Have you ever worked on a project that was way behind schedule, way over budget, and ultimately resulted in a mediocre product? If so, you’re definitely not the only one.

Many frustrated managers have scrutinized fizzled projects, and conclude they’re often a symptom of a broken methodology. And they’ve worked to develop new and improved ones.

“Sprints” have become a real buzzword in the project management world. At first blush, the word conjures up images of a running track, starting blocks, and athletes in tiny shorts bursting through a finish line ribbon.

In project management, however, sprints aren’t athletic events. Rather, they’re short bursts of work that magically improve a project’s process and its output.

Want to know more about agile project management and sprints? That’s what we’re discussing in this post, so without further ado, let’s get into it.

A Recent History of Project Management

In the past few decades, some of the most significant changes in project management have come out of the software industry.

Waterfall: A Definition

Back in the 80s and 90s, software developers used a project management method called waterfall.

Waterfall is a fixed, top-down approach to managing a project. The leader establishes the timeline and the budget, and the team falls in line behind him or her. Gantt charts typically are utilized with waterfall, with each step of the project carefully plotted out and recorded.

The Problem with Waterfall

Although waterfall is useful for certain types of projects, in many instances the method creates nothing but trouble.

The software developer Ken Schwaber, in his book Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time, expounds on his experience with waterfall:
“The process was slow, unpredictable, and often never resulted in a product that people wanted or would pay to buy.”

“Step-by-step plans…reassured management that we were in control of the development process—but almost without fail, we could fall quickly behind schedule and disastrously over budget.”

What is it about waterfall that creates this sort of mess? The development team works to complete a contract, and never communicates with the client during the project. Its rigid, fixed approach doesn’t allow for reflection and course correction.

Have you ever been frustrated by a software system that wasn’t at all user friendly? In all likelihood, it was created using a waterfall approach. During its creation, the development team never paused to test the software on potential customers. Rather, they listened to the directives of the project manager, then worked from start to finish with horse blinders on.

It’s no surprise, really, that this approach results in a sloppy product nobody wants to use.

Agile: The Solution

In the 90s and early 2000s, software developers started discussing their frustrations with waterfall.

Intent on finding a better way, a group of them put their heads together and wrote the Agile Manifesto.

The manifesto places values on “individuals and interactions over processes and tools” and “responding to change over following a plan.”

Agile sought to resolve fundamental problems with waterfall. It encouraged collaboration with the client throughout a project, daily face-to-face communication, autonomous teams, and frequent reflection.

Although initially agile was utilized exclusively by software developers, within a decade or so it started to trend in other areas as well. Currently, it’s not uncommon to see the agile method embraced by construction companies, marketing agencies, and even by families to assist with home planning.

Agile & Scrum

The essence of agile is producing work in small batches, reflecting and then plotting a path forward. Whereas waterfall might be compared to an unbending rod of steel, agile is more like a flexible branch, or a malleable piece of clay.

An agile process allows for change and adaptation throughout the project, even late in the game. An agile team consistently shares its work with the client and other stakeholders and uses the feedback to chart a path forward.

The agile manifesto says that teams aim to: “Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.”

Scrum is an agile system developed by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland. It was inspired by an article in The Harvard Business Review in the 80s, written by two Japanese professors.

The scrum method lays out clearly defined roles, ceremonies, and artifacts. The scrum framework allows a team to plan a project around agile principles. One of its central ceremonies is a sprint.

The Skinny on Sprints

In scrum, a “sprint” represents one iteration or rotation of a project. During this iteration, a team completes a designated amount of work.

Generally, a sprint lasts two weeks, but it can be as short as a week, and some teams even design sprints that last only one day.

A series of sprints, then, comprises the entire project. The idea is that grouping work into small batches gives teams the space to pause and reflect, regroup, and re-chart the course if necessary.

What’s Needed to Plan a Sprint?

A well-planned sprint requires some tools and key information.

A Backlog

Every scrum team needs a backlog. A backlog is a record of all the work necessary for the completion of the project. Grooming the backlog and prioritizing the most pressing work falls to the role of the product manager.

Story Points Assigned to Backlog Items

The next task is to assign “story points” to each item in the backlog.

A story point measures the amount of work each item in the backlog represents. These points allow teams to select an appropriate amount of work for each sprint. Story points always are estimates, and assigning them is an activity teams do together.

