Project Management Knowledge Areas Matrix
Knowledge Area / Description / Activities / Tools / Benefits
Project Integration Management / The processes required to ensure that the various elements of the project are properly coordinated. Integration management includes:
  • Issues Management
  • Change Management
  • Project Information Management (PIM)
/ Issues Management - documenting and managing issues that arise during the course of the project. Some of the issues that arise during the course of a project have significant bearing on the project, while other issues will be of little consequences. Activities include:
  • Identify the issue
  • Assess the impact of the issue
  • Prioritize the issues
  • Resolve the issue
  • Track all issues throughout the entire project
Change Management - systematically identifying, documenting and managing changes to previously approved scope, schedule, or costs. Activities include:
  • Identify change
  • Assess the impact
  • Authorize each change
  • Track all changes throughout the entire project
Project Information Management - defining the mechanisms that will be used to store, control, and share project information, including:
  • File naming conventions
  • Documentation of storage locations
  • Version control
  • Information owners
  • Information management flows
/

Issue Management

  • Issues Log
  • Integration Management Guideline

Change Management

  • (RFC) Request For Change template
  • Project Change Log
  • Integration Management Guideline

Project Information Management

  • Integration Management Guideline
/ √Increases the likelihood that issues and changes are addressed and approved prior to impeding project success.
√Provides consistency in project documentation and access for the project team.
Project Scope Management / The processes required to ensure that the project includes all the work required, and only the work required, to complete the project successfully. It is primarily concerned with defining and controlling what is or is not included in the project. / Scope Planning -process of progressively elaborating and documenting the project work (project scope) that produces the product of the project.
Scope Definition - subdividing the major project deliverables into smaller, more manageable components.
Scope Baselining - taking the project work that has approved consensus by the key stakeholders and setting them as the standard to work from. Baselines are original plans for monitoring project performance (i.e.: cost, quality, schedule, and resources).
Scope Change - concerned with a) identifying scope changes, b) assessing the impact, and c) managing the actual changes. /
  • Project Initiation Document template
  • Project Charter template
  • Business Case template
  • Business Case Guideline
  • Requirement Specification template
  • Scope Management Guideline
  • Software Requirement Specifications, if applicable
  • Concept Analysis Document, if applicable
/ √A mechanism to evaluate scope changes.
√Lessens scope creep by defining aspects of the project in detail.
√Provides a record of the projects boundaries for all project stakeholders.
Project Time Management / The processes required to ensure timely completion of the project / Schedule Planning and Baselining - taking the overall project timeframe and the Project Schedule that has approved consensus by the key stakeholders and setting it as the standard from which to work. Baselines are agreed upon plans for monitoring project performance, (i.e.: cost, quality, schedule, and resources).
Schedule Progress Reporting - determining ways to “take credit” for progress. Depending on the size of the schedule, specific activities, or number of resources, the schedule progress may be reported using a variety of methods, (i.e., percent complete, work remaining, or estimated finish dates).
Time and Effort Tracking - determining the project-specific procedures that will be used to collect the actual schedule data and update the Project Schedule. These procedures include identifying who will be responsible for the updating and reporting on progress.
Individual Team Member Progress Updates - identifying how team members and/or subject matter experts are expected to send schedule data and when they need to submit the information. /
  • Time Management Guideline
  • MS Project Schedule/WBS template
  • Project Scheduling Guideline
/ √Value at the work level (for example cost, duration and effort) can be rolled up and reported at any level.
√Provides a framework to monitor progress.
√Schedule comparison ensures the project is on target and the planned results are being achieved.
Project Cost Management / The processes required to ensure that the project is completed within the approved budget / Cost Forecasting - developing future trends along with the assessment of the risks and uncertainties that could occur during the project.
Cost Budgeting – establishing estimates, budgets, and measuring and managing the investment costs of the project.
Cost Controls - gathering, accumulating, analyzing, reporting, and managing the cost of the project on an ongoing basis. Tracking actual project costs against baseline estimates and accounting for the variances. /
  • Project Budget template
  • Project Budget Report template
  • Project Budget Preparation Guideline
  • Cost Management Guideline
  • Project Funding Guideline
/ √Places parameters on estimates.
√Helps to support cost/benefit analysis.
√Accounts for and calculates each type of project resource.
√Ensure stakeholders understand project costs.
Project Quality Management / The processes required to ensure that the project will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken / Quality Management Strategy - identifying the key deliverables for the project or phase, and determine the quality attributes and criteria.
