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Chapter 4—The Organizational Project Management Processes

■ Controlling Processes
■ Closing Processes
In turn, each process involves and requires inputs, documents or docu-
mentable items that will be acted upon; tools and techniques, which are
applied to the inputs to create the outputs; and outputs, documents or doc-
umentable items that are a result of the process (PMBOK Guide, p. 32).
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The term “tools and techniques” also implies the existence of certain con-
trols that govern the execution of the process.
Shown in terms of their interrelationships and the normal flow of infor-
mation, these process groups look like this:

Initiating Planning
Processes Processes

Controlling Executing
Processes Processes

(arrows represent flow Closing
of information) Processes

Figure 4-2: The 5 Project Management Process Groups

Chapter 3 of the PMBOK Guide describes the project management
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process groups in significant detail.
Within the domain of Project Management, maturity is in proportion
to the ability to perform each of the processes well, and implies the exis-
tence of relevant Best Practices. Maturity also includes the concept of estab-
lishing project-level standards, process measures, process controls, and
ongoing process improvement. The existence or attainment of maturity in
any given process depends on the existence of several Capabilities. The
ability to control an input or a process depends on the ability to standardize
that input or process and the ability to measure the stability of that input
or process.

4.4 PROGRAM MANAGEMENT PROCESSES
The second domain in organizational project management is Program Man-
agement.
The term “program” is often used in a wide variety of ways in an orga-
nizational context. Sometimes, it is used to mean simply an initiative or
promotional campaign (such as a Quality First program). Some people may
use “Program Management” and “Project Management” interchangeably,

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