Integrated and individual project management practices
This domain tests how ISO 21502 distinguishes practices that integrate the whole project from those that manage a single subject area, and how the two connect.
Integrated practices
Integrated practices create coherence across the project and its life cycle:
- develop and maintain the project management plan as the single reference for how the project is run;
- manage delivery of the work and the life cycle stages;
- monitor, control and report performance against baselines, forecasting and taking corrective action;
- control changes through one process, so approved changes update plans, baselines and registers consistently;
- manage risks and issues, including escalation;
- manage stakeholders, communication, quality and knowledge, capturing lessons as the project proceeds.
Individual practices
Each individual practice addresses one subject area - scope, schedule, resource, cost, risk, issue, quality, procurement, change, communication and stakeholder management - and follows a plan–manage–control pattern, producing outputs that feed the integrated plan and reports.
Worked example
Mid-delivery, a new regulatory requirement emerges. The project manager records it as an issue, assesses impact on scope, schedule and cost with the relevant individual practices, and raises a change request. Change control reviews it, the sponsor approves reduced scope, and the project management plan, baselines and risk register are updated together and reported at the next progress review. Reasoning: the trigger is logged as an issue; the modification is routed through change control; consequences are quantified in the affected individual practices; and results feed back into integrated planning, control and reporting.
Traps
- Confusing an issue (already occurred, needs action) with a risk (uncertain future event).
- Letting scope changes bypass change control or rebaselining without approval.
- Treating lessons learned as a closure-only step rather than continuous knowledge management.
- Assuming integrated practices are strategic and optional while individual practices do the real work - both are required.