Process Management vs Project Management

Process Management and Project Management go hand-in-hand to deliver a successful project. Both are critical components of Gartner’s Application Development Management Continuum (Gartner Group, 1995). Each has a clearly delineated area of responsibility.

Process Management deals with defining and managing what is done on a project, including tasks completed, deliverables produced, roles performed, and tools used. It deals with the “scientific method” used to deliver an IT solution.

Project Management deals with tracking the process being executed, from a schedule and cost perspective. It includes functions for developing the optimal project schedule, producing a financial model of the project, scheduling and tracking of effort against plan, managing costs against budget, and reporting of status, to name a few.

I will be spending the next several posts focusing on Process Management; however, some of the Process Management tools it describes are used for both Process Management and Project Management.

Process Management Objectives

By defining and applying a scientific method to the delivery of IT solutions, Process Management has the following objectives:

� To define a repeatable process that, when executed, behaves predictably and delivers a quality product – on schedule and within budget.

� To produce higher quality IT solutions.

� To increase productivity and shorten the delivery cycle, through the application of optimized processes and the re-use of work products.

� To upgrade the skill levels of all project participants, including delivery team staff and customers.

By: The Great Sir Craig

Process Management vs Knowledge-Driven Process Management

Specification Reinspection Correction Time: This describes the effort required to correct defects found during the reinspection of a specification deliverable. Typically specification deliverables include the Requirements Definition, Functional Design, Structural Design, and System Test Specification. The correction effort is influenced by the complexity of the specification deliverable. http://preview.tinyurl.com/4ty4rf

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Process management involves two dimensions:

1. defining and continually refining a set of procedures for the management of repeatable business processes; and

2. executing and monitoring the processes.

Process management disciplines are applied by managers in most business contexts, including Project Managers who use these disciplines to control and monitor the execution of project tasks with timely and accurate information. Process and Project Management overlap in a number of areas but do not have the same focus.

Knowledge-Driven Process Management is the automation of Process Management through the application of a defined process. The process is defined in a knowledge repository or rule-based engine (e.g., an expert system) and drives an integrated suite of workflow management, project management, and product delivery tools.

Knowledge-Driven Process Management presents the worker with a step by step process and business rules for performing work; invokes the tools required to perform the work; provides templates, checklists, and samples for the work to be performed; and supplies in a pro-active manner procedural information on how to perform each specific task. It also provides information about the processes being performed:

1. to support coordination of tasks assigned to individuals; and

2. to provide status about activities relative to plans or defined performance measures.