Integrated Project Management: A Project Management Process Area at Maturity Level 3
Purpose
The purpose of Integrated Project Management (IPM) is to establish and manage the project and the involvement of relevant stakeholders according to an integrated and defined process that is tailored from the organization’s set of standard processes.
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IPM matures the project management activities described in PP and PMC so that they address the organizational requirements for projects described in OPF and OPD.
Introductory Notes
Integrated Project Management involves the following activities:
• Establishing the project’s defined process at project startup by tailoring the organization’s set of standard processes
• Managing the project using the project’s defined process
• Establishing the work environment for the project based on the organization’s work environment standards
• Establishing teams that are tasked to accomplish project objectives
• Using and contributing to organizational process assets
• Enabling relevant stakeholders’ concerns to be identified, considered, and, when appropriate, addressed during the project
• Ensuring that relevant stakeholders (1) perform their tasks in a coordinated and timely manner; (2) address project requirements, plans, objectives, problems, and risks; (3) fulfill their commitments; and (4) identify, track, and resolve coordination issues
The integrated and defined process that is tailored from the organization’s set of standard processes is called the project’s defined process. (See the definition of “project” in the glossary.)
Managing the project’s effort, cost, schedule, staffing, risks, and other factors is tied to the tasks of the project’s defined process. The implementation and management of the project’s defined process are typically described in the project plan. Certain activities may be covered in other plans that affect the project, such as the quality assurance plan, risk management strategy, and the configuration management plan.
Tip
Using IPM to guide project management activities enables project plans to be consistent with project activities because both are derived from standard processes created by the organization. Further, plans tend to be more reliable and are developed more quickly, and new projects learn more quickly.
Since the defined process for each project is tailored from the organization’s set of standard processes, variability among projects is typically reduced and projects can easily share process assets, data, and lessons learned.
Tip
It is also easier to share resources (e.g., training and software tools) and to “load-balance” staff members across projects.
The working interfaces and interactions among relevant stakeholders internal and external to the project are planned and managed to ensure the quality and integrity of the overall endeavor. Relevant stakeholders participate as appropriate in defining the project’s defined process and the project plan. Reviews and exchanges are regularly conducted with relevant stakeholders to ensure that coordination issues receive appropriate attention and everyone involved with the project is appropriately aware of status, plans, and activities. (See the definition of “relevant stakeholder” in the glossary.) In defining the project’s defined process, formal interfaces are created as necessary to ensure that appropriate coordination and collaboration occurs.
Tip
A proactive approach to integrating plans and coordinating development efforts with relevant stakeholders outside the project is a key activity. This is particularly important when multiple projects must work together to provide needed capabilities.
The acquirer should involve and integrate all relevant acquisition, technical, support, and operational stakeholders. Depending on the scope and risk of the project, coordination efforts with the supplier can be significant.
Formal interfaces among relevant stakeholders take the form of memoranda of understanding, memoranda of agreement, contractual commitments, associated supplier agreements, and similar documents, depending on the nature of the interfaces and involved stakeholders.
This process area applies in any organizational structure, including projects that are structured as line organizations, matrix organizations, or teams. The terminology should be appropriately interpreted for the organizational structure in place.
Related Process Areas
Refer to the Agreement Management process area for more information about ensuring that the supplier and the acquirer perform according to the terms of the supplier agreement.
Refer to the Measurement and Analysis process area for more information about aligning measurement and analysis activities and providing measurement results.
Refer to the Organizational Process Definition process area for more information about establishing and maintaining a usable set of organizational process assets, work environment standards, and rules and guidelines for teams.
Refer to the Project Monitoring and Control process area for more information about monitoring the project against the plan.
Refer to the Project Planning process area for more information about developing a project plan.
Tip
Establishing teams is an expected activity for conducting successful acquisitions. These teams often require participation beyond the project and may include both customers and suppliers.
Specific Practices by Goal
SG 1 Use the Project’s Defined Process
The project is conducted using a defined process tailored from the organization’s set of standard processes.
The project’s defined process includes those processes from the organization’s set of standard processes that address all processes necessary to acquire, develop, maintain, or deliver the product.
Tip
All projects that use IPM rely on the organization’s set of standard processes as a basis to begin planning all project activities.
The product related lifecycle processes, such as manufacturing and support processes, are developed concurrently with the product.
SP 1.1 Establish the Project’s Defined Process
Establish and maintain the project’s defined process from project startup through the life of the project.
Refer to the Organizational Process Definition process area for more information about establishing organizational process assets and establishing the organization’s measurement repository.
Refer to the Organizational Process Focus process area for more information about deploying organizational process assets and deploying standard processes.
