PMP Concepts: The Workflow Diagram

PMP Concepts: The Workflow Diagram

The Workflow Diagram is a powerful technique helpful in conveying the significant activities of the project and their relationships. In one view, it presents a complex picture of how work gets done in projects. On the other hand, such a diagram can easily depict the overall project management process and provide a basis for discussions among team members.

What is Workflow Diagram?

The workflow diagram is one of the essential diagrams in PMP. It illustrates the various steps involved in a process with multiple inputs, outputs, and activities.

A workflow diagram can be used to describe any process with multiple stages. This includes project management, manufacturing, construction processes, and IT development projects.

The workflow diagram also helps to identify all possible paths through the process, their relative importance, and how they relate to one another. In addition, it allows you to determine the order of events within each activity (i.e., what needs to happen first).

To create a workflow diagram, you need to know how to use Microsoft Visio or some other software tool that can help you draw a flowchart-style diagram. Most software tools allow you to create simple flowcharts by drawing boxes and connecting lines between them.

However, suppose your company already has an established template for creating flowcharts. In that case, there's no need for you to learn new software – use the existing template!

Use of workflow Diagram

Workflow diagrams are often used in project management. Still, they are also helpful in describing any complex process with multiple steps. They can be used to document organizational processes or identify improvement opportunities within an existing process.

The primary purpose of workflow diagrams is to help people understand how things get done to identify areas where improvements could be made.

Benefits of Workflow Diagram

The Workflow Diagram is a high-level view of the project management process. The diagram shows the project management process's primary inputs, outputs, and activities. It is an overview of the entire project management process for a single project or program.

The Workflow Diagram can be used as a guide to ensure that all activities are completed in a logical sequence. It also helps to identify any missing tasks or gaps in the workflow.

The Workflow Diagram is an essential tool for Project Managers to understand the flow of information in their projects. It also provides them with an opportunity to analyze how efficiently resources are being utilized and if there are any areas where improvements can be made.

The following are some of the benefits of using the Workflow Diagrams:

• First, it allows you to see how various activities within your project relate to each other and their relationship with other processes or departments within your organization.
• It helps you understand where bottlenecks might occur within your project so that they can be addressed before they become significant problems.
• You can use this diagram as a reference when creating other types of charts, such as Gantt Charts or PERT Charts.
• It helps identify risks early on so they can be mitigated or avoided altogether.

Project Management Workflow Methodologies

Three of the most common workflow methodologies are:

• Agile Project Management Workflow
• PRiSM Project Management Workflow
• Waterfall Project Management Workflow

Let's know about these three methodologies in brief:

Agile Project Management Workflow methodology

Agile project management is a methodology that focuses on the quick and regular delivery of products. It is a collaborative environment where the project team members work in short iterations to deliver working software. The process involves:

• Cross-functional teams.
• Frequent delivery of working software.
• Close customer collaboration.
• Regular feedback from customers.

Agile project management is a methodology that was developed from the concepts of Lean Manufacturing. The Agile Project Management Workflow has five steps:

Planning: The team works with the customer to determine what needs to be done, how long it will take, and what resources are required.

Implementation: Once planning is complete, the team breaks down each task into smaller chunks that can be completed within the timeframes specified in the plan.

Testing: When an iteration is complete, a short testing period takes place where users test functionality to ensure it meets expectations and functions as intended.

Deployment: Once testing is complete, new functionality can be deployed with minimal downtime or impact on other applications or services.

Monitoring: After deployment, monitoring ensures new functionality meets expectations and doesn't produce bugs or errors in other system areas.

PRiSM Project Management Workflow methodology

PRiSM is a project management methodology that uses a structured process to organize the work of a business or organization. The purpose of PRiSM is to help project managers manage projects efficiently and effectively.

PRiSM was developed by Project Management Institute (PMI) as an extension of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). PMI's goal was to create a way for organizations to streamline their project management practices.

The PRiSM methodology is based on three basic principles:

• First is the use of a structured process to organize the work of an organization or business.
• Integrating all aspects of the organization into one common language and set of tools.
• A commitment to ongoing improvement through the use of metrics.

Waterfall Project Management Workflow methodology

Waterfall Project Management workflow is one of the most common project management methodologies used in today's software development environment. It is a sequential, linear, and time-boxed approach to managing projects. Therefore, the waterfall methodology is considered the most basic form of project management.

The waterfall model consists of six distinct phases:

First, requirements gathering: The requirements are collected from the client and other stakeholders using interviews, questionnaires, surveys, and workshops.

Analysis: The requirements are broken down into smaller tasks that the development team can carry out.

Design: Once all the requirements have been analyzed and broken down into smaller tasks, the design phase starts. These tasks are planned out in detail so that they can be converted into workable solutions by software engineers or programmers. This includes defining user interface designs, system interfaces, database schemas, etc. This step also includes documenting everything done so far during this phase for future reference purposes.

Implementation: In this phase, actual coding follows what was designed during the design phase above. Suppose any changes occur during execution due to new requirements being added or changed. In that case, these will also happen here before continuing with testing, etc.

Testing: This is where you test out what was built during implementation for any mistakes or errors made along the way. This is also known as testing or checking in with stakeholders to ensure everything went according to plan and that nothing was missed during implementation.

Maintenance: The final phase of the waterfall model includes delivery, maintenance, and improvement of the software. After successful completion of the test phase, the software is released for productive use.

A workflow diagram gives you more flexibility in managing your projects and tracking your progress while keeping yourself and your project partner on the same page. Projects don't always go as planned, but with a workflow diagram, we can be prepared when something goes wrong. The diagram layout is also great for explaining a complex process.