Project Integration Management: Step By Step

In this post, we will talk about project integration management, breaking it down for you, and explaining why it matters, and how your business can benefit from it, so stay tuned.

Issues With Large Scale Projects

Project integration management sounds like an unnecessarily complicated, high-level term that you can hardly ever use in your business day-to-day. However, if you are running a large operation, you are already familiar with numerous issues that follow big projects.

If several teams are involved, working on a single project, things get complicated very fast. Each team has their own workflow, and methods they use to tackle tasks, and even though every team is driving towards the same goal, communication, and collaboration between the groups is often tricky.

To make sure everything stays in line, and that every team is working what they are supposed to, getting closer to the goal, you will need to implement project integration management tactics.

What Is Project Integration Management?

Project integration management is there to make sure that every process and activity each team (member) does is in line with the project goal. Project integration management also makes sure the project stays within the target budget, but it also ensures everything gets done within the deadlines. This often means that the project manager is forced to make decisions “on the road,” adjusting the steps along the way, but making sure the target remains zeroed in.

The project manager’s job is to achieve the goal by planning, allocating resources, and coordinating all elements of the project the whole time, supervising all activities and tying loose ends, ensuring everything stays on track at all times.

Project Integration Management Phases

Phase #1: Defining The Project Charter

The first step is to define the project charter, which will serve as the foundation of the whole project. In it, you will specify key stakeholders, roles, but also responsibilities for each team and team member. You will define goals, objectives, milestones, but also name individuals who are responsible (primarily the project manager).

Keep in mind that the project charter should go into detail, but not too much. This document should outline the expectations, goals, roles, but should leave room for later adjustment and add-ons. It should remain general enough so that you can use it throughout the whole project, even if the priorities and the strategy slightly change.

Phase #2: Defining Project Scope Statement

We said that the project charter should leave some room for flexibility, and the same goes for the project scope statement, as it shouldn’t be set in stone. The scope statement will set boundaries, determining what is, and what isn’t a part of the project. It also sets measurable goals, deliverables, and tactics how to obtain them, which will later help the team as they will know if they are on the right track.

Phase #3: Developing The Project Management Plan

The next step is to create the project management plan. If you are using the traditional project management methodology, the planning phase will be much more complex, and you will spend more time developing it. On the other hand, if you opt for agile methodology, you will focus more on execution, and you only need to plan some basic operations during this phase.

The project plan will take the project charter and scope statement into account, but also the budget, schedules, objective, risk assessment, and the general approach to tackling the project. The project management plan is the plan of all plans in the project, and all other plans will be closely tied to it. It should touch every important operation, defining broader rules, but leaving details to other individual plans, such as cost management plan, scope management plan, human resources plan, etc.

Phase #4: Managing Project Work

This phase is where the actual execution takes place. Here, the project manager ensures that all teams work together and that their operations drive the whole project in the right direction. The project manager aligns individual actions and ties loose ends, making sure the project is in line with all the values defined in the project charter.

There are three types of activities in this phase: implementation, management, and status reports.

Project managers first start implementing everything that was defined and planned before, making sure teams know what they need to do.

Next, in the management phase, the manager monitors the actions and adjusts things accordingly, making sure the ship stays on its course.

Lastly, the project manager is responsible for updating the project status and adjusting the project charter and scope statement if necessary. Changes are allowed, but only if they move the project in a positive direction, making sure the goal is reached. Of course, all changes need to be thoroughly considered, documented, and systematic, especially if they are bigger ones, and can possibly influence the trajectory of the whole project.

The project manager is responsible for monitoring the changes and making sure they do benefit the project as a whole — if not, he/she needs to take corrective actions, getting the project back on track.

Phase #5: Finalizing The Project

Lastly, we have project closure. If you delivered the project to the clients, and they gave you the green light, it is time to pull the curtain. But, this phase is much more important than it first seems.

When the project is done, the project manager needs to initiate the closing procedure. Here, the team will review the project and the steps taken, rating them as successful or unsuccessful.

This part of the process is very important and needs to be thoroughly documented, as it will serve as a reference for future projects, helping teams implement their plans much better. Because of this, it is necessary to document the whole project journey, as it will make the review phase much easier.

Conclusion

Through project integration management phases, you will ensure that your team remains fully synchronized at all times, no matter how big it is.

It might seem complicated, but defining the project integration strategy is very important as it will help you reach your project goals without breaking deadlines, staying within the budget, and the project scope.

With proper project integration management, your whole team will operate like an orchestra, and you will be the conductor. Each team member will know exactly what their role and their next task is at any given moment — that’s the power of project integration management.

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