Effective Project Management: Traditional, Agile, Extreme, Sixth Edition

Defining the Five Process Groups

In addition to answering the six questions posed in Chapter 2 that a valid project management methodology must answer, whatever project management life cycle model that is used must contain all of the following Process Groups:

• Scoping Process Group (which PMI calls the Initiating Process Group)
• Planning Process Group
• Launching Process Group (which PMI calls the Executing Process Group)
• Monitoring and Controlling Process Group
• Closing Process Group

These five Process Groups are the building blocks of every PMLC. In the simplest of cases, the Process Groups will each be completed once and in the sequence listed here. In more complex situations, some or all of them might be repeated a number of times.

These five Process Groups are defined in the PMBOK Guide. What follows is my adaptation of these Process Groups for use in this book and to prepare you to adapt them for your own use. I have added other processes to conform to the PMLC requirements in Part II. None of these adaptations contradict any of the principles underlying the PMBOK Guide.

The Scoping Process Group

The PMBOK Guide calls this the Initiating Process Group. However, the term initiating can be confusing if you are new to project management. I find the term scoping to be clearer. This Process Group includes all processes related to answering two questions: “What business situation is being addressed?” and “What do you need to do?” It does not include any processes related to doing ...