6) What are the project management process groups? Estimate how much time and money is typically spent on projects in each of these process groups. Assume you have one year and $100,000 to spend.

The 5 project management process groups are:

1) Initiation:  The project is initiated.  The project sponsor meets with the project manager and lays out the requirements of the project and other parameters.  The deliverable of this process group would be a Project Charter, which would lay out the goals of the project and define its scope.  Using our 1 year timeline/$100,000 dollar budget, this process group should take approximately 2 weeks and no more than $5,000.

2) Planning: During this process group, the steps required to achieve the ideas and goals in the project charter are mapped out.  Deliverables  here would be a work breakdown structure, a project schedule, a project budget, and many other items.  This process group, along with the Initiation, should take 20 percent of the allotted timeframe, which would work out to approximately 8 weeks.  Research has shown that spending more time during the planning phase equates to less time and money spent during later stages.  The budget for this project group would be $15,000.

3) Executing: Here is where the actual work of producing project deliverables is performed.  Hardware is purchased, software is coded, users are trained, and the clients are kept informed of progress.  This process group requires the bulk of the resources allotted, both time and money.  70  percent of your timeframe should  be devoted to the execution of your project.  In terms of our budget, this process group will take 35 weeks and $60,000.

4) Monitoring and Controlling: The goal of this process group is to keep the project on track in terms of time, money spent, and deliverables completed.  Monitoring and controlling processes overlap all of the other process groups.  If any changes to the project goals arise during the execution, this process group ensures that changes are made in a timely and efficient manner.  This process group will require $15, 000.

5) Closing: The project is brought to an orderly end.  Stakeholders are consulted with in order to determine if the end product meets goals and expectations.  This final process group will require the remainder of our budget, $5,000.