Quality Assurance Procedures - evaluating the overall project performance to ensure that the project’s quality planning and quality control procedures are working and to ensure that the project will satisfy the relevant quality standards.
Quality Control Procedures - determining activities necessary to make certain that the project’s deliverables meet the quality objectives, attributes and criteria defined in the project plan. /
  • Quality Management Guideline
/ √Increases the likelihood of client satisfaction with the delivered product.
√Improves efficiency by reducing rework and the cost of rework is reduced.
√Identifies and eliminates defects before they appear.
√Provides continuous improvement.
√Instills a quality culture within all team members.
Project Human Resources Management / The processes required to make the most effective use of the people involved with the project. / Project Staff Acquisition - negotiating and obtaining the human resources needed (individuals and internal/external groups) assigned to and/or working on the project’s activities.
Project Team Administration - providing formal guidance and control to the project team. Including resource planning, defining role descriptions, identifying/recruiting resources, and team administration.
Project Team Management- managing the work and direction of the project team. /
  • Human Resources Management Guideline
  • Roles Matrix Guideline
  • Project Organization Chart
/ √Allows participants to come to be more focused and to more effectively schedule their time since they have known responsibilities and roles.
√Ensures that all activities are covered and that multiple individuals aren’t doing the same thing.
√Achieves effective integration of all resources by using organizational and human skills.
Project Communications Management / The processes required to ensure timely and appropriate generation, collection, and dissemination of project information. / Project Communication Process - defining how the information is managed and communicated, and how often the information is disseminated and who is responsible for communicating the information.
Information Distribution – making project information available to the project organization in an efficient manner. It includes implementing the communications approach, as well as responding to unexpected request for information. /
  • Communications Management Guideline
  • Communications Matrix
  • Lessons Learned
  • Template
  • Guideline
  • Status Reports
  • Team Member
  • Project
  • Executive
  • Quarterly Operations Review
  • Meeting
  • Meeting Agenda template
  • Meeting Notes template
  • Project Closeout Report template
  • Project Survey template
  • Customer Satisfaction Survey template
  • Deliverable Acceptance Form template
/ √Prevents much of the confusion and chaos in a project.
√Clarifies roles and responsibilities.
√Reassures team members as to expectations and throughout the project
√Establishes standards for maximizing the production of the team members.
Project Risk Management / The processes concerned with identifying, analyzing, and responding to project risk. It includes maximizing the probability and consequences of positive events and minimizing the probability and consequences of adverse events to project objectives. / Risk Identification - identifying all possible risk events that may have an impact on the project.
Risk Impact Analysis - examining the nature of individual risks, as well as interdependencies. It includes assessing the impact severity, probability of the risk occurring, and the resulting changes to the project variables – scope, quality, cost and the plan.
Risk Response Development - developing risk management strategies for the project, including assigning responsibilities within the project organization. This includes plans for acceptance, avoidance, mitigation and transference.
Risk Control Procedures - involves the management of the project’s Risk Management Plan to respond to risks as they evolve to ensure effective and timely action in response to risk occurrences and communication to the project organization. This ongoing process will typically show that some risks are greater in some phases of the project than others. /
  • Risk and Response Log template
  • Risk Management Guideline
/ √Increases the likelihood that potential risks will be identified.
√Identifies risks that warrant scope changes or justify project cancellation before major investments are made.
√Reduces the likelihood of schedule and cost overruns.
Project Procurement Management / The processes required to ensure the contract terms are fulfilled, the vendors are providing what was expected, when it was expected and that performance feedback is provided at completion at the transaction. / Initial Investigation - identifying vendors and the existing vendor relationships, within <company name>, who will supply the products and services that are required by the project.
Purchasing Strategy - analyzing the services and/or materials identified during the initial investigation.
Implementation Plan - finalizing the selection process and initiating the procurement of the products and/or services to be purchased. The objective is to prepare and present a recommendation of a business case.
Ongoing Vendor/Contract Management - ensuring that the vendor’s performance meets contractual requirements or agreed upon service level agreements. / √Standardizes the level of process of the overall procurement process.
√Increases the likelihood that a quality vendor will be selected.
√Increases the likelihood that functional requirements will be met by the selected vendor.

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