the project manager selected, and a high level view of required resources completed.  All of these are documented in the two major outputs of this group which are the Project Charter and the Stakeholder Register.

There are two Initiating process group project management processes.  The Integrating process is “Develop Project Charter.”  The other process is “Identify Stakeholders.”

Develop Project Charter (4.1)

“The process of developing a document that formally authorizes the existence of a project and provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities.” PMBOK® Guide

Initiating Process Group                                      Integration Mgmt Knowledge Area

While it appears that this process is just about writing a document, it is really about collecting the information for that document and getting buy-in from the stakeholders.  The Project Charter is the foundation document for the project.  In the stakeholder’s minds, this defines project success.  Depending upon the number of stakeholders and their understanding of the goal of the project, this can be a simple or complex process.  In some organizations, this process is conducted by the project manager.  In other organizations, this is done by the project sponsor or the PMO.  Either way, at the end of this process a project manager is identified and is able to begin project planning.  The project Charter is used by many other processes.

Inputs:

  • Business Case
  • Benefits Management Plan
  • Agreements
  • Enterprise Environmental Factors
  • Organizational Process Assets

Tools and Techniques:

  • Expert Judgment
  • Data Gathering
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Meetings

Outputs:

  • Project Charter
  • Assumption Log

Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixth Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., 2017, Figure 4-3, Page 76 and Glossary definition, Page 705.

Identify Stakeholders (13.1)

“The process of identifying project stakeholders regularly and analyzing and documenting relevant information regarding their interests, involvement, interdependencies, influence, and potential impact on project success.” PMBOK® Guide

Initiating Process Group                                      Stakeholder Mgmt Knowledge Area

Stakeholders should be identified as early as possible so that their input and objectives are understood and addressed during the initiation and planning processes.  While some stakeholders are obvious, some are not.  The project initiator should consider who is affected by the project both during the project execution and after the project closing.  All of these are stakeholders.  Once the stakeholders are identified, the Stakeholder Register is a technique for tracking the interaction strategy with each stakeholder.

Inputs:

  • Project Charter
  • Business Documents
  • Project Management Plan
  • Project Documents
  • Agreements
  • Enterprise Environmental Factors
  • Organizational Process Assets

Tools and Techniques:

  • Expert Judgment
  • Data Gathering
  • Data Analysis
  • Data Representation
  • Meetings

Outputs: 

  • Stakeholder Register
  • Change Requests
  • Project Management Plan Updates
  • Project Document Updates

Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixth Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., 2017, Figure 13-3, Page 508 and Glossary definition, Page 708. PMBOK is a registered mark of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

