Introduction
The successful completion of any project and the attainment of the project goals and objectives is dependent on several factors and proper project management is at the helm of them all. Knowledge areas and process groups are integral aspects of project management and they play an integral part in determining the normal processes of project management. These three aspects overlap and are dependent on each other as we shall establish in this paper. It is extremely easy to confuse the knowledge area and the process groups as well as the 47 processes that make for project management. The purpose of this paper is to look at the ten knowledge area of project management. It shall commence with a definition of the three key terms that make up what project management is followed by a brief discussion of each before embarking on a full discourse of the ten knowledge areas of project management. This paper shall establish the interrelation between the process groups, the knowledge areas, and the individual processes. In closing, the paper shall review the key points established through the paper for a concise summary of knowledge areas in project management.
Project Management Knowledge Areas
The simplest definition of what knowledge areas are is the areas of specialization. PMBOK guide defines project management knowledge areas as the overarching pieces of any project’s matrix ( Snyder, 2014) . It further goes on to state that each Knowledge Area comprises of a set of processes each with their individually unique inputs, techniques, tools and ultimately outputs. The processes subsequently come together for the accomplishment of several proven project management functions for the achievement of the project’s success. As a result, the Knowledge Areas are formed through the grouping of the 47 processes of project management into areas of focus and specialization. It is important to note that Knowledge Areas identify and assume specific experience and skill sets for the achievement of the project’s objectives. Although there are some that argue that there are nine Knowledge Areas, the PMBOK guide lists ten of them as had been mentioned in the previous section. It is also important to note that each of these Knowledge Areas contains either all or some of the processes of project management. For example, a project’s human resource management Knowledge Area entails the acquisition and the development of the project team which subsequently falls under the execution process group, human resource planning that falls under the planning process group and the actual management of the project team which is part of the process groups for the control and monitoring of the project. Next, the paper look s into the ten Knowledge Areas as stipulated by the PMBOK guide.
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The 10 Knowledge Areas
As we have severally stated in this paper, there are ten project management Knowledge Areas. These include integration management, scope management, time management, cost management, quality management, human resource management, communications management, risk management, procurement management and finally stakeholder management ( Brioso, 2015 ). This section shall categorically look at each of the Knowledge Areas providing in-depth insight on exactly what they entail the processes that pertain to each of them and the importance of each in project management and the attainment of the project objectives. First, we shall review why we have the Knowledge Areas despite already having the 47 processes of project management and a further five process groups.
Why is it necessary to have Knowledge Areas?
The first answer that comes to mind is because it is abundantly difficult to memorize the 47 processes of project management. Although this is a strong and valid reason, it is not it. This is merely a spin-off benefit (Kerzner & Kerzner, 2017). The real reason for the Knowledge Areas is that most projects use the areas in most of their projects and there is a general consensus that they are the best project management practices. They have been found as the most efficient summation of both theory and practical technique practice by a number of pundits on the subject of project management. They have been argued to be the most effective way of linking the major themes by which competent project managers have to operate in a bid to achieve maximum project success (Kerzner & Kerzner, 2017). It is, however, important to note that this list of ten knowledge areas does not necessarily guarantee the success of a project but a great understanding of the same coupled with other skills such as leadership can help proffer competency to a project manager.
Next is a systematic evaluation of what each of the individual Knowledge Areas entails.
INTEGRATION MANAGEMENT
This is the collection of processes necessary for the effective coordination of the various elements of any given project. This helps in keeping the various activities and process of a project unified and interconnected. This is the primary role of any project manager and the effective execution of integration management is an integral success factor of any given project. Project integration management is all about ensuring a balance in all the key aspects of a project which include but are not limited to time, cost, quality, scope, procurement, human resource, procurement and the stakeholders (JOSEPH et al., 2018). Project integration management involves making trade-offs between the competing objectives and goals with possible alternatives so as to meet or exceed the expectations and the needs of the stakeholders.
