PROCESS GROUPS

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Projects are managed through a number of processes that overlap and interact throughout the course of the project. PMI^® classifies these processes into five process groups, which are defined in A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK^® Guide) :

• Initiating processes – authorizing the project or phase
• Planning processes – defining and refining objectives and selecting the best of the alternative courses of action to attain the objectives of the project
• Executing processes* – coordinating people and other resources to carry out the plan
• Controlling processes* – ensuring that project objectives are met by monitoring and measuring progress regularly to identify variances from plan so that corrective action can be taken when necessary
• Closing processes – formalizing acceptance of the project or phase and bringing it to an orderly end
  
   

* PM experts discuss the executing processes and the controlling processes together. The two processes are intertwined and are often performed concurrently. Once project managers begin to execute a project, they must begin to control it.