Project Integration Management

CHAPTER 4
PROJECT INTEGRATION MANAGEMENT

Project Integration Management includes the processes required to ensure that the various elements of the project are properly coordinated. It involves making trade-offs among competing objectives and alternatives in order to meet or exceed stake-holder needs and expectations. While all project management processes are inte-grative to some extent, the processes described in this chapter are primarily integrative.
These processes interact with each other and with the processes in the other knowledge areas as well. Each process may involve effort from one or more individuals or groups of individuals based on the needs of the project. Each process generally occurs at least once in every project phase.
Although the processes are presented here as discrete elements with well-defined interfaces, in practice they may overlap and interact in ways not detailed here. Process interactions are discussed in detail in Chapter 3.
The processes, tools, and techniques used to integrate project management processes are the focus of this chapter. For example, project integration manage-ment comes into play when a cost estimate is needed for a contingency plan or when risks associated with various staffing alternatives must be identified. Howev-er, for a project to be completed successfully, integration must also occur in a num-ber of other areas as well.

4.1 Project Plan Development
Project plan development uses the outputs of the other planning processes to create a consistent, coherent document that can be used to guide both project execution and project control. This process is almost always iterated several times. For exam-ple, the initial draft may include generic resources and undated durations while the final plan reflects specific resources and explicit dates. The project plan is used to:
Guide project execution.

1. Document project planning assumptions.
2. Document project planning decisions regarding alternatives chosen.
3. Facilitate communication among stakeholders.
4. Define key management reviews as to content, extent, and timing.
5. Provide a baseline for progress measurement and project control.

• Inputs to Project Plan Development

1. Other planning outputs.
2. Historical information.
3. Organizational policies.
4. Constraints.
5. Assumptions.

• Tools and Techniques for Project Plan Development

1. Project planning methodology.
2. Stakeholder skills and knowledge.
3. Project management information system (PMIS).

• Outputs from Project Plan Development

1. Project plan.
2. Supporting detail.

4.2 Project Plan Execution
Project plan execution is the primary process for carrying out the project plan—the vast majority of the project’s budget will be expended in performing this process. In this process, the project manager and the project management team must coordinate and direct the various technical and organizational interfaces that exist in the project.

• Inputs to Project Plan Execution

1. Project plan.
2. Supporting detail.
3. Organizational policies.
4. Corrective action.
5. General management skills.
6. Product skills and knowledge.
7. Work authorization system.
8. Status review meetings.
9. Project management information system.
10. Organizational procedures.

• Tools and Techniques for Project Plan Execution

• Outputs from Project Plan Execution

1. Work results.
2. Change requests.

4.3 Overall Change Control
Overall change control is concerned with (a) influencing the factors which create changes to ensure that changes are beneficial, (b) determining that a change has oc-curred, and (c) managing the actual changes when and as they occur. Overall change control requires:
ü      Maintaining the integrity of the performance measurement baselines—all approved changes should be reflected in the project plan, but only project scope changes will affect the performance measurement baselines.
ü      Ensuring that changes to the product scope are reflected in the definition of the project scope (the difference between product and project scope is discussed in the introduction to Chapter 5).
ü      Coordinating changes across knowledge areas as illustrated in Figure 4–2. For example, a proposed schedule change will often affect cost, risk, quality, and staffing.

• Inputs to Overall Change Control

1. Project plan.
2. Performance reports.
3. Change requests.

• Tools and Techniques for Overall Change Control

1. Change control system.
2. Configuration management.
3. Performance measurement.
4. Additional planning.
5. Project management information system.

• Outputs from Overall Change Control

1. Project plan updates.
2. Corrective action.