Project integration management generally consists of seven processes which are further classified into three main categories namely project plan development, project plan execution, and integrated change control. The processes that make for the project integration management include the development of the project charter, the development of the project management plan, the direction and the management of the project work, performance of the integrated change control, and finally the closing of the project. The development of the project charter will entail attaining formal authorization of the project, the statement of the project objectives and goals and the business case, and the identifying the project’s manager. It should be noted that this falls under the initiation project group. Additionally, the project charter is extremely generic and is to be written by a member of senior management often ranked higher than the project manager. The project charter includes a description of all the relevant stakeholders, the objectives, and the project’s deliverables and as such a project cannot commence without a charter being written. This is part of the project planning stage which basically entails the creation of all project plans for the sole purpose of creating coherence. After the creation of the project documents which make for the blueprint and roadmap for the project comes the execution part of integration management which entails ensuring that the project plan is adhered to in the execution. Finally, the integration of change control entails the ensuring that all changes in the project are coordinated for seamless execution and coherence.
PROJECT SCOPE MANAGEMENT
This is simply the set of processes that ensure that a project’s scope is mapped accurately and adequately defined ( Pheng, 2018) . This entails ensuring that only the processes necessary for the successful completion of the project are included in the project scope. This is essential to ensure that there is no wasting of resources on unnecessary. A project scope is a detailed list of all the deliverables and features of a project and they are based on the project requirements. The three primary processes of project scope management include planning, controlling and ultimately closing.
Planning for the project primary entails the attempt to capture and subsequently define whatever work that needs to be done. Controlling, on the other hand, entails ensuring conformity to the agreed upon terms. Control and monitoring processes primarily focus on tracking documentation, the scope creep, approval and denying of changes to the project, and supervision of all the processes that pertain to the project ( Pheng, 2018) . The closing process is the final step of the project and primarily entails the audit of the project’s deliverables and finally an assessment of the outcome of the original project charter to establish the project’s performance.
Project scope management ensures that the project adheres to the project boundaries and all the stakeholders know their responsibilities and the limit of their authority for accountability and seamless engagement of all the involved parties. The steps involved in scope management include the definition of the project needs and understanding the project’s objectives. The inputs in project scope management include the project management plan, project charter, enterprise environmental factors and organizational process assets. The tools and techniques used to execute scope management expert judgment and meetings which then results in a requirement management plan and a scope management plan as output.
TIME MANAGEMENT
Since each project is time sensitive, adhering to schedules and timetables is essential for the successful completion of any given project. Time management, therefore, entails the processes that facilitate the timely completion of a project. This generally entails the conscious management of time spent in the completion of specific activities. This is essential in increasing effectiveness, fostering efficiency and ultimately boosting productivity. This primarily entails the process of describing and monitoring the amount of time spent on a project and how exactly it is used. This generally is achieved by the establishment of a process for recording times in a project which often entails the use of timesheets for monitoring the time input by the workforce, keeping the project plan up to date and identifying and ultimately resolving time management issues. It is important to track the actually spent on the project against the allocated time. The time spent should coincide with the set program schedules and timetables for the successful completion of the projects. According to PMBOK, there are six primary processes of time management. The definition of action items and the activities is the first time management process. This is achieved through decomposition which entails the breakdown of the project into milestones. After this comes to the second process which entails the sequencing of the activities which is simply mapping up the activities dependencies. This requires the use of preceding documents and a precedence diagramming tool or an arrow diagramming tool is considered efficient. After this comes the estimating resources per activity which is a product of expert judgment. After determining the cost of each activity comes the establishing the duration of each activity. Formulas are formidable tools for the estimation of activity duration. A PERT formula is a great example. Following the estimation of the activities durations, a project schedule can be developed. A project management software is the most commonly used tool for this. The final process is the control of the project schedule to ensure that all stakeholders adhere to it for timely completion of the project.
