Explore the Project Management Knowledge Areas
We discussed the five process groups. They are Initiating and Planning, Executing and Monitoring and Controlling, Closing and Closing. Each process group is composed of a number of processes that are used throughout the project lifecycle.
A Guide to Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK(r), Guide)) combines these processes into 10 categories it calls the Project Management Knowledge Areas. These Knowledge Areas are groups that bring together processes with common characteristics. As you might expect, the Project Cost Management Knowledge Area covers all aspects of budgeting.
This Knowledge Area includes processes like Estimate Costs, Determine Budget, Control Costs. The tricky part is that these processes are not part of the same project management process groups. Estimate Costs and Determine Budget belong to the Planning process group and Control Costs belongs to the Monitoring and Controlling group. It’s easy to see how Knowledge Areas bring together processes based on commonalities, while project management process groups represent the order in which you complete the project management processes. However, you can return to these processes multiple times. The PMBOK(r), Guide names the
These are 10 Knowledge Areas:
Project Integration Management
Project Scope Management
Project Time Management
Project Cost Management
Project Quality Management
Project Human Resource Management
Project Communications Management
Project Risk Management
Project Procurement Management
Project Stakeholder Management

Project Scope Management
Six processes are part of the Project Scope Management Knowledge Area.
Collect Planning Requirements
Plan: Define the scope
Plan with WBS
Validate Scope: Monitoring & Controlling
Control Scope: Monitoring & Controlling

Project Scope Management is responsible for defining all work required to achieve project goals. These processes are highly inter-dependent. They determine and control what is and is not part the project. Each step occurs at least once throughout the project’s lifetime, and often more than once.
Project Scope Managementencompasses both product scope and project scope. The product scope refers to the characteristics of the product, service or project result. It is measured against the product requirements to determine fulfillment or successful completion. The application area will usually dictate the tools and techniques you’ll use to manage product scope. The project scope is the management of the project’s work and only its work.
The project scope is measured against the project plan. Project Time Management:
Seven processes are part of the Project Time Management Knowledge Area.
Plan Schedule Management: Planning
Plan Activities
Sequence Activities
Estimate: Activity
Resources for Planning
Estimate: Activity
Planning: Durations
Plan Your Schedule
Control Schedule: Monitoring & Controlling

This Knowledge Area focuses on estimating the duration of project activities, preparing a schedule and monitoring and controlling deviations from that schedule.
This Knowledge Area focuses on completing the project on time. Project management is all about time management. It involves keeping project activities on track, and monitoring them against the project management plan in order to ensure that they are completed on time.
Although most of the processes in this Knowledge Area are repeated in every project (and sometimes more), many cases, especially small ones, require sequence activities.
Estimate Activity Durations and Develop Scenarios