This point value isn’t a measure of time, but rather a measurement of output. (The research has shown that time estimates are often inaccurate. The amount of time it takes to complete one task can vary greatly depending on who is doing the work and when the work is completed.)

Teams that have worked together for a while develop a good sense around the number of story points they’re able to complete over a sprint. This number is referred to as its velocity.

How to Plan a Sprint

At the beginning of a sprint, the team comes together for a sprint planning session. At this session, everyone looks at an overview of the project, with the objective in mind. They consider any updates, client feedback, and other stakeholder input.

Next, they look at the product backlog and identify the work that’s going to make significant progress toward the goal. An objective is to eliminate busy work, and identify tasks that are both high priority and essential to the project’s completion.

Independent teams are a trademark of agile. And so on its own, the team selects work and assigns tasks to specific people.

When work has been selected and assigned, the team officially begins the sprint.

How to Conduct a Sprint

Throughout a sprint, teams meet daily at a scrum meeting. This brief meeting is an opportunity to discuss any impediments or blockers to completing the sprint.

During the sprint, an agile team may swarm around a certain task to bring it over the finish line. This means that everyone on the team focuses exclusively on that task until it’s completed.

How to Complete a Sprint

The completion of a sprint is a significant stage in the process.

First of all, the team presents what it’s created to the client, for feedback. This step signifies a crucial difference between agile and waterfall. It allows the client to determine if the team is working in the right direction; if they’re in fact developing what the client has asked for. The team carefully considers the feedback when it plans its next sprint.

Next, the team, on its own, participates in a “retrospective” ceremony. The essence of the retrospective is to identify things that went well, and to discuss things that could be improved for the upcoming sprint.

This briefly captures the essence of a sprint and its processes. How do teams and projects benefit from sprints? Let’s discuss this next.

The Benefits of Working in Sprints

In the same way that short bursts of exercise improve your health, sprints improve a project in all sorts of ways.

Increases Collaboration

The Agile Manifesto says to “build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.”

Agile teams are autonomous and self-motivated. On its own, the team prioritizes work in the product backlog and then selects and assigns work during the sprint. The daily scrum and swarming sessions during a sprint further increase cooperation and bonding within a team.

Creates Opportunities to Improve the Product

When a team is myopically focused on bringing a project over the finish line, creating a superb product becomes a secondary priority.

On the other hand, working in short iterations creates opportunities to pause, assess, and make adjustments. Working in sprints ensures that the project continues on the path to success.

Leads to a Happier Client

Sometimes a client doesn’t even really know what she wants at the beginning of a project. Or her requirements change mid-way.

Agile “welcomes changing requirements, even late in development,” and sprints create continuous dialogue between a team and the client, to ensure the product is really going to deliver what she wants.

Focuses the Team’s Energy

Taken all at once, a project can feel immense and overwhelming. Sprints allow a team to focus on more manageable amounts of work. This sharpens its focus and buoy’s its energy.

Carefully choosing tasks during a sprint planning session also eliminates the time a team spends completing busy work and going down rabbit holes.

Saves Money

Planning work in small batches and reflecting generally reduces the need to backtrack, rip things out and start over.

Rather, the team has already reflected and pivoted (if necessary) and so each sprint is a step toward the finish line.

In nature, organisms grow.

This growth is characterized by an increase in size or mass, or both.

Essentially it’s the ability of an organism to adapt to and thrive in its environment. This could be through developing new capabilities or becoming more complex.

You could say that maturity is the pinnacle of growth.

Maturity is when an organism has reached its full potential and is able to adequately cope with any challenges its environment throws its way.

In the business world, maturity is often associated with success. A mature company is one that has established itself as a leader in its industry, with a solid track record of financial stability and growth.

The Project Management Maturity Model (PMMM) is a framework that helps organizations assess and improve their project management abilities.

In essence, the PMMM is a way of thinking about organizational growth in the context of project management. Just as there are different stages of growth for an individual organism, there are also different stages of growth for an organization’s project management practices.

In this post, we’ll look at the PMMM in more depth, as well as the five development stages that organizations follow when developing their project management methods. We’ll also look at each level’s areas of concentration and associated advantages. As well as a look into 10 areas of application for the PMMM.

PMMM a Short History..

