Lean, 6, CMMI and the Irreducible Complexity of Project Management

For Business leaders faced with managing complex projects, the question has become which approach to take? Which project management approaches should be applied to the project? Traditional, agile, or lean? The answer to this question may define to the success or failure of the project.
The Project Management Debate

Technical management is a separate discipline from The processes use to manage projects Project Program Planning and Management has come under attack from many Controls. Without some form sides. Project failure has become headline news. of PP&C, projects are subject Agile proponents make claims about the to the whims of the replacement of Project Managers with Scrum technocrats who may confuse Masters. Extreme Programming proponents deny consumption of resources and the need for a Project Manager on their self the passage of time with directed, self organizing, and self controlled team. progress The Project Management Professional (PMP) moniker has reduced value with the advent of The minimum set of project cookie cutter training classes and guaranteed to management processes must pass study courses. Add to this complex be found in every success framework like CMMI, PMIs OPM3, even the 300 project management method page PMI Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) and youve got the basis for not only confusion about what is needed to manage a project, but the source of real risk of failure if the right processes are not used.
Why is Project Management Hard?

When executives are faced with cost of project management, some questions come to mind: What is the value of all this project management cost? How can this value be recognized in my project ?

The first question is to look at the role of project management, not from the project managers point of view but from the business point of view. What are the desirable attributes of a well managed project? Little or no surprises regarding cost, technical, or technical performance. Give past performance, credible forecasts of the future for the cost, schedule, and technical performance. Understanding how changes in requirements, technical performance, cost and schedule performance, and resources affects the future performance of the project.
The Confusing World of Processes, Methods, Models, and Practices called Project Management

In the literature, the web, conferences, and text books there is much confusion about what project management is, why it should be used, and what form it should take. The first source of confusion starts with three competing paradigms: Lean is a set of principles CMMI is a set of process models Six Sigma is a set of problem solving methods

Applying the concept of Lean to project management has been popularized in construction and software development, adding to the confusion to the question of what is project management?
Elements of Project Management

gControlling Monitorin

Executing

Initiating

Planning

Integration Scope GroupsKnowledge Time Cost Quality Human Resources Communicati ons Risk Procurement

This approach divides the project management activities into 5 process areas with 9 knowledge groups that are

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Closing

One framework for project management methods is the Project Management Institute. The Process Areas and Knowledge Groups in the PMI PMBOK paradigm are shown to the right.

Process Areas