Tip
Establishing the right team structure aids in planning, coordinating, and managing risk. Acquisition projects sometimes choose a single, top-level, integrated team that remains in place for the duration of the acquisition project, but the rest of the project work is performed within traditional organizational boundaries. Such an approach can improve efficiency and be pursued if the product architecture aligns well with existing organizational boundaries.
The project’s defined process consists of defined processes that form an integrated, coherent lifecycle for the project.
The project’s defined process logically sequences acquirer activities and supplier deliverables (as identified in the supplier agreement) to deliver a product that meets the requirements. The acquirer may require the supplier to align selected processes with the acquirer’s defined process.
The project’s defined process should satisfy the project’s contractual requirements, operational needs, opportunities, and constraints. It is designed to provide a best fit for project needs.
A project’s defined process is based on the following factors:
• Stakeholder requirements
• Commitments
• Organizational process needs and objectives
• The organization’s set of standard processes and tailoring guidelines
• The operational environment
• The business environment
Establishing the project’s defined process at project startup helps to ensure that project staff and relevant stakeholders implement a set of activities needed to efficiently establish an initial set of requirements and plans for the project. As the project progresses, the description of the project’s defined process is elaborated and revised to better meet project requirements and the organization’s process needs and objectives. Also, as the organization’s set of standard processes changes, the project’s defined process may need to be revised.
The project’s defined process is driven by the acquisition strategy. The acquirer’s defined process is affected, for example, by whether the acquisition strategy is to introduce new technology to the organization or to consolidate acquired products or services in use by the acquirer.
1. The project’s defined process
Example Supplier Deliverables
1. Tailored supplier processes that interface with the acquirer’s defined process
Subpractices
1. Select a lifecycle model from the ones available in organizational process assets.
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IPM depends strongly on OPD. It is impossible to fully implement the specific practices in IPM without having in place the organizational infrastructure described in OPD.
2. Select standard processes from the organization’s set of standard processes that best fit the needs of the project.
Hint
Tailor the organization’s set of standard processes to address the project’s specific needs and situation. Some questions to ask to determine specific needs include the following: Are stringent quality, safety, and security requirements in place? Are the customer’s needs still evolving? Is the team working with a new customer, a new acquisition strategy, or a new supplier? Are there stringent schedule constraints?
3. Tailor the organization’s set of standard processes and other organizational process assets according to tailoring guidelines to produce the project’s defined process.
Sometimes the available lifecycle models and standard processes are inadequate to meet project needs. In such circumstances, the project should seek approval to deviate from what is required by the organization. Waivers are provided for this purpose.
Tailoring can include adapting the organization’s common measures and specifying additional measures to meet the information needs of the project.
4. Use other artifacts from the organization’s process asset library as appropriate.
Hint
Maintain the process asset library to keep it current. Otherwise, it could become the dumping ground for all project information and quickly become unusable.
5. Document the project’s defined process.
6. Conduct peer reviews of the project’s defined process.
Refer to the Acquisition Verification process area for more information about performing peer reviews.
7. Revise the project’s defined process as necessary.
SP 1.2 Use Organizational Process Assets for Planning Project Activities
Use organizational process assets and the measurement repository for estimating and planning project activities.
Tip
These activities may be similar to what you were doing to address PP. Because data and experiences from other projects are now available and applicable, however, the accuracy of project planning improves with this specific practice.
Refer to the Organizational Process Definition process area for more information about establishing organizational process assets.
When available, use results of previous planning and execution activities as predictors of the relative scope and risk of the effort being estimated.
Example Work Products
1. Project estimates
2. Project plans
Subpractices
1. Use the tasks and work products of the project’s defined process as a basis for estimating and planning project activities.
An understanding of the relationships among tasks and work products of the project’s defined process, and of the roles to be performed by relevant stakeholders, is a basis for developing a realistic plan.
2. Use the organization’s measurement repository in estimating the project’s planning parameters.
Tip
Independent validation of data confirms that the historical data used are applicable to the project.
SP 1.3 Establish the Project’s Work Environment
Establish and maintain the project’s work environment based on the organization’s work environment standards.
An appropriate work environment for a project comprises an infrastructure of facilities, tools, and equipment that people need to perform their jobs effectively in support of business and project objectives. The work environment and its components are maintained at a level of work environment performance and reliability indicated by organizational work environment standards. As required, the project’s work environment or some of its components can be developed internally or acquired from external sources.
Tip
Often, the project’s work environment contains components that are common to the organization’s overall work environment. Many of these components may be provided by an IT or facilities group.
