The PMBOK describes nine understanding areas or groups from the project management software discipline. Gaining knowledge of these understanding areas will help you be a superstar inside your organization. Understanding and applying all nine could make you irreplaceable. Throughout my next number of articles, I’ll be discussing each area at length and identify specific examples and methods that will help you become that irreplaceable superstar.
To do this new series, I wish to reference Kathy Schwalbe, Ph.D, PMP, and professor at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Being an active person in the PMI as well as an expert in the market, she’s written several textbooks and just how-to guides about them. In her own book “It Project Management Software”, she describes each one of the nine understanding areas and identifies a few of the techniques and tools utilized in each area. These understanding areas include:
1. Integration Management – project selection methods and methodologies, stakeholder analyses, charters, project management software plans, project management software software, change demands, change control boards, review conferences, and training-learned reports.
2. Scope Management – scope statements, work breakdown structures, mind maps, statements of labor, needs analyses, scope management plans, scope verification techniques, and scope change controls.
3. Personal Time Management – Gantt charts, project network diagrams, critical-path analyses, crashing, fast tracking, schedule performance measurements.
4. Cash Strategy – Internet present value, roi, payback analyses, earned value management, project portfolio management, cost estimates, managing cost plans, and price baselines.
5. Quality Management – Quality metrics, checklists, qc charts, Pareto diagrams, fishbone diagrams, maturity models, and record models.
6. Hr Management – Motivation techniques, empathic listening, responsibility assignment matrices, project business charts, resource histograms, and team development exercises.
7. Communications Management – Communications plans, kickoff conferences, conflict resolution, communications media selection, status and progress reports, virtual communications, templates, and project internet sites.
8. Risk Management – Risk management plans, risk registers, probability/impact matrices, and risk rankings.
9. Procurement Management – Make-or-buy analyses, contracts, request proposals or quotes, source selections, supplier evaluation matrices.
*Schwalbe, It Project Management Software, Sixth Edition, 2010.
Stay tuned in in my next article about Integration Management by which I’ll identify four keys that will help you better integrate projects, sources, and individuals to your work management process.