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  • 00:05 Hi, I'm Ray Sheen, let's talk about project management processes, and
  • 00:09 I'll start with the processes in the project initiation process group.
  • 00:14 The Project Management Body of Knowledge, the PMBOK guide, defines the initiating
  • 00:19 process group as those processes performed to define a new project or
  • 00:23 new phase of an existing project.
  • 00:25 By obtaining authorization to start the project or phase.
  • 00:30 Every project starts with these processes, and
  • 00:32 on large complex projects, these processes are done at the start of each phase
  • 00:37 to validate the accuracy of the original decisions.
  • 00:40 The goals of this process group are to define the initial scope boundaries,
  • 00:44 ensure there is a commitment for the resources, at least at a high level, and
  • 00:49 assign a project leader.
  • 00:50 That's a key point to remember,
  • 00:51 the project leader is assigned in the initiation process, and
  • 00:54 key stakeholders are identified and the charters approved.
  • 00:58 There are only two processes in the process group, develop project charter and
  • 01:03 identify stakeholders.
  • 01:05 Before we get into the project management processes,
  • 01:08 it may be a good idea to review the project management process groups, and
  • 01:12 to see where the project boundaries come into play.
  • 01:15 We start with the initiating process.
  • 01:17 Once the project's kicked off, we move to the planning processes.
  • 01:21 And then when the plan is ready, we begin to execute the plan.
  • 01:24 Finally, when we finish executing the plan, we can close the project.
  • 01:28 And around everything are the monitoring and controlling processes.
  • 01:31 Let's discuss the boundaries now.
  • 01:33 The initiator or sponsor will provide inputs to the initiating process.
  • 01:38 The beginning boundary is somewhere in that hand off process.
  • 01:41 Often the process is not clean.
  • 01:43 They're iterations, so the project boundary is a little big.
  • 01:46 However, the end boundary is usually very clear.
  • 01:49 The project deliverables are given to the user, and
  • 01:51 project records are archived with the organizational process assets.
  • 01:56 So now on to that fuzzy initiating boundary, and the initiating processes.
  • 02:00 I'll show a high-level map of the processes in each process group, with
  • 02:03 the integrating process in the center and the other processes around the outside.
  • 02:08 In this case, it's really gonna be very simple.
  • 02:10 4.1, develop project charter,
  • 02:13 is in the center, and 13.1, identify stakeholders, is connected to it.
  • 02:17 If you're wondering what the numbers are, well, those tie to the PMBOK sections for
  • 02:22 each of those project management processes.
  • 02:25 Now for the details of each process.
  • 02:28 The Project Management Body of Knowledge, the PMBOK guide,
  • 02:31 defines the develop project charter process as:
  • 02:34 The process of developing a document that formally authorizes the existence of
  • 02:37 a project.
  • 02:38 And provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational
  • 02:42 resources to project activities.
  • 02:44 Inputs for this process are business documents, like the business case or
  • 02:48 the benefits management plan.
  • 02:50 Or agreements that came from the sponsor.
  • 02:52 And then the enterprise environmental factors, and
  • 02:55 organizational process assets.
  • 02:57 The output is also pretty straightforward, it's the project charter.
  • 03:01 But that's used as an input on a number of other project management processes.
  • 03:05 And the assumptions log,
  • 03:06 which is maintained as one of the project documents.
  • 03:09 We discussed the concept of the project documents and
  • 03:11 their use in managing the project in an earlier lesson.
  • 03:15 The tools and techniques are expert judgment,
  • 03:17 data gathering, interpersonal skills, and meetings.
  • 03:21 Although the tools are straightforward,
  • 03:23 don't underestimate the amount of work in this process.
  • 03:26 It's often difficult to get the stakeholders to agree
  • 03:28 on what should be in that charter.
  • 03:30 On to the next process, the Project Management Body of Knowledge,
  • 03:34 the PMBOK guide, defines the identify stakeholders process as.
  • 03:38 The process of identifying project stakeholders regularly and analyzing and
  • 03:42 documenting relevant information regarding their interests, involvement,
  • 03:47 interdependencies, influence and potential impact on success.
  • 03:50 That's all a mouthful, but it essentially means identify everybody who cares about
  • 03:54 the project and can help or hinder you.
  • 03:56 The inputs are the project charter and
  • 03:58 project management plan from other integrating processes.
  • 04:02 The business documents that we saw in the previous process will help us to
  • 04:06 know which parts of the business are impacted.
  • 04:08 Agreements which may also be coming from the management procurement process to
  • 04:12 identify contractual stakeholders.
  • 04:14 Input from many of the project documents that will indicate how the project is
  • 04:18 progressing.
  • 04:18 And of course, the enterprise environmental factors and
  • 04:21 organizational process assets.
  • 04:24 The output for this process are change request and
  • 04:27 updates to the project management plan.
  • 04:29 In addition, the stakeholder register document is created, and
  • 04:33 other project documents such as the issue log, risk register and
  • 04:36 assumptions log are going to be updated.
  • 04:38 The tools and techniques for this process are, stakeholder analysis, expert
  • 04:43 judgement, data gathering, data analysis, data representation, and meetings.
  • 04:47 We will look at several of the stakeholder analysis techniques when we focus on
  • 04:51 the stakeholder knowledge management area in another lesson.
  • 04:56 Although there are only two processes in the initiating process group,
  • 05:00 13% of the exam questions will come from this area.
  • 05:04 Be sure you know these two processes throughly.

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

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