COST MANAGEMENT
Project cost management entails the processes necessary for the planning, estimating, budgeting funding, financing, management and control of costs incurred for completion of a project as per the allocated finances (Schwalbe, 2015). Plan cost management which is an integral process in a project cost management is essential for the establishment of the policies, documentation, and procedures necessary for the planning, management, and control of the cost of the project. Estimation of costs is the second process of cost management and it falls under the planning process group and entails the approximation of the monetary demands for the successful completion of the project. After this comes the determination of the budget of the project. This entails the aggregation of the approximate costs of the individual activities for the purpose of establishing the authorized cost baseline. Finally, comes controlling the costs which are part of the monitoring process group. It entails constantly supervising and monitoring the project status so as to update its costs and ensure that it adheres to the allocated monetary allocations by the shareholders. Cost management entails the consideration of the financial shareholders’ expectations.
QUALITY MANAGEMENT
This generally entails ensuring that the quality of the deliverables is as per the shareholders’ requirement. This is an integral knowledge area, particularly because the quality of a product is the true measure of its success (Schwalbe, 2015). This is in line with the definition of quality which is the ability to meet a set requirement, fitness to the stipulated needs according to the grade. Adhering to the quality is essential for a number of reasons. First, it is essential for the satisfaction of the stakeholders which ultimately is great for growth. This primarily entails the processes and activities that determine quality policies, responsibilities, and objectives. This includes three main processes that consist of plan quality management, the performance of quality assurance, and quality control.
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
This entails the processes that ensure the efficient use of all the people that are part of the execution of the project. It is mainly about the management of the workforce and it entails that they adhere to their contractual requirements. Human resource management is essential for the success of any given project as the project team is essential for the execution of a project. The proper use and management of people on a project can grant a project manager and the project a higher chance of success. This knowledge area, therefore, entails processes necessary for the acquisition, development, and management of the project team. The processes under this knowledge area include plan human resource management, acquisition of the project team, development of the project team and finally the management of the said team (Schwalbe, 2015).
COMMUNICATIONS MANAGEMENT
These are the processes that are necessary for the timely and appropriate generation, collection, storage, dissemination and the ultimate disposition of the knowledge. The three primary processes that makeup communication management are plan communication management, management of communications and control communication. Plan communication management is integral is if one is to effectively effect change and make adjustments in time of crisis
RISK MANAGEMENT
Every venture comes with the possibility that it may fail and it is important that one can effectively anticipate risks for effective countering so as to ensure project continuity even in their ultimate occurrence. Risk management, therefore, entails the processes necessary for the identification, analysis, and response to the project risk. Risk management entails four processes with the first being planning for risk management. This entails the planning for the listing of RM activities, responsibilities associated with RM activities, the timing of the activities and the ultimate communication and reporting for the activities. The second process is the identification of the potential risks, followed by the analysis and prioritizing and ultimately strategizing for the risks (Schwalbe, 2015). Finally, the monitoring and control of the risks are essential for ensuring the successful completion of the project.
PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT
These are the process that is necessary for the acquisition of goods and services from the organization. There are four key processes to procurement management. These include the planning for the procurement, the actual conduction of the procurement, the administration of procurement and finally the close of the procurement process. Proper procurement management helps to reduce the costs incurred which are vital.
STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT
These are the processes necessary for the identification and management with the relationships with everybody involved in and affected by the project. This determines the workings of the team. The four key processes of stakeholder management include the provision of broad support for the stakeholders, implementing changes to ensure amicable association, the engagement of the stakeholders for a sense of belonging. This is essential for building team morale. Lastly, the communication with the stakeholder is essential to ensure satisfaction.
Summary
The understanding of the knowledge areas of project management is key for the successful management of any given project. The numerous processes that make for project management mean that an in-depth understanding of these knowledge areas makes it easier for project managers to effectively conduct their duties and ultimately boosts the chances of the success of a project. This paper has provided in-depth insight on the knowledge areas of project management, the processes involved in each and why each area is essential for the successful completion of the project.
References
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