Project management maturity models are not new—in fact, the PMMM owes its existence to earlier work on process maturity models. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie Mellon University developed a capability maturity model (CMM) for software development.

The CMM was based on the premise that organizations mature in their development processes over time, and that this maturity could be measured. The model identified five levels of maturity, with level 1 being the lowest and level 5 the highest.

The CMM was very successful and led to the development of other process maturity models, such as the People Capability Maturity Model (PCMM) and the Project Management Maturity Model (PMMM).

The PMMM was developed by the Project Management Institute (PMI) in the late 1990s. It is based on the CMM, but with a focus on project management rather than software development.

Just as with the CMM, the PMMM identifies five levels of maturity, from level 1 (the lowest) to level 5 (the highest). Unlike the CMM, however, the PMMM does not use a sequential numbering system. Instead, it uses a more intuitive naming system that is based on growth stages.

What’s being measured?

The Project Management Maturity Model (PMMM) is a framework that helps organizations assess and improve their project management capabilities.

It does this by measuring an organization’s project management maturity across five different levels:

• Initiating
• Repeating
• Defined
• Managing
• Optimizing

Each stage represents a different level of project management maturity, and organizations can use the PMMM to benchmark their current capabilities against these levels.

What are the benefits?

The PMMM can help organizations benchmark their project management maturity, identify areas for improvement, and develop a roadmap for achieving higher levels of maturity.

Organizations that operate at higher levels of maturity tend to be more successful in executing projects, delivering value to stakeholders, and achieving their overall strategic objectives.

As such, the PMMM can be a valuable tool for organizations that want to improve their project management capabilities.

What’s the process?

The PMMM comprises five different levels of project management maturity: Initiating, Repeating, Defining, Managing, and Optimizing.

Each level represents a different stage of maturity, and organizations can use the PMMM to benchmark their current capabilities against these levels.

To use the PMMM, organizations first need to assess their current project management practices across all five levels. This can be done through surveys, interviews, focus groups, or other methods.

Once the assessment is complete, organizations can compare their results against the PMMM’s benchmarks to see where they fall on the maturity scale.

From there, they can develop a roadmap for improving their project management practices and achieving higher levels of maturity.

Stage 1: Initial

The initial stage is characterized by ad hoc processes and practices. There is little or no formal project management, and projects are typically completed on time and within budget by the sheer force of will of the project manager.

This stage is often referred to as the “wild west” stage, because anything goes and there are no real rules or guidelines to follow. This can be a fun stage to work in, but it is also the most chaotic and least productive. Especially if you are the type of person who likes things to be done a certain way!

Challenges at Stage #1 – Initial

There are three main challenges that project managers face in the Initial stage: coping with uncertainty, maintaining control over the project, and dealing with stakeholders who may be resistant to change.

Let’s take a closer look at each one of these challenges in turn:

1. Coping with Uncertainty:

One of the most difficult things about the Initial stage is that it’s impossible to predict how long it will last. Every project is different, and some will move through this stage more quickly than others. The key is to stay flexible and be prepared for anything. Try to think of each problem as an opportunity to learn something new about your project.

2. Maintaining Control Over the Project:

It can be tempting for project managers to try to exert their authority in an effort to gain control over the project. However, this usually backfires because it creates an environment of fear and mistrust among team members. Instead of trying to control everything, focus on setting clear expectations and establishing communication channels so that everyone is on the same page.

3. Managing Stakeholder Expectations:

One of the most challenging aspects of stakeholder management is dealing with stakeholders who are resistant to change. In many cases, stakeholders are reluctant to embrace new ways of doing things because they’re comfortable with the status quo. As a result, it’s important to have a good understanding of their needs and concerns before trying to implement any changes. Once you’ve identified their key pain points, you can tailor your approach accordingly.

Stage 2: Repeatable

Just like its name suggests, the Repeatable stage is characterized by processes and practices that are repeated on a regular basis. This stage is usually reached after the project manager has gained some experience and has developed a more formal approach to project management.

During this stage, project processes are still incubating and evolving. However, there is more structure and predictability than in the Initial stage. Projects tend to be completed on time and within budget more often than not.

Challenges at Stage #2 – Repeatable

There are three main challenges that project managers face in the Repeatable stage: dealing with complexity, managing expectations, and maintaining control over the process.

