Page 47 - Global Project Management Handbook

PROJECT MANAGEMENT 2-9

THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROCESS: AN OVERVIEW

Project management is a business process of the project-oriented company that is fulfilled
in projects. The methods of process management can be used to describe the project man-
agement process. At a macro level, the project management process is to be given bound-
aries and differentiated from other processes. At the micro level, the objectives, tasks,
responsibilities, and results of the project management process and its subprocesses are to
be described.
Documentation of the project management process promotes communication about
the objectives, tasks, responsibilities, and results of project management. Definition of
the results of the project management subprocesses makes it possible to measure and
evaluate the performance of project management and the quality of project management.
Description of the project management process also provides the basis for a targeted fur-
ther development of individual and organizational project management competencies in
the project-oriented company.
Description of the Project Management Process

The objective of the business process of project management is the professional manage-
ment of projects. A prerequisite for the realization of project objectives is the professional
fulfillment of the subprocesses of project start, project coordination, project controlling,
(possibly) resolving of a project discontinuity, and project close-down.
The objects of consideration in project management are the project objectives, the
project scope, the project schedule, the project resources, the project costs and project
income, and the project risks, as well as the project organization, the project culture, and
the project context (Fig. 2.5). The dimensions of the project context are the pre- and post-
project phases, relevant project environments, other projects, the company strategies, and
the business case for the investment that is initiated by a project.
The structure of the project management process is shown in Fig. 2.6, and the objec-
tives and and time boundaries are listed in Table 2.2.
From a systemic point of view, it is the objective of the project start to establish the
project as a social system. The objective of project control is to promote the evolution of
the project, and the objective of project close-down is to dissolve the project as a social
system. The objective of resolving a project discontinuity is to develop a new project

Deliverables
Objectives, deliverables,
schedule, resources,
THIS IS INSUFFICIENT! costs, income, risk
Organization, culture
Context (pre-, postproject phase,
environments, other projects,
company strategies, business case)
Schedule Costs

FIGURE 2.5 Objects of consideration in project management.