Process Areas that Support Generic Practices

4.5. Process Areas that Support Generic Practices

While generic goals and generic practices are the model components that directly address the institutionalization of a process across the organization, many process areas likewise address institutionalization by supporting the implementation of the generic practices. Knowing these relationships will help you effectively implement the generic practices.

Such process areas contain one or more specific practices that when implemented can also fully implement a generic practice or generate a work product that is used in the implementation of a generic practice.

An example is the Configuration Management process area and GP 2.6, “Place selected work products of the process under appropriate levels of control.” To implement the generic practice for one or more process areas, you might choose to implement the Configuration Management process area, all or in part, to implement the generic practice.

Another example is the Organizational Process Definition process area and GP 3.1, “Establish and maintain the description of a defined process.” To implement this generic practice for one or more process areas, you should first implement the Organizational Process Definition process area, all or in part, to establish the organizational process assets that are needed to implement the generic practice.

Table 6.2 describes (1) the process areas that support the implementation of generic practices and (2) the recursive relationships between generic practices and their closely related process areas. Both types of relationships are important to remember during process improvement to take advantage of the natural synergies that exist between the generic practices and their related process areas.

Table 6.2 Generic Practice and Process Area Relationships

Generic Practice	Roles of Process Areas in Implementation of the Generic Practice	How the Generic Practice Recursively Applies to its Related Process Area(s)[1]
GP 2.2 Plan the Process	Project Planning: The project planning process can implement GP 2.2 in full for all project related process areas (except for Project Planning itself).	GP 2.2 applied to the project planning process can be characterized as “plan the plan” and covers planning project planning activities.
GP 2.3 Provide Resources GP 2.4 Assign Responsibility	Project Planning: The part of the project planning process that implements Project Planning SP 2.4, “Plan the Project’s Resources,” supports the implementation of GP 2.3 and GP 2.4 for all project related process areas (except perhaps initially for Project Planning itself) by identifying needed processes, roles, and responsibilities to ensure the proper staffing, facilities, equipment, and other assets needed by the project are secured.
GP 2.5 Train People	Organizational Training: The organizational training process supports the implementation of GP 2.5 as applied to all process areas by making the training that addresses strategic or organization-wide training needs available to those who will perform or support the process. Project Planning: The part of the project planning process that implements Project Planning SP 2.5, “Plan Needed Knowledge and Skills,” and the organizational training process, supports the implementation of GP 2.5 in full for all project related process areas.	GP 2.5 applied to the organizational training process covers training for performing the organizational training activities, which addresses the skills required to manage, create, and accomplish the training.
GP 2.6 Control Work Products	Configuration Management: The configuration management process can implement GP 2.6 in full for all project related process areas as well as some of the organizational process areas.	GP 2.6 applied to the configuration management process covers change and version control for the work products produced by configuration management activities.
GP 2.7 Identify and Involve Relevant Stakeholders	Project Planning: The part of the project planning process that implements Project Planning SP 2.6, “Plan Stakeholder Involvement,” can implement the stakeholder identification part (first two subpractices) of GP 2.7 in full for all project related process areas. Project Monitoring and Control: The part of the project monitoring and control process that implements Project Monitoring and Control SP 1.5, “Monitor Stakeholder Involvement,” can aid in implementing the third subpractice of GP 2.7 for all project related process areas. Integrated Project Management: The part of the integrated project management process that implements Integrated Project Management SP 2.1, “Manage Stakeholder Involvement,” can aid in implementing the third subpractice of GP 2.7 for all project related process areas.	GP 2.7 applied to the project planning process covers the involvement of relevant stakeholders in project planning activities. GP 2.7 applied to the project monitoring and control process covers the involvement of relevant stakeholders in project monitoring and control activities. GP 2.7 applied to the integrated project management process covers the involvement of relevant stakeholders in integrated project management activities.
GP 2.8 Monitor and Control the Process	Project Monitoring and Control: The project monitoring and control process can implement GP 2.8 in full for all project related process areas. Measurement and Analysis: For all processes, not just project related processes, the Measurement and Analysis process area provides general guidance about measuring, analyzing, and recording information that can be used in establishing measures for monitoring performance of the process.	GP 2.8 applied to the project monitoring and control process covers the monitoring and controlling of the project’s monitor and control activities.
GP 2.9 Objectively Evaluate Adherence	Process and Product Quality Assurance: The process and product quality assurance process can implement GP 2.9 in full for all process areas (except perhaps for Process and Product Quality Assurance itself).	GP 2.9 applied to the process and product quality assurance process covers the objective evaluation of quality assurance activities and selected work products.
GP 2.10 Review Status with Higher Level Management	Project Monitoring and Control: The part of the project monitoring and control process that implements Project Monitoring and Control SP 1.6, “Conduct Progress Reviews,” and SP 1.7, “Conduct Milestone Reviews,” supports the implementation of GP 2.10 for all project related process areas, perhaps in full, depending on higher level management involvement in these reviews.
GP 3.1 Establish a Defined Process	Integrated Project Management: The part of the integrated project management process that implements Integrated Project Management SP 1.1, “Establish the Project’s Defined Process,” can implement GP 3.1 in full for all project related process areas. Organizational Process Definition: For all processes, not just project related processes, the organizational process definition process establishes the organizational process assets needed to implement GP 3.1.	GP 3.1 applied to the integrated project management process covers establishing defined processes for integrated project management activities.
GP 3.2 Collect Process Related Experiences	Integrated Project Management: The part of the integrated project management process that implements Integrated Project Management SP 1.7, “Contribute to Organizational Process Assets,” can implement GP 3.2 in part or in full for all project related process areas. Organizational Process Focus: The part of the organizational process focus process that implements Organizational Process Focus SP 3.4, “Incorporate Experiences into Organizational Process Assets,” can implement GP 3.2 in part or in full for all process areas. Organizational Process Definition: For all processes, the organizational process definition process establishes the organizational process assets needed to implement GP 3.2.	GP 3.2 applied to the integrated project management process covers collecting process related experiences derived from planning and performing integrated project management activities.

Given the dependencies that generic practices have on these process areas, and given the more holistic view that many of these process areas provide, these process areas are often implemented early, in whole or in part, before or concurrent with implementing the associated generic practices.

There are also a few situations where the result of applying a generic practice to a particular process area would seem to make a whole process area redundant, but, in fact, it does not. It can be natural to think that applying GP 3.1, “Establish a Defined Process,” to the Project Planning and Project Monitoring and Control process areas gives the same effect as the first specific goal of Integrated Project Management, “Use the Project’s Defined Process.”

Although it is true that there is some overlap, the application of the generic practice to these two process areas provides defined processes covering project planning and project monitoring and control activities. These defined processes do not necessarily cover support activities (e.g., configuration management), other project management processes (e.g., integrated project management), or other processes. In contrast, the project’s defined process, provided by the Integrated Project Management process area, covers all appropriate processes.

[1] When the relationship between a generic practice and a process area is less direct, the risk of confusion is reduced; therefore, we do not describe all recursive relationships in the table (e.g., for generic practices 2.3, 2.4, and 2.10).