1. Dealing with Complexity:

One of the biggest challenges in the Repeatable stage is dealing with the increased complexity that comes with more formal processes and practices. There are more moving parts to keep track of, and it can be difficult to stay organized. The key is to focus on streamlining your process so that it’s as efficient as possible.

Templates and checklists can be helpful in this regard. By having a clear understanding of what needs to be done and when, you can avoid getting bogged down in the details.

2. Managing Expectations:

Another challenge in the Repeatable stage is managing stakeholder expectations. As projects become more complex, it becomes harder to keep everyone on the same page.

This can lead to misunderstandings and frustration on both sides. The key is to over-communicate and make sure that everyone is aware of the project’s current status. Regular updates, both in person and in writing, are essential.

3. Maintaining Control Over the Process:

The final challenge in the Repeatable stage is maintaining control over the project management process. With more formal processes in place, there is a risk of becoming too rigid and inflexible. The key is to strike a balance between being organized and being flexible.

It’s also important to remember that the project management process is not static. As your project evolves, so too should your process. Be prepared to make changes as needed.

Stage 3: Defined

Think of it like this, in the Defined stage, everything is written down. Every process, every best practice, every template—it’s all documented and available for anyone who needs it.

This stage is usually reached after the project manager has gained a significant amount of experience and has developed a deep understanding of the project management process.

The Defined stage is characterized by standardized processes and procedures. Projects are completed more consistently, and there is less room for error.

Challenges at Stage #3 – Defined

There are three main challenges that project managers face in the Defined stage: maintaining quality, ensuring compliance, and dealing with change.

1. Maintaining Quality:

One of the biggest challenges in the Defined stage is maintaining the quality of the project management process. With so many standardized procedures in place, there is a risk of becoming too bureaucratic. The key is to strike a balance between being efficient and being flexible.

It’s also important to remember that the project management process is not static. As your project evolves, so too should your process. Be prepared to make changes as needed.

2. Ensuring Compliance:

Another challenge in the Defined stage is ensuring compliance with the project management process. With so many rules and regulations in place, it can be easy to fall behind. The key is to stay organized and on top of your deadlines.

Regular check-ins with your team can help you identify any areas that need improvement. And don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it.

3. Dealing With Change:

The final challenge in the Defined stage is dealing with change. Because the project management process is so well-defined, it can be difficult to make changes. The key is to be prepared for change and to have a plan in place for how to deal with it.

Make sure that you have a clear understanding of the project management process and the roles that everyone plays. This will help you make changes as needed without disrupting the flow of the project.

Stage 4: Managed

Congratulations, you’ve made it to the fourth stage of the Project Management Maturity Model: Managed!

This is a big deal—it means that your project management skills are now officially considered “mature.” But what does that actually mean? And how can you tell if you’re truly operating at a managed level?

If the first three stages of the Project Management Maturity Model can be thought of as childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, then the Managed stage is definitely adulthood. This is the point at which projects are well-defined, well-documented, and well-executed. In short, everything is under control.

But just because everything is under control doesn’t mean that there isn’t still room for improvement. After all, even the most mature adults can always stand to learn new things and hone their existing skills.

The key difference is that, at this stage, project managers are aware of both their strengths and their weaknesses—and they have a plan for continuously improving both.

So, how can you tell if you’re operating at a managed level? Let’s take a look at some key indicators.

Check this off your list – Indicators of a Managed Level

You know you’re operating at a managed level when…

• Your projects are delivered on time and on budget.
• Your team members know exactly what they need to do and when they need to do it.
• You have systems and processes in place to prevent scope creep.
• You regularly collect feedback from stakeholders and use it to improve future projects.
• Risks are identified early and mitigation plans are put into place before they become problems.
• Issues are resolved quickly and efficiently without disrupting the rest of the project.

If you can check all of these boxes, then congratulations—you’re officially operating at a managed level! Keep up the good work.

Stage 5: Optimizing

The final stage of the Project Management Maturity Model is Optimizing. This is the point at which project management becomes an integral part of the organization’s culture. In short, it’s the Holy Grail of project management.

At this stage, projects are not only well-defined and well-executed, but they are also continuously improving. This is thanks to a feedback loop that includes all stakeholders—from team members to executive sponsors.

