PMBOK Executing Process Group: All 10 Processes Explained, with Examples
Planning decides what to do. Executing is where the money is spent, the deliverables get built and most of the surprises show up. In the PMBOK Guide, Sixth Edition, the executing process group has ten processes. This guide explains each one in plain English, shows how they fit together, and works through the website project from our other PMBOK guides, with the arithmetic for a risk response and a contract choice. It ends with a weekly checklist and the mistakes that sink execution.
What the executing process group is
The executing process group is where the project management plan is carried out. The Visual Paradigm guide to PMBOK 6 knowledge areas and 49 processes counts the Sixth Edition processes as Initiating 2, Planning 24, Executing 10, Monitoring and Controlling 12 and Closing 1. Executing is therefore the third largest group, after planning and monitoring and controlling, with about a fifth of the processes (10 of 49).
It follows planning and runs alongside monitoring and controlling, which checks the work and approves changes. When the work is accepted, closing follows. The cycle begins with the initiating process group. For how the groups map to the life cycle, see the 5 phases of project management.
Executing does not mean “everyone gets on with their tasks”. It includes leading a team, managing quality, sharing information, handling suppliers, acting on risks and keeping stakeholders on side. Most of a project’s budget is spent here.
A note on editions. PMI’s page for the Eighth Edition (November 2025) says process guidance was reintroduced in a non-prescriptive way and does not describe the five groups by name. The work below is good practice either way. Confirm which edition your course or exam uses.
All 10 processes
The list and the knowledge areas follow the Visual Paradigm guide. The “what you get” column is our plain-English summary.
| # | Process | Knowledge area | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Direct and Manage Project Work | Integration | Deliverables, work performance data, issues and change requests |
| 2 | Manage Project Knowledge | Integration | Useful knowledge shared and recorded, including lessons as they appear |
| 3 | Manage Quality | Quality | Work done in a way that meets the quality plan, checked by audits and process reviews |
| 4 | Acquire Resources | Resource | The people, equipment and materials in place when needed |
| 5 | Develop Team | Resource | A team with better skills and working relationships |
| 6 | Manage Team | Resource | Performance tracked, feedback given, conflict and changes handled |
| 7 | Manage Communications | Communications | The right information reaching the right people on time |
| 8 | Implement Risk Responses | Risk | Agreed responses actually carried out |
| 9 | Conduct Procurements | Procurement | Sellers chosen and contracts or agreements signed |
| 10 | Manage Stakeholder Engagement | Stakeholder | Stakeholders kept informed, involved and supportive |
Global Knowledge’s summary of the Sixth Edition changes says Manage Project Knowledge and Implement Risk Responses were new, that “Perform Quality Assurance” became Manage Quality, and that “Acquire Project Team” became Acquire Resources. Older study guides may still use the earlier names.
Doing the work: data, deliverables, changes
Direct and Manage Project Work is the core of executing. The team carries out the planned work, creates deliverables and implements approved changes. Three outputs matter most:
- Deliverables: the tangible results, such as a finished design or a working page.
- Work performance data: raw facts about what happened: tasks finished, hours worked, money spent, defects found.
- Change requests: proposed changes to scope, schedule, cost or anything else in the plan, raised when the work shows the plan needs to move.
Executing produces the raw data. Monitoring and controlling turns it into information and reports. Keeping the three apart helps:
| Level | What it is | Website project, day 12 (our illustration) |
|---|---|---|
| Data | Raw observations from the work | 40% of planned work complete; $6,160 spent; 2 open issues; 1 change request raised |
| Information | Data compared with the plan | Planned value was $6,600 and earned value is 40% of $13,200 = $5,280. Behind schedule by $1,320 of work |
| Report | Information shaped for a reader | “About two days behind. Content approval is the cause. Decision needed from the sponsor by Friday.” |
The numbers come from the earned value example in our monitoring and controlling guide: budget $13,200, 24 days. Check the arithmetic: 40% × $13,200 = $5,280, and $6,600 − $5,280 = $1,320.
