Project Integration Management is comprised of three processes: Project Plan Development, Project Plan Execution, and Integrated Change Control. (Heldman, 2002) The Project Integration knowledge area is concerned with coordinating all aspects of the project plan and is highly interactive. Project planning, project execution, and change control occur throughout the project and are repeated continuously while working on the project.
Project planning and execution involve weighing the objectives of the project against alternatives to bring the project to a successful completion. Change control impacts the project plan, which in turn impacts execution, so you can see that these three processes are very tightly linked. The processes in this area also interact with other processes in the remaining knowledge areas. (Heldman, 2002) Middle- and lower-level managers spend most of their time on implementation activities.
Effective implementation results in stated objectives, action plans, timetables, policies and procedures, and results in the organization moving efficiently toward fulfillment of its mission. (Kerzner, 2001)Project Scope Management includes the processes required to ensure that the project includes all the work required, and only the work required, to complete the project successfully (PMI 2004). In Project scope management the primary concern is to define and control the scope of work that should or should not be included within the constraints of Cost, Time and Quality.
This phase in the knowledge area if determined and formalized properly will be the referral point during any course of time in the project for all stakeholders and project members to refer upon as the baseline. During many projects, scope change is inevitable and the properly scoped document will include a Scope Change procedure to help maintain the project to be within the confine of the pre-agreed Scope, while managing the risks, costs, time and other factors that may otherwise caused Scope Creep or Lag as the project is being carried out.
The ultimate goal is to complete and achieve Project Success. The document should focus on the delivery of only work required and how to achieve the outcome for best results. If the project manager eliminates any of the above steps or areas, he may compromise the success of the project. (Renee Mepyans-Robinson Nashville State Community College – AMA Handbook of Project Management) In each of these steps, the interlinking and dependency is high to maintain a good control of what is in the scope and also with the rest of the knowledge area.
There is and will be a high level of overlap across the other knowledge area and once properly scoped will serve as the guide in each of the knowledge area in the performance of the project, this will then ensure a high chance of Project Success Individually, each of these processes encompasses Plan-Organise-Control step. These processes might be tightly linked that some would be viewed as one, especially for smaller project. Each of these processes interacts with each other as well as processes in other knowledge areas.
For example activity resource and duration estimating is interdependent to the cost estimation of the project, whereby the cost is dependent on the resource allocated and duration estimated. Tools employed in time management include Gantt chart and network diagram (critical path). Gantt charts, named after Henry Gantt, are intuitively easier to interpret than network and are therefore more popularly used for team members and senior management (Gardiner, 2003). It is also a common way to report progress of the project.