The supplier’s work environment should be compatible with the acquirer’s work environment to enable efficient and effective transfer of work products.
The work environment might encompass environments for both verification and validation or these environments might be separate.
Refer to the Establish Work Environment Standards specific practice in the Organizational Process Definition process area for more information about work environment standards.
Example Work Products
1. Equipment and tools for the project
2. Installation, operation, and maintenance manuals for the project work environment
3. User surveys and results
4. Use, performance, and maintenance records
5. Support services for the project’s work environment
Subpractices
1. Plan, design, and install a work environment for the project.
The critical aspects of the project work environment are, like any other product, requirements driven. Functionality and quality attributes of the work environment are explored with the same rigor as is done for any other product development project.
Tip
A facilities group can use input from the project to create the work environment.
2. Provide ongoing maintenance and operational support for the project’s work environment.
Maintenance and support of the work environment can be accomplished either with capabilities found inside the organization or hired from outside the organization.
3. Maintain the qualification of components of the project’s work environment.
Components include software, databases, hardware, tools, test equipment, and appropriate documentation. Qualification of software includes appropriate certifications. Hardware and test equipment qualification includes calibration and adjustment records and traceability to calibration standards.
4. Periodically review how well the work environment is meeting project needs and supporting collaboration, and take action as appropriate.
SP 1.4 Integrate Plans
Integrate the project plan and other plans that affect the project to describe the project’s defined process.
Tip
One of the main differences between IPM and PP is that IPM is more proactive in coordinating with relevant stakeholders, both internal (different teams) and external (organizational functions, support groups, customers, and suppliers) to the project, and is concerned with the integration of plans.
Refer to the Organizational Process Definition process area for more information about establishing organizational process assets and, in particular, establishing the organization’s measurement repository.
Refer to the Organizational Process Focus process area for more information about establishing organizational process needs and determining process improvement opportunities.
Refer to the Project Planning process area for more information about developing a project plan.
This specific practice extends the specific practices for establishing and maintaining a project plan to address additional planning activities such as incorporating the project’s defined process, coordinating with relevant stakeholders, using organizational process assets, incorporating plans for peer reviews, and establishing objective entry and exit criteria for tasks.
Tip
To formulate estimates, data should be available from the organization’s measurement repository. Additionally, templates, examples, and lessons-learned documents should be available from the organization’s process asset library.
The development of the project plan should account for current and projected needs, objectives, and requirements of the organization, customer, suppliers, and end users as appropriate.
Example Work Products
1. Integrated plans
Example Supplier Deliverables
1. Supplier plans
Subpractices
1. Integrate other plans that affect the project with the project plan.
2. Incorporate into the project plan the definitions of measures and measurement activities for managing the project.
Refer to the Measurement and Analysis process area for more information about developing and sustaining a measurement capability used to support management information needs.
3. Identify and analyze product and project interface risks.
Refer to the Risk Management process area for more information about identifying and analyzing risks.
4. Schedule tasks in a sequence that accounts for critical development and delivery factors and project risks.
5. Incorporate plans for performing peer reviews on work products of the project’s defined process.
6. Incorporate the training needed to perform the project’s defined process in the project’s training plans.
This task typically includes negotiating with the organizational training group on the support they will provide.
7. Establish objective entry and exit criteria to authorize the initiation and completion of tasks described in the work breakdown structure (WBS).
Refer to the Project Planning process area for more information about estimating the scope of the project.
8. Ensure that the project plan is appropriately compatible with the plans of relevant stakeholders.
Typically the plan and changes to the plan will be reviewed for compatibility.
9. Identify how conflicts will be resolved that arise among relevant stakeholders.
Refer to the Agreement Management process area for more information about ensuring that the supplier and the acquirer perform their work according to the terms of the supplier agreement.
SP 1.5 Manage the Project Using Integrated Plans
Manage the project using the project plan, other plans that affect the project, and the project’s defined process.
Tip
The prior specific practices established the plan; this specific practice implements and manages the project against that plan.
Refer to the Organizational Process Definition process area for more information about establishing organizational process assets.
Refer to the Organizational Process Focus process area for more information about establishing organizational process needs, deploying organizational process assets, and deploying standard processes.
Refer to the Project Monitoring and Control process area for more information about providing an understanding of the project’s progress so that appropriate corrective actions can be taken when the project’s performance deviates significantly from the plan.
Refer to the Risk Management process area for more information about identifying and analyzing risks and mitigating risks.
Example Work Products
1. Work products created by performing the project’s defined process
2. Collected measures (i.e., actuals) and status records or reports
3. Revised requirements, plans, and commitments
4. Integrated plans
Example Supplier Deliverables
1. Supplier project progress and performance reports
Subpractices
1. Implement the project’s defined process using the organization’s process asset library.
2. Monitor and control the project’s activities and work products using the project’s defined process, project plan, and other plans that affect the project.
