Project Integration Management

Project Integration Management is the first project management knowledge area that includes the processes and activities needed to identify, define, combine, unify, and coordinate the various processes and project management activities within the Project Management Process Groups.

The Project Integration Management knowledge area, according to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), includes the following six processes:

• Develop Project Charter. The process of developing a document that formally authorizes a project or a phase and documenting initial requirements that satisfy the stakeholder's needs and expectations.
• Develop Project Management Plan. The process of documenting the actions necessary to define, prepare, integrate, and coordinate all subsidiary plans.
• Direct and Manage Project Execution. The process of performing the work defined in the project management plan to achieve the project's objectives.
• Monitor and Control Project Work. The process of tracking, reviewing, and regulating the progress to meet the performance objectives defined in the project management plan.
• Perform Integrated Change Control. The process of reviewing all change requests, approving changes, and managing changes to the deliverables, organizational process assets, project documents, and the project management plan.
• Close Project or Phase. The process of finalizing all activities across all of the Project Management Process Groups to formally complete the project or phase.

Five Process Groups in the Project Management

A process is a set of interrelated actions and activities performed to achieve a pre-specified product, result, or service. Project management is an integrative undertaking requiring each project and product process to be appropriately aligned and connected with the other processes to facilitate coordination. Actions taken during one process typically affect that process and other related processes. Project management processes ensure the effective flow of the project throughout its existence.

According to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide), project management processes are grouped into five categories known as Project Management Process Groups (or Process Groups):

• Initiating Process Group. Those processes performed to define a new project or a new phase of an existing project by obtaining authorization to start the project or phase.
• Planning Process Group. Those processes required to establish the scope of the project, refine the objectives, and define the course of action required to attain the objectives that the project was undertaken to achieve.
• Executing Process Group. Those processes performed to complete the work defined in the project management plan to satisfy the project specifications.
• Monitoring and Controlling Process Group. Those processes required to track, review, and regulate the progress and performance of the project; identify any areas in which changes to the plan are required; and initiate the corresponding changes.
• Closing Process Group. Those processes performed to finalize  all activities across all Process Groups to formally close the project or phase.

Project  Management Process Groups are linked by the outputs they produce. The Process Groups are seldom either discrete or one-time events; they are overlapping activities that occur throughout the project. The output of one process generally becomes an input to another process or is a deliverable of the project. The Planning Process Group provides the Executing Process Group with the project management plan and project documents, and, as the project progresses, it often entails updates to the project management plan and the project documents.