What is Project Integration Management | The Guide

As a project manager, you're responsible for orchestrating various moving parts of a project, such as scope, cost, schedule, quality, resources, risks, changes, and stakeholder expectations, within the defined project boundaries. Managing these elements in isolation can lead to misalignment, delays, or project failure. That’s where Project Integration Management becomes essential.

Integration Project  Management ensures that all aspects of the project are aligned and working together toward the common goal. The central function ties together all the project management knowledge areas, enabling seamless coordination across departments and stakeholders. 

Consider this scenario:

 Suppose your project is behind schedule. To get back on track,   you decide to allocate additional resources. But doing so raises essential questions: Where will these extra resources come from? Do we have the budget for this adjustment? Will this delay impact other ongoing work or teams?

These questions remain unanswered without a solid integration strategy, leading to confusion and potential disruption. It is essential to coordinate with the resource management team to check availability, consult the finance team to secure additional funding, and communicate with stakeholders about the change in plan. This is precisely where Integration project management proves invaluable. 

Right Project Integration Management allows you to:

1. Assess trade-offs between different project constraints.
2. Make informed decisions by analysing the impact of changes on all project areas.
3. Coordinate across departments to ensure timely and efficient allocation of resources.
4. Align stakeholder expectations by ensuring transparency and communication across all levels.

Steps in Implementing Project Integration Management

It involves coordinating all project elements to ensure the project runs smoothly and meets its objectives. It consists of seven key steps, each playing a critical role in the successful execution and delivery of a project:

1. Create a Project Charter

 The first step in Integration Project Management is creating the project charter, a formal document that officially initiates the project and grants the project manager the authority to lead it. The charter defines roles and responsibilities and establishes the foundation for decision-making throughout the project management lifecycle.

2. Develop the Project Management Plan

 In this step of project integration management, a comprehensive plan is created to guide project execution. It consolidates all subsidiary plans, including scope, schedule, cost, quality, resources, risk, and stakeholder management. The plan acts as a roadmap, aligning project goals with organisational strategies and ensuring a structured approach to delivery.

3. Direct and Manage Project Work

This is the execution phase, where the actual work begins. Tasks are carried out based on the project plan, and resources are utilised to achieve deliverables.

4. Manage Project Knowledge

 Knowledge management focuses on leveraging existing organisational knowledge and generating new insights. Learned skills, best practices, and project documentation are captured and shared to support the current project and benefit future initiatives.

5. Monitor and Control Project Work

 During this phase, the project manager continuously tracks progress, reviews performance metrics, and updates stakeholders. Any deviations from the original plan are identified, and corrective actions are taken to keep the project aligned with its goals.

6. Perform Integrated Change Control

 Change is inevitable in any project. This step ensures that all change requests are thoroughly reviewed, evaluated for impact, and approved or rejected through a formal process. It maintains project stability and ensures that only beneficial and necessary changes are implemented, with approval from the project board or relevant authority.

7. Close the Project or Phase

 In the final step of project integration management overview, the project is formally closed. Deliverables are handed over to the client or transitioned to operations, and all resources are released. A post-project review is typically conducted to assess outcomes and document lessons learned.

By following these seven steps, project managers can ensure that it is effective and all the components are properly integrated.

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Top Project Integration Management Tools 

It involves coordinating every aspect of a project, from scope and schedule to stakeholders and resources. To manage this complexity effectively, project managers rely on digital tools that streamline planning, execution, and communication. 

Here are six essential project Integration management tools widely used across industries:

1. Microsoft Project

Microsoft Project is a robust tool for planning, scheduling, and tracking progress. It is ideal for complex projects requiring detailed timelines, Gantt charts, and resource allocation.

2. Jira

Popular with software development teams, Jira supports agile methodologies such as Scrum and Kanban. It facilitates tracking of tasks, bugs, and sprint performance.

3. Asana

An easy-to-use platform that allows teams to manage tasks, set priorities, and track progress in real time. Asana is most suitable for team collaboration.

4. Trello

A visually intuitive tool that uses boards and cards for task organisation. It is perfect for smaller teams or straightforward project workflows.

5. Monday.com

A flexible and visually appealing tool that supports automation, task tracking, and team collaboration across departments.

6. Wrike

It offers features like Gantt charts, time tracking, and custom dashboards. It is suitable for both marketing and technical project teams.

Requirement:

1. Create a Project Charter
2. Develop the Project Management Plan
3. Monitor and Control Project Work
4. Perform Integrated Change Control
5. Direct and Manage Project Work
6. Manage Project Knowledge
7. Close the Project or Phase

Role of Project integration management

The role is to assign authority to the Project Manager to control and manage the project. It brings collaboration between the teams. It comes from the start of the project until the closure of the project. This is one of the key stages in Project Management certification and is included in the PMBOK 6th edition. 

Processes of project integration management plan

The 7 processes are as follows,

1. Developing the project charter
2. Making the project management plan
3. Directing and managing project work
4. Managing project knowledge
5. Monitoring and controlling project work
6. Performing integrated change control
7. Closing the project

Steps in implementing Project integration management plan

The 7 steps implemented are as follows,

1. Project charter development – First thing is to develop project charter. In this, the project manager is appointed and he gets the authority to drive the project to the completion. Here along with roles and responsibilities, the goals and objectives of the project are stated. Next comes the project scope; here the Project Management explains what is inside the project and what is excluded, etc.
2. Make the project management plan – Here all the objectives of the project, the budget, the schedule, the resources, and approaches along with risk assessment are done.
3. Direct and manage project work – Here the project is started and executed. This is the phase were all the technical knowledge and domain knowledge comes into the picture 
4. Manage project knowledge – Here the objective is to use the existing knowledge and to create the new knowledge for the project execution and new future projects.
5. Monitor and control project work – The project manager monitor and control the current project work by tracking, reviewing and communicating the status of the project
6. Perform integrated change control – Every change request goes through a review process before it is managed. The entire change requests must be approved by the project board
7. Close the project – Here the project is prepared for closure and deliverables are either delivered to the operations team or delivered to the clients. The resources will get released from that project.

Practices of Project Integration Management Overview

The emerging practices are as follows,

1. Visual Tools - These tools help in easily viewing the complex data points of the projects. This can then be shared with all the project members for better understanding
2. Project Management Information System - This project management software is used for collecting, analyzing, and sharing information across the team. 
3. More Responsibility - Nowadays the project managers are given increased responsibilities to finalize the business cases and business benefits management. They are also provided with initiating and engaging the customers with frequent on-call meetings, this gives better results.
4. Project Knowledge Management - This enables continuous learning and knowledge sharing between all the members by bringing in knowledge, procedures, stakeholders, and tools together.
5. Hybrid Methods - By combining the lean, agile, six sigma, and other management techniques provide a project manager to address the complex nature of projects. 

Also Read: Fast Tracking in Project Management

Conclusion

Now that you know the requirements of Project integration management, we at StarAgile recommend you to enroll for training in PMP Course Online to explore more about this topic. StarAgile offers excellent online training in this area with more real-world examples in the course that is delivered with case studies, games, role-plays and simulation, etc.