This feedback is used to make data-driven decisions that improve the efficiency and effectiveness of future projects. In other words, it’s a never-ending cycle of continuous improvement.

Check this off your list – Indicators of an Optimizing Level

So, how can you tell if you’re operating at an optimizing level? Let’s take a look at some key indicators. You know you’re operating at an optimizing level when…

• Projects are consistently delivered on time and on budget.
• There is a feedback loop in place that includes all stakeholders.
• Data is collected and used to make decisions about future projects.
• Projects are continuously improving as a result of the feedback loop.

If you can check all of these boxes, then congratulations—you’re officially operating at an optimizing level. This is the highest level of project management maturity, and it’s something to be proud of.

Bringing it home: 10 knowledge areas of project management

Applying the Project Management Maturity Model to your own organization is a great way to gauge where you’re at and where you need to improve. But it’s just one tool in the project management toolbox.

The different knowledge areas required for successful project management are outlined in the Project Management Body of Knowledge Guide (PMBOK) from the Project Management Institute (PMI). This guide is widely accepted as the industry standard for determining which knowledge areas are necessary for effective project management.

1. Integration Management: This knowledge area is concerned with the processes and activities necessary to combine all aspects of the project into a coherent whole. This includes creating and maintaining the project schedule, as well as ensuring that all deliverables are integrated properly.
2. Scope Management: Defining, validating and controlling the scope of your project is crucial to its success. This includes creating the project charter, as well as developing and maintaining the project scope statement.
3. Time Management: Time management is all about creating and maintaining a schedule that meets the needs of the project. This includes activities such as creating the project schedule, estimating activity duration, and identifying and managing project risks.
4. Cost Management: Managing the cost of your project is essential to its success. This includes developing the project budget, as well as tracking and controlling project costs.
5. Quality Management: Quality is king when it comes to project management. Especially if you’re working on a software development project, it’s important to ensure that the final product meets all quality standards. This includes activities such as creating the project quality plan, as well as conducting quality assurance and quality control activities.
6. Human Resources Management: Onboarding and managing project team members is a crucial part of any project manager’s job. This includes activities such as developing the project human resources plan. This ensures legal compliance, as well as creating a positive work environment.
7. Communications Management: If you enjoy project destruction, then poor communication is your best friend. On the other hand, if you want your project to succeed, effective communication is key. Learning to manage communications effectively can make or break your project.
8. Risk Management: Risk management is all about identifying, assessing and managing risks that could impact your project. What kind of risks? Anything from technical risks to financial risks to political risks. This includes developing the project risk management plan, as well as conducting risk mitigation activities.
9. Procurement Management: Not all projects are created equal. Some require the purchase of goods and/or services from external vendors. This is known as procurement, and it’s a whole different ball game from managing an in-house project. This includes developing the procurement management plan, as well as conducting Request for Proposal (RFP) and Request for Information (RFI) processes.
10. Stakeholder Management: If you want to survive, you have to be funded. That means keeping your stakeholders happy. Stakeholder management is all about keeping your project’s stakeholders informed and engaged. This includes developing the stakeholder communication plan, as well as conducting stakeholder analysis. Taking the 5 stages and measuring them against these 10 knowledge areas will give you a good idea of where your project management practices need improvement.

Applying the Project Management Maturity Model

Now that you’ve learned about the Project Management Maturity Model, it’s time to put it into practice. Here’s how you can do that:

1. Assess your current project management practices.

Look at the 10 knowledge areas and identify which ones you’re strong in and which ones you need to work on. Be honest with yourself—it’s the only way to improve.

2. Develop a plan for improvement.

Once you’ve identified the areas you need to work on, develop a plan for how you’re going to improve them. This plan should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).

3. Implement your plan.

This is where the rubber meets the road. It’s time to put your plan into action and start making changes to the way you manage projects.

4. Evaluate your progress.

As you implement your plan, take some time to evaluate your progress. This will help you determine whether or not you’re on track to reach your goals.

5. Adjust your plan as needed.

As you evaluate your progress, you may find that some of your goals are no longer relevant or that you need to make changes to the way you’re approaching them. Don’t be afraid to adjust your plan as needed—it’s the only way to ensure that it remains effective.

Project Management Maturity Model – Summary

Have you ever been in a scenario where you were in charge of a project that was quickly going off the rails? Maybe the budget was being overrun, the timeline was slipping, or the morale among the team was at an all-time low.