Tip
The organization’s process improvement plan might also affect the project.
An understanding of the relationships among tasks and work products of the project’s defined process and of the roles to be performed by relevant stakeholders, along with well-defined control mechanisms (e.g., peer reviews), achieves better visibility into project performance and better control of the project.
3. Obtain and analyze selected measurements to manage the project and support organization needs.
Refer to the Measurement and Analysis process area for more information about obtaining measurement data and analyzing measurement data.
4. Periodically review and align the project’s performance with current and anticipated needs, objectives, and requirements of the organization, customer, and end users as appropriate.
This review includes alignment with organizational process needs and objectives.
5. Address causes of selected issues that can affect project objectives.
Issues that require corrective action are determined and analyzed as in the Analyze Issues and Take Corrective Actions specific practices of the Project Monitoring and Control process area. As appropriate, the project may periodically review issues previously encountered on other projects or in earlier phases of the project, and conduct causal analysis of selected issues to determine how to prevent recurrence for issues which can significantly affect project objectives. Project process changes implemented as a result of causal analysis activities should be evaluated for effectiveness to ensure that the process change has prevented recurrence and improved performance.
SP 1.6 Establish Teams
Establish and maintain teams.
The project is managed using teams that reflect the organizational rules and guidelines for team structuring, formation, and operation. (See the definition of “team” in the glossary.)
Tip
This specific practice is included to ensure that integrated teams are used for the purposes of addressing integration issues. Often, these challenges occur across boundaries with customers, suppliers, and other critical acquisition efforts.
The project’s shared vision is established prior to establishing the team structure, which can be based on the WBS. For small organizations, the whole organization and relevant external stakeholders can be treated as a team.
Refer to the Establish Rules and Guidelines for Teams specific practice in the Organizational Process Definition process area for more information about establishing and maintaining organizational rules and guidelines for the structure, formation, and operation of teams.
Hint
When a supplier is integrated into the project team, pick the best process for the situation and make sure it is covered in the supplier agreement.
One of the best ways to ensure coordination and collaboration with relevant stakeholders is to include them on the team. For projects in a system of systems framework, the most important team may be with stakeholders representing other systems.
Example Work Products
1. Documented shared vision
2. List of members assigned to each team
3. Team charters
4. Periodic team status reports
Hint
Achieve the right allocation of requirements to each integrated team in the team structure before teams are formed—deciding which requirements to allocate to which team determines how the teams are staffed.
Subpractices
1. Establish and maintain the project’s shared vision.
When creating a shared vision, it is critical to understand the interfaces between the project and stakeholders external to the project. The vision should be shared among relevant stakeholders to obtain their agreement and commitment.
2. Establish and maintain the team structure.
The project WBS, cost, schedule, project risks, resources, interfaces, the project’s defined process, and organizational guidelines are evaluated to establish an appropriate team structure, including team responsibilities, authorities, and interrelationships.
Tip
It may be useful to “sunset” a team once the specific needs of the team are satisfied. It may also be useful to create new teams at various points in the acquisition lifecycle to meet new acquisition challenges that arise during this process.
3. Establish and maintain each team.
Establishing and maintaining teams encompasses choosing team leaders and team members and establishing team charters for each team. It also involves providing resources required to accomplish tasks assigned to the team.
4. Periodically evaluate the team structure and composition.
Teams should be monitored to detect misalignment of work across different teams, mismanaged interfaces, and mismatches of tasks to team members. Take corrective action when team or project performance does not meet expectations.
Tip
The charter is reviewed by all members of the team to ensure buy-in.
SP 1.7 Contribute to Organizational Process Assets
Contribute process related experiences to organizational process assets.
Refer to the Organizational Process Definition process area for more information about establishing organizational process assets, establishing the organization’s measurement repository, and establishing the organization’s process asset library.
Refer to the Organizational Process Focus process area for more information about incorporating experiences into organizational process assets.
Hint
Often, each team member represents a specific and essential perspective. When team composition changes, you must review the roles of departing team members to see whether their perspectives are still represented on the team.
This specific practice addresses contributing information from processes in the project’s defined process to organizational process assets.
Tip
This specific practice provides feedback to the organization so that the organizational assets can be improved, and so that data and experiences can be shared with other projects.