Handling the change request. During execution someone asks for a testimonials page. Executing records and raises the request. Approval belongs to the change control process, which sits in monitoring and controlling. Doing the work first and asking afterward is how scope creep begins.
Quality and knowledge
Manage Quality
Quality is built while the work is done. In this process, the team follows the quality plan and uses checks on the work and on the way it is done. In common practice these include process reviews, audits against agreed standards, checklists and peer review. The purpose is to find process problems early, before they are baked into deliverables. Testing the finished product is a separate activity, handled when the work is checked in monitoring and controlling.
Website example: instead of testing all 15 pages at the end, the team agrees a one-page checklist (mobile layout, links, spelling, load time) and a second person reviews each page when it is built.
Manage Project Knowledge
Projects produce two kinds of knowledge. Explicit knowledge can be written down, such as a design standard. Tacit knowledge lives in people’s heads, such as how to get an approval through quickly. This process uses both: documents, shared folders and also conversations, pairing and short demos. Record lessons as they appear, in a shared log, instead of trying to recall them months later. They feed the review in closing.
People: acquire, develop, manage
Three processes cover the resources, mainly the team:
- Acquire Resources gets the people and also the equipment, materials and space the plan calls for. Many project managers do not control hiring; they negotiate with functional managers for borrowed people.
- Develop Team improves how the team works together and its skills.
- Manage Team tracks performance, gives feedback, resolves conflict and handles changes to the team.
Abdullah Oguz’s open textbook Project Management (section 6.7, “Developing and Managing a Project Team”) describes the Tuckman model of team development: forming, storming, norming and performing, with adjourning added in 1977. It warns that not all groups follow the stages in order. The table is our summary of what to expect and do.
| Stage | What you tend to see | What a project manager can do |
|---|---|---|
| Forming | Politeness, questions, reliance on the leader | Make goals, roles and ways of working clear |
| Storming | Disagreement, hidden agendas, resistance | Talk to people individually, deal with conflict early, agree decision rules |
| Norming | Shared habits, trust growing | Reinforce what works; hand over more ownership |
| Performing | Energy goes to the task | Remove blockers and stay out of the way |
| Adjourning | Team disbands | Recognize contributions; hold the review |
The textbook’s practical suggestions include involving members in planning, meeting each person privately and informally at several points, being available to hear concerns, encouraging members to help one another, and completing a performance review for each member. It also notes that managers often lack formal authority over borrowed team members in functional and matrix structures, so interpersonal skills matter. For roles, see project team roles and responsibilities and the RACI chart.
Communication and stakeholders
Manage Communications
The communications plan from the planning group says who needs what. Execution is where it happens. A simple version for the website project (made up):
| Audience | What they get | How often | Channel | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sponsor | One-page status: progress, money, top risks, decisions needed | Weekly | Project manager | |
| Team | Priorities, blockers, changes | Daily, 15 minutes | Stand-up meeting | Project manager |
| Content approvers | Pages ready for review, due dates | Twice weekly | Shared tracker | Content lead |
| Finance | Spend against budget | Monthly | Report | Project manager |
Good reports lead with the decision needed. More ideas are in our guide to improving project communication.
Manage Stakeholder Engagement
This process turns the stakeholder engagement plan into action. The Oguz textbook (section 5.3) says engagement follows analysis: the manager builds strategies to win support, or at least prevent opposition, then manages and monitors it. It stresses that “stakeholders’ interests and power levels may change during the project” and that support can shift toward resistance, so plans need review. Trust, open communication and keeping promises matter as much as the tools.
A common planning tool compares each stakeholder’s current engagement with the level you need: unaware, resistant, neutral, supportive or leading. Website example: the head of sales is “neutral” and needs to be “supportive” because her team must upload product data. The action is a 20-minute demo in week 2 and a named contact on the project. Revisit the assessment monthly.
Implementing risk responses
The risk register from planning lists responses. Implement Risk Responses is where someone actually does them. The Oguz textbook’s section on developing and implementing risk responses lists the main strategies. It says a response should be cost-justified: the plan balances the investment in the response against the benefit to the project.
| Strategy | Meaning | Website