Project Execution Process Group – Part 1

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About this lesson

The project management executing processes are managing the majority of the work of the project. There are ten project management executing processes. Part 1.

Quick reference

Project Execution Process Group – Part 1

The project management executing processes are managing the majority of the work of the project.  There are ten project management executing processes.

When to use

Executing processes are used to manage the actual work of creating and completing the project goal.  As soon as at least a partial plan is in place, executing processes often start.  These processes will continue through all phases of the project until the product deliverables are complete and the project goes into the project closeout phase.  

Instructions 

Executing Process Group

“Those processes performed to complete the work defined in the project management plan to satisfy the project requirements.” PMBOK® Guide

Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixth Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., 2017 Part 2, Figure 2-1, Page 562 and Glossary definition, Page 706.   

Project Execution is where the action occurs.  There is less project management work than with the planning processes, but there is more project work to complete the actual goal of the project.  Because project work is normally done by people, who often don’t report to the project manager, there is a great deal of people management activity in this process group.  Managing the efforts and interaction of the project team, suppliers, stakeholder engagement, and communication is the majority of the work in this process group.

There are ten processes in the Executing group of project management processes.  Two of those processes are addressed in this lesson and the other eight are addressed in two additional lessons.  The two in this lesson are: Direct and Manage Project Work and Manage Project Knowledge.

Direct and Manage Project Work (4.3)

“The process of leading and performing the work defined in the project management plan and implementing approved changes to achieve the project objectives.” PMBOK® Guide

Executing Process Group                                     Integration Mgmt Knowledge Area

This process is the heart of project success.  In this process the project manager, and project management team if appropriate, make sure that the plan is implemented.  Yet, they can’t be slaves to the plan.  They must also recognize when the plan needs to be modified in order to achieve the project goals.  This process involves a great deal of day-to-day interaction to manage the team, suppliers, and other resources.  The project manager is ensuring that deliverables are being completed correctly, issues and risks are being addressed, and project reports and information accurately reflect what is happening. In my opinion, this can be the most grueling and grinding part of project management as you are constantly “fighting fires” to keep everything on track.

There is one inconsistency in the PMBOK® Guide with this process. One of the process outputs is Deliverables and they are shown as inputs to the processes Manage Process Knowledge, Control Quality, and Perform Integrated Change Control.  However, Deliverables are not listed as an input in Perform Integrated Change Control Process.

Inputs:

  • Project Management Plan
  • Approved Change Requests
  • Project Documents
  • Enterprise Environmental Factors
  • Organizational Process Assets

Tools and Techniques:

  • Expert Judgement
  • Project Management Information System
  • Meetings

Outputs:

  • Deliverables
  • Work Performance Data
  • Issue Log
  • Change Requests
  • Project Management Plan Updates
  • Project Documents Updates
  • Organizational Process Assets Updates

Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixth Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., 2017, Figure 4-7, Page 91 and Glossary definition, Page 705.
 

Manage Project Knowledge (4.4)

“The process of using existing knowledge and creating new knowledge to achieve the project’s objectives and contribute to organizational learning.” PMBOK® Guide

Executing Process Group                                     Integration Mgmt Knowledge Area

Knowledge management has become much more important due to virtual teams, Agile methods, and the pace of change in most organizations.  The knowledge management process is capturing the lessons learned and building domain knowledge to be shared both within the team and across other teams.  Leveraging knowledge management reduces risk and uncertainty as the experiences of the team and other projects are brought to bear on the issues within the current project.

Inputs:

  • Project Management Plan
  • Deliverables
  • Project Documents
  • Enterprise Environmental Factors
  • Organizational Process Assets

Tools and Techniques:

  • Expert Judgement
  • Knowledge Management
  • Information Management
  • Interpersonal and Team Skills

Outputs:

  • Project Management Plan Updates
  • Lessons Learned Register
  • Organizational Process Assets Updates

Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixth Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., 2017, Figure 4-9, Page 99 and Glossary definition, Page 710.
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  • 00:04 Hi, I'm Ray Sheen.
  • 00:06 Well, now, let's talk about the project management processes
  • 00:09 in the Executing Process Group.
  • 00:11 This lesson is Part 1 of 3 for this process group.
  • 00:16 The project management body of knowledge, the PMBOK Guide,
  • 00:20 defines Executing Process Group as those processes performed to complete the work
  • 00:25 defined in the project management plan to satisfy the project requirements.
  • 00:30 These processes manage the performance of the work of the project,
  • 00:33 ensuring everything stays integrated and is done according to the plan.
  • 00:38 This is the part of the project where most of the actual project work happens.
  • 00:42 And therefore, this is where most of the budget is spent.
  • 00:45 That doesn't mean that most of the project management budget is spent here.
  • 00:49 Rather, it is the part of the budget that's actually creating the product,
  • 00:53 service or result that is spent at this point.
  • 00:56 When a project manager has a good project management team or
  • 00:59 a core team, they will only require minimal project management effort.
  • 01:04 If the team is inexperienced or in conflict or
  • 01:06 if the project managing plan is really weak, the management of the project
  • 01:10 execution can fully consume the project manager's time.
  • 01:14 The goals for this process group are to keep the work coordinated and
  • 01:17 keep stakeholders happy and of course to make sure we get things done.
  • 01:22 There are ten processes in this process group.
  • 01:25 Most of them involve management and communication of team members and
  • 01:28 stakeholders.
  • 01:29 Let's take a look at these.
  • 01:31 The integrating process in this process group is to direct and
  • 01:34 manage project work.
  • 01:36 With this project, we have Implement Risk Response,
  • 01:40 Manage Project Knowledge, Manage Quality, Conduct Procurements,
  • 01:44 Manage Communications, Manage Stakeholder Engagement.
  • 01:48 And the three resource measure processes that involve the project team and
  • 01:52 physical resources.
  • 01:54 The project manager body of knowledge, the PMBOK Guide, defines Direct and
  • 01:58 Manage Project Work as the process of leading and
  • 02:01 performing the work defined in the project management plan and
  • 02:05 implementing appropriate changes to achieve the project objectives.
  • 02:10 It's no surprise that the inputs then are the project manager plan and
  • 02:13 the approved change requests.
  • 02:15 Of course, the various Project Documents and our Enterprise Environmental Factors
  • 02:19 and Organizational Process Assets will be used.
  • 02:23 The outputs are Work Performance Data
  • 02:26 that is used in all of the controlling processes.
  • 02:28 Notice at this time that the output is data, not informational reports.
  • 02:33 Another output is project deliverables that are reviewed by the Control Quality
  • 02:37 process, Manage Project Knowledge process and
  • 02:40 Perform Integrated Change Control process.
  • 02:43 Change Requests are also given to the integrated change control process.
  • 02:46 The Issue Log is created as a project document, and
  • 02:50 then we have a host of updates to other documents.
  • 02:54 We also have updates to the project management plan and
  • 02:57 updates to the organizational process assets.
  • 03:00 The Tools & Techniques are pretty straightforward.
  • 03:03 Expert Judgment, Meetings and the Project Management Information System.
  • 03:08 The next process I wanna discuss is also an integrating process,
  • 03:12 Manage Project Knowledge.
  • 03:13 The project management body of knowledge, the PMBOK Guide, defines this process as
  • 03:18 the process of using existing knowledge and creating new knowledge
  • 03:22 to achieve the project's objectives and contribute to organizational learning.
  • 03:27 The inputs for this process are the project management plan, of course.
  • 03:30 But also there is the project deliverables from direct and manage project work.
  • 03:35 And there is the good old standbys of Project Documents,
  • 03:38 Enterprise Environmental Factors and Organizational Process Assets.
  • 03:42 The outputs are the Lessons Learned Register,
  • 03:45 which is another of the Project Documents.
  • 03:47 And in addition, there are updates to the Project Management Plan and
  • 03:50 Organizational Process Assets.
  • 03:53 Tools & Techniques are Expert Judgement, Knowledge Management,
  • 03:56 Information Management, and Interpersonal and Team Skills.
  • 04:01 Well, that starts us on our study of the executing processes.
  • 04:05 We've looked at the integrating processes within the execution group.
  • 04:09 And that's often where you'll spend your effort during a project execution phase,
  • 04:14 is integrating and coordinating work.

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