Effective Project Management: Traditional, Agile, Extreme, 7th Edition

Chapter 3

What Are the Project Management Process Groups?

The PMI PMBOK Process Groups are not a project management life cycle; they are the building blocks of every project management life cycle.

—Robert K. Wysocki, PhD, President, EII Publications, LLC

CHAPTER LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After reading this chapter, you will be able to:

• Define the five Process Groups
• Define the ten Knowledge Areas
• Explain the relationship between the five Process Groups and ten Knowledge Areas

All of the project management life cycles (PMLCs) presented in Chapter 2 and in Parts II and III are constructed from the five Process Groups introduced in this chapter. The five Process Groups were originally defined by the Project Management Institute (PMI) in their standards guidelines called A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide). The PMBOK Guide¹ has become the de facto standard for the practice of project management worldwide. This book is compatible with the five Process Groups and the related ten Knowledge Areas of the PMBOK Guide. It is important that you understand the traditional processes and Knowledge Areas in detail because they are the basis of all the project management models that you will learn about in Parts II and III. This book extends its treatment beyond those traditional practices into the contemporary world of complex project management.

Defining the Five Process Groups

In addition to answering the six questions posed in Chapter 2 that a valid project management ...