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The first two articles in this series covered PM²'s Governance Model (Pillar 1) and Project Lifecycle (Pillar 2). If governance answers who decides, and the lifecycle answers when things happen, the third pillar – processes – answers how the work is actually managed, day to day.
Source: PM² Alliance, pm2alliance.eu
Six management plans – the backbone
PM² defines six Management Plans. Their purpose isn't to add paperwork but to provide templates and structure that can be tailored. In a small project, a paragraph in the Project Handbook could be enough; in a larger one, dedicated, more detailed documents are justified.
| Plan | What it does? |
|---|---|
| Requirements Management Plan | Keeps the objectives defined in the funding decision and project plan traceable throughout the project. |
| Project Change Management Plan | Defines how scope, schedule or budget are changed in a controlled, documented way. |
| Risk Management Plan | Identifies and tracks risks – including those tied to funding conditions and timelines. |
| Quality Management Plan | Ensures outputs meet agreed criteria and the quality requirements set by the funding body. |
| Issue Management Plan | Provides a systematic way to handle issues and decisions as they arise during the project. |
| Communications Management Plan | Defines how and to whom the project reports: steering committee, stakeholders, funding body. |
Monitor & Control – continuous steering
Monitor & Control (M&C) is not a fifth PM² phase – it's a set of activities that runs throughout all four phases: Initiating, Planning, Executing and Closing. It serves following purposes:
Manage
The processes defined in the management plans get put into daily practice.
Monitor
Progress is continuously tracked against the baselined plans.
Control
Deviations trigger corrective actions and updated plans.
In practice, M&C covers schedule and cost control, stakeholder management, requirements and change management, risk and issue handling, and oversight of quality and deliverables acceptance. All of this is documented in logs – risk, issue, decision and change logs – and checklists, which together form a clear audit trail for the entire project.
Why this matters for EU-funded projects?
In ERDF, ESF+ and JTF programmes, reporting, change approval and cost control are everyday business. PM²'s processes don't add an extra layer of bureaucracy but provides a supportive structure.
- Logs provide the traceability that funding bodies and auditors expect.
- The Change Management Plan gives a clear path for documenting scope, schedule and budget changes approved by the funding body.
- The Communications Management Plan ensures the regional funding specialist (e.g. elinvoimakeskus) and other stakeholders get timely information.
Other methodologies address these needs as well – PM² itself draws on PMBOK, PRINCE2 and IPMA-ICB. What sets PM² apart is that it was designed from the outset for the context of EU institutions and publicly funded projects, which is why its processes and templates fit so naturally into their daily reality.
To be continued
The next article covers PM²'s artefacts – i.e. document templates. Join the PM² Finland group on LinkedIn to discuss with other Finnish project professionals.
PM²'s Five Pillars series
- Pillar 1: Governance Model
- Pillar 2: Project Lifecycle
- Pillar 3: Processes (this article)
- Pillar 4: PM² Artefacts & templates (coming up)
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