Example Work Products
1. Proposed improvements to organizational process assets
2. Actual process and product measures collected from the project
3. Documentation (e.g., exemplary process descriptions, plans, training modules, checklists, lessons learned)
4. Process artifacts associated with tailoring and implementing the organization’s set of standard processes on the project
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Improvements are proposed using “process improvement proposals.” For more information, see OPF SP 2.4.
Subpractices
1. Propose improvements to the organizational process assets.
2. Store process and product measures in the organization’s measurement repository.
Refer to the Measurement and Analysis process area for more information about obtaining measurement data.
Refer to the Project Monitoring and Control process area for more information about monitoring project planning parameters.
Refer to the Project Planning process area for more information about planning data management.
3. Submit documentation for possible inclusion in the organization’s process asset library.
4. Document lessons learned from the project for inclusion in the organization’s process asset library.
5. Provide process artifacts associated with tailoring and implementing the organization’s set of standard processes in support of the organization’s process monitoring activities.
Refer to the Monitor the Implementation specific practice in the Organizational Process Focus process area for more information about the organization’s activities to understand the extent of deployment of standard processes on new and existing projects.
SG 2 Coordinate and Collaborate with Relevant Stakeholders
Coordination and collaboration between the project and relevant stakeholders are conducted.
SP 2.1 Manage Stakeholder Involvement
Manage the involvement of relevant stakeholders in the project.
Stakeholder involvement is managed according to the project’s integrated plan and defined process.
The supplier agreement provides the basis for managing supplier involvement in the project. Supplier agreements (e.g., interagency and intercompany agreements, memoranda of understanding, memoranda of agreement) that the acquirer makes with stakeholder organizations, which can be product or service providers or recipients, provide the basis for their involvement.
These agreements are particularly important when the acquirer’s project produces a system that will be integrated into a larger system of systems.
Refer to the Project Planning process area for more information about planning stakeholder involvement and obtaining plan commitment.
1. Agendas and schedules for collaborative activities
2. Recommendations for resolving relevant stakeholder issues
3. Documented issues
Subpractices
1. Coordinate with relevant stakeholders who should participate in project activities.
The relevant stakeholders should already be identified in the project plan.
2. Ensure work products that are produced to satisfy commitments meet the requirements of the recipients.
Tip
These commitments may be external commitments that the project staff is addressing.
The work products produced to satisfy commitments can be services.
3. Develop recommendations and coordinate actions to resolve misunderstandings and problems with requirements.
Tip
Too often, project members assume that critical dependencies identified at the beginning of a project will not change or are someone else’s responsibility.
SP 2.2 Manage Dependencies
Participate with relevant stakeholders to identify, negotiate, and track critical dependencies.
Example Work Products
1. Defects, issues, and action items resulting from reviews with relevant stakeholders
2. Critical dependencies
3. Commitments to address critical dependencies
4. Status of critical dependencies
Tip
When time and money are limited, the integration, coordination, and collaboration activities become even more critical. Coordination helps to ensure that all involved parties contribute to the product in a timely way to minimize rework and delays.
Example Supplier Deliverables
1. Status of critical dependencies
Subpractices
1. Conduct reviews with relevant stakeholders.
It is particularly important that acquirers or owners of systems that interact with the project in a system of systems be involved in these reviews to manage critical dependencies these types of systems create.
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You can facilitate coordination on critical dependencies by determining need dates and plan dates for each critical dependency and then establishing and managing commitments as described in these subpractices and in PP and PMC.
2. Identify each critical dependency.
3. Establish need dates and plan dates for each critical dependency based on the project schedule.
4. Review and get agreement on commitments to address each critical dependency with those who are responsible for providing or receiving the work product.
5. Document critical dependencies and commitments.
The acquirer documents supplier commitments to meet critical dependencies in the supplier agreement. Supplier dependencies and acquirer dependencies are documented in an integrated plan.
6. Track the critical dependencies and commitments and take corrective action as appropriate.
Refer to the Project Monitoring and Control process area for more information about monitoring commitments.
SP 2.3 Resolve Coordination Issues
Resolve issues with relevant stakeholders.
Tip
Coordination issues are typically resolved at the project level. However, because stakeholders may be external to the project, issues may need to be escalated to the appropriate level of management to be resolved.
Example Work Products
1. Relevant stakeholder coordination issues
2. Status of relevant stakeholder coordination issues
Tip
This specific practice is critical if teams are to perform in a manner that is consistent with the project’s shared vision.
Subpractices
1. Identify and document issues.
2. Communicate issues to relevant stakeholders.
3. Resolve issues with relevant stakeholders.
4. Escalate to appropriate managers the issues not resolvable with relevant stakeholders.
5. Track issues to closure.
6. Communicate with relevant stakeholders on the status and resolution of issues.