After you understand where the information that contributes to the project management plan comes from for the PMP Certification Exam, you need to know where it goes. The project management plan, including specific components included in it, will be inputs to processes in the Executing Process Group, the Monitoring and Controlling Process Group, and the Closing Process Group.
The following list shows nonplanning processes that have the project management plan as an input:
Executing processes
Direct and Manage Project Work
Monitoring and Controlling processes
Monitor and Control Project Work
Perform Integrated Change Control
Control Scope
Control Schedule
Control Costs
Control Quality
Control Communications
Control Risks
Control Procurements
Control Stakeholder Engagement
Closing processes
Close Project or Phase
Close Procurements
Project documents
You might wonder why not every planning process contributes to the project management plan, or why not every executing and monitoring and control process updates the project management plan. Many documents that you use to manage projects aren’t part of the project management plan. For lack of a better term, they are called “project documents.” Take a look to see how the other planning processes contribute to project documents.
| Activity attributes | Activity cost estimates | Activity duration estimates |
|---|---|---|
| Activity list | Activity resource requirements | Agreements |
| Assumption Log | Basis of estimates | Change log |
| Charter | Change requests | Forecasts |
| Issue log | Milestone list | Project funding requirements |
| Proposals | Procurement documents | Project organizational structure |
| Quality control measurements | Quality checklists | Quality metrics |
| Responsibility assignment matrix | Requirements traceability matrix | Resource breakdown structure (RBS) |
| Resource calendars | Resource requirements | Risk register |
| Roles and responsibilities | Schedule | Schedule data |
| Sellers list | Source selection criteria | Stakeholder analysis |
| Stakeholder management strategy | Stakeholder register | Stakeholder requirements |
| Statement of work (SOW) | Team performance assessments | Work performance information |
| Work performance measurements | Work performance data |
Project management plan approval
After the plan and all its components are finalized, you need to get it approved and signed off. At the very least, the sponsor and the customer need to approve your approach to the project. The stakeholder register and communication management plan will identify the specific stakeholders that need to sign off on the plan. After the plan is signed off, it can be rolled out to the project team.
The project kick-off meeting
Depending on the size of the project and the project team, you might hold a kick-off meeting to introduce the project to the team. For a small project, the project team will probably have been intimately involved with creating the project management plan. The kick-off meeting would have been held after the project charter was developed.
However, for a large project with more than 100 team members, the project management plan approval allows the project to move into the development phase, and the kick-off meeting is the appropriate venue to accomplish that.
You will want to have all the key stakeholders at the kick-off meeting. At that meeting you will introduce the project, describe the intended outcomes and discuss the key milestone deliverables and target due dates. If there is other relevant information, such as teaming agreements, external influences, a specific development methodology, and so on, you should discuss that as well.