If so, then you know how frustrating it can be to try and get a project back on track.

The Project Management Maturity Model can help you do just that. By assessing your current project management practices against the 10 knowledge areas, you can quickly identify the areas where you need to make improvements. From there, you can develop a plan for how to improve those areas and get your project back on track.

So, if you’re struggling to get your project under control, don’t despair—the Project Management Maturity Model can help you turn things around.

If you’re reading this you’re probably familiar with the basics of project management. But just in case you’re new to the term, project integration management is the process of bringing all the elements of a project together into one cohesive whole.

It’s the job of the project manager to make sure that all the different pieces of the puzzle fit together perfectly.

And why is this so important? Well, imagine you’re building a house. You’ve got the foundation laid, the walls up, and the roof on. But there are no doors or windows. Or maybe the windows are in the wrong place. Or the doorways are too small. You get the picture.

Without proper integration, all your hard work could come tumbling down. The same is true for any project, no matter what the size or scope. That’s why project integration management is so important. It’s the key to making sure that all the different pieces of your project come together seamlessly and that the end result is a success.

At its core, project management is all about bringing people and resources together to achieve a common goal.

But as any seasoned project manager knows, it’s not always that simple. Projects are complex undertakings, with a lot of different moving parts that need to be managed. That’s why integration is such an important part of project management.

Project integration management can be a daunting task, especially for large and complex projects.

Without proper integration, all your hard work could come tumbling down. The same is true for any project, no matter what the size or scope. That’s why project integration management is so important. It’s the key to making sure that all the different pieces of your project come together seamlessly and that the end result is a success.

At its core, project management is all about bringing people and resources together to achieve a common goal.

But as any seasoned project manager knows, it’s not always that simple. Projects are complex undertakings, with a lot of different moving parts that need to be managed. That’s why integration is such an important part of project management.

Project integration management can be a daunting task, especially for large and complex projects.

What is Integration Management?

Integration management is the process of combining all the different elements of a project into a cohesive whole.

This includes everything from developing the project charter and creating the project management plan, to monitoring and controlling project work and closing the project (or project phase).

In other words, integration management is what ties all the other processes in project management together.

6 Frequently Encountered Project Integration Management Problems Resolved

When done well, project integration management can solve a lot of common problems that project managers face. Here are six of the most common problems that integration management can help with:

Problem #1: Duplication of Effort

When different team members are working on the same task without knowing it, or when two different teams are working on similar tasks but not coordinating their efforts, it causes duplication of effort.

Duplication of effort is a waste of time and resources that can easily derail a project. But fortunately, it’s also fairly easy to solve with effective integration management.

Problem #2: Wasted Resources

Wasted resources come in many different forms, but they all have one thing in common: they’re not being used effectively.

For example, imagine that you have a team of 10 developers working on a project, but only eight of those developers are actually working on project-related tasks.

The other two developers are working on tasks that are unrelated to the project, or they’re not working at all. In this case, the resources (i.e. the two developers) are being wasted.

This is a problem because it means that the project is not getting the full benefit of the team’s skills and abilities. Fortunately, effective integration management can help prevent this type of resource waste.

By ensuring that all team members are working on project-related tasks, and that those tasks are properly coordinated, you can avoid wasting resources and keep your project on track.

Problem #3: Lack of Coordination

When different teams or individuals are working on the same project but not coordinating their efforts, it’s very difficult to make progress.

For example, imagine that you have a team of engineers working on the design of a new product. But the team members are not coordinating their efforts, so each member is working on a different part of the design.

As a result, the team is not making any real progress. The design is a mess, and it’s going to be very difficult to put all the pieces together into a cohesive whole. This is a serious problem, but it’s also one that can be solved with effective integration management.

Problem #4: Misaligned Goals

This happens when different teams or individuals are working towards different goals, instead of towards a common goal.

For example, imagine that you have a team of salespeople who are working on a new product launch. But the sales team’s goals are misaligned with the rest of the company’s goals.

The sales team’s goal is to sell as many products as possible, while the rest of the company’s goal is to make sure that the product is high quality and meets customer’s needs.

This misalignment of goals can cause serious problems, because it can lead to conflict between the different teams. The sales team might try to sell a product that is not ready, or they might make promises that the product cannot deliver on.

