PMP Knowledge Areas and Process Groups

Hello and welcome everyone. In this lecture, we are going to talk about all of the knowledge areas and process groups that you will see on your upcoming PMP or CAPM examinations. PMP stands for Project Management Professional and it's a leading certification for project managers worldwide. So just before we dive into process groups and knowledge areas, all the good stuff, let's take a look at what a project is first. The way that PMI, or the Project Management Institute, defines a project is that a project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result with a definitive beginning and end. So let's break down this definition. The first part is that it's temporary, which means that this cannot be operational work that you do over and over again. It has to be something that creates a unique product, service, or result. So the end result of that project doesn't have to be something tangible like a product. It could just be a result or a transition, but something that is unique and has never been done before in the organization, and it's only going to be done temporarily. So that means that this unique project that you have has a definitive beginning and end. Now that we know what a project is, let's move on and let's take a look at the project lifecycle. There are 5 process groups within a project: initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing. What you can see is that these different process groups actually overlap each other throughout the project. When we're starting our project, we initiate it. That means we are starting it. We create our project charter, which formally recognizes the existence of this project in our organization. Once we know why we want to start this project, then we plan out all the work that we need to do in order to accomplish the objectives of this project. Once we finish our planning, we're ready to actually do the work that we're supposed to do in order to accomplish the project's objectives. Throughout this entire process, we're monitoring and controlling it to ensure that we are doing what we set out to do. And lastly, when the deliverables are completed, we close out the project. And what you can see is that the peak of the activities happen in the execution phases. Another thing that you should note is that at the start of your project, your project stakeholders have a high degree of influence, and as the project progresses, their influence dies down because the requirements are solidified and you're starting to execute. Another thing to note is the green line on this graph right here. As the project progresses, the cost of change increases, so this means that it's very important to gather your stakeholders' feedback and requirements upfront and that into your project because making changes later on in your project can be very costly. So what we just looked at is the 5 process groups and the corresponding amount of activity that happen in each of these 5 process groups. We also saw that these 5 process groups don't happen in silo, they actually overlap each other. Here's another representation of the 5 process groups. We start with initiation, which is where our processes are defined, and the main output of this process group the project charter, which formally authorizes the existence of the project and gives the project manager the authority to apply the organization's resources on the project. And after we initiated the project, we move into planning, which is where we establish the scope of the project, define the activities and actions that we need to take in order to accomplish the objective of the project. Now, once we have our project management plan, which has our budget, when we're going to do the task, how much we budget the cost, Then we move into execution, which is where we hire people and we apply the organization's resources to actually implement the plan that we have planned in the planning stages. And then during this process, we're also monitoring and controlling it as well. So we're tracking, reviewing, and regulating what's actually happening in the execution phases and comparing it to what we planned out to do. And if there's any deviations, we can detect them early, correct it to ensure that the project stays on track. This is an iterative process that happens over and over again. We plan something, then we execute it, and then we need to monitor and control it to make sure that we actually executed what we planned to do, and if there's deviations, then we correct it and then we move on. At the end, we will have our project deliverable, and then we move on to the closing phases to close out the project. The project doesn't end when the deliverable is finished. You still have to go through the closing processes, include, you know, formally giving notice to your teammates to let them know that the project is over, documenting your lessons learned, closing out the project, etc., etc. A quick way to help you memorize the 5 process groups is using this rhyme. So the 5 process groups is initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing. So the first letters of these 5 process groups matched with the phrase in physical education, Mary cries It's much easier to remember this phrase, and you can use this quick phrase to help you memorize the 5 process groups. Now let's move on to our knowledge areas. Project integration management includes the processes and activities to identify, define, combine, unify, and coordinate the various processes and project management activities within the project management process groups. Next, we have project scope management, which includes the processes required to ensure that the project includes all of the work and only the work required to complete the project successfully. Project schedule management includes the processes required to manage the timely completion of the project. Project cost management includes the processes involved in planning, estimating, budgeting, financing, funding, managing, and controlling costs so that the project can be completed within the approved budget. Quality management includes the processes for incorporating the organization's quality policies regarding planning, managing, and controlling project and product quality requirements in order to meet the stakeholders' expectations. Next, we have Project Resource Management. Project Resource Management includes the processes to identify, acquire, and manage the resources needed for the successful completion of the project. The next knowledge area that we have is Project Communications Management, which includes the processes required to ensure timely and appropriate planning, collection, creation, distribution, storage, retrieval, management, control, monitoring, and ultimate disposal of project information. Project risk management includes all of the processes of conducting risk management planning, identification, analysis, response planning, and response implementation, and risk monitoring on the project. Project procurement includes all of the processes necessary to purchase or acquire products, services, or results needed from outside the project team in order to complete the projects. Our last knowledge area is project stakeholder management. Project stakeholder management includes the processes required to identify the people, groups, or organizations that could impact or be impacted by the project, to analyze the stakeholders' expectations and their impact on the project, and to develop the appropriate management strategies for effectively engaging the stakeholders in project decisions and execution. Now I know that the project knowledge areas could be quite tedious to memorize if you don't use some sort of strategy to help you memorize it, so here is a quick phrase that matches with the first letters, the same first letters as the 10 knowledge areas. Again, just summarizing the 10 knowledge areas again, they are integration, scope, Schedule, Cost, Quality, Resources, Communications, Risk, Procurement, and Stakeholders. And this is based on the PMBOK 6th edition. A quick phrase that's going to help you memorize this is, I saw 6 cars quickly rip Carol's rear passenger side. The first letters that begins with this phrase matches with the same letters that begins with the 10 knowledge areas. So by memorizing this phrase, it's going to help you memorize the 10 knowledge areas faster. So if you want more tips just like this, or if you want learn how to get your PMP or your CAPM certification in the next 6 weeks, then be sure to check out our free course at www.examspm.com/free, and I will see you soon. Thank you so much.