Project Integration and Communication Management

Project integration management refers to the process of tying everything in place. Integration management deals with: Developing the Project Charter and Project Scope statement (Initiating Process Group), Develop Project Management Plan (Planning process group), Direct and Manage project execution (Executing Process group). Hence this is process that integrates all the disparate processes and provides a focus for the project.

As noted above, the deliverables out of the integration management are the Project Scope, Project Charter and the Project management plan. We shall discuss each of these components. The first component that is the Project Scope refers to the document that details what is the work to be done and what are the boundaries of the work that is to be executed.

As we discussed in the article related to Project Scope, “scope creep” is something that the project manager has to watch out for when dealing with this component.

The next deliverable out of the project integration management is the Project Charter. This is an expression of the document that deals with listing out the details of the project, the relevant sponsors and the functions of each. The project charter can be thought of as a document that kicks off the project with the expression of interest that contains the details of the project sponsors along with the role of the project manager. The last document from the integration management process is the project management plan.

The PMP is the most important document in a project and contains the details of the project like scope, time, cost and quality along with the other aspects that are needed for the effective execution of the project. The PMP is prepared by the Project manager and is the repository of all information pertaining to the project. As we have discussed, the integration management is the domain of the project manager and hence the project manager can be thought of as the integrator who takes into account all the relevant details and ties them in together.

If you were asked, “What is the main role of the project manager?” what would you say? The answer is to perform integration.

While the work of the project is being done, it is the team members’ role to concentrate on completing the work packages. The project sponsor should be protecting the project from changes and loss of resources. It is the project manager’s role to put all the pieces of the project together into one cohesive whole that gets the project done faster, cheaper and with fewer resources while meeting the project objectives.

The project management processes do not happen independently. A cost estimate needs to take into account risk reserves. A new resource added to the project may require changes in cost or schedule.

In dealing with each situation the project manager is integrating the processes of project management. Integration management refers to the act of bringing together the disparate processes of the project management into one cohesive whole with the aim of developing a framework to develop the project management process.

The integration management deals with: Developing the Project Charter and Project Scope statement (Initiating Process Group), Develop Project Management Plan (Planning process group), Direct and Manage project execution (Executing Process group).

Hence, the Project Integration refers to the complete set of processes that span across the process groups and the aim of which is to ensure that the project is driven by one common purpose. Hence, the project management process.