Fortunately, this problem can be solved with effective integration management. By aligning the goals of all teams and individuals working on the project, you can ensure that everyone is working towards the same goal.

Problem #5: Scope Creep

Scope creep is when the scope of a project starts to balloon out of control.

This can happen when team members start working on tasks that are outside of the project’s scope, or when new features and requirements are added to the project without properly evaluating the impact on the schedule and budget.

Scope creep can easily derail a project, so it’s important to be on the lookout for it.

Problem #6: Missing Deadlines

Missing deadlines is when team members start working on tasks that are not part of the project’s schedule, or when the project’s schedule starts to slip.

For example, imagine that you’re managing a project with a very tight deadline. The team is working hard to meet the deadline, but then one of the team members decides to take a two-week vacation.

Or, imagine that the project is running behind schedule, so the team starts working overtime to try to catch up. But instead of catching up, they just end up further behind.

Both of these examples illustrate how missing deadlines can cause problems for a project.

Effective integration management can help prevent this by making sure that everyone is aware of the deadlines and by ensuring that team members are working together to meet those deadlines.

How to Get Started With Project Integration Management

Now that we’ve seen some of the problems that integration management can help with, let’s take a look at how to actually do it. Here are seven steps that you can follow to make sure that your project is properly integrated:

1. Develop the Project Charter

The first step in any new project is to develop the project charter. This document provides an overview of the project, including its purpose, scope, timeline, budget, and key stakeholders. The charter should be reviewed and approved by all relevant parties before work on the rest of the project begins.

Usually this charter is a shared document between the project sponsor, the project manager and other important project stakeholders.

This can easily be done using google docs or a shared project management tool like Teamly. Pretty much any online collaboration tool will do.

2. Create the Project Plan

The next step is to create the project plan.

This document details the tasks that need to be completed, the resources that will be required, the timeline for the project, and the budget. The project plan should be reviewed and approved by all relevant parties before work on the project begins.

As with the project charter, the project plan is usually a shared document between the project manager and other important project stakeholders. The project management plan should be reviewed and approved by all relevant parties before work begins.

What’s involved in creating a project management plan? Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Define the project’s objectives and deliverables.
• Identify the resources that will be required (e.g., people, equipment, materials).
• Create a schedule for the project.
• Estimate the cost of the project.
• Create a risk management plan.
• Identify who the project stakeholders are and what their roles and responsibilities are.

3. Assign Resources

Once the project charter and project plan have been created, it’s time to assign resources to the project. This includes assigning team members to tasks, as well as identifying any outside vendors or contractors that will need to be brought in to help with the project.

The project manager is responsible for ensuring that all resources are properly assigned to the project. This includes making sure that team members have the skills and knowledge necessary to complete their assigned tasks, as well as ensuring that outside vendors and contractors are aware of their roles and responsibilities.

4. Manage Project Information

Projects generate a lot of information—from meeting notes and requirements documents to design files and test results—that needs to be properly managed throughout the course of the project. This includes storing information in a central location where it can be easily accessed by team members, as well as disposing of obsolete information on a regular basis.

The project manager is responsible for ensuring that all project information is properly managed. This includes creating and maintaining a central repository for project information, as well as disposing of obsolete information on a regular basis.

5. Monitor and Control Project Work

Throughout the course of the project, there will undoubtedly be some unforeseen challenges that arise—it’s just a fact of life.

As such, it’s important for project managers to continuously monitor progress against milestones and identify any potential issues early on so they can be quickly resolved before they cause significant problems down the line.

To do this effectively, periodic status reports should be prepared and distributed to all relevant parties involved in the project.

6. Perform Integrated Change Control

Changes are inevitable in any project, but it’s important to manage them in a controlled and structured manner. This includes maintaining a central repository for all change requests, assessing the impact of each request on the project, and deciding whether or not to implement each change. After a decision has been made, the project manager should update the project management plan accordingly.

7. Close the Project

Once all the work on a project has been completed and all the deliverables have been delivered, it’s time to close out the project. This includes archiving all project information, releasing any remaining resources, and conducting a post-mortem analysis of the project to identify lessons learned. After the project has been officially closed, the project manager should prepare a final report summarizing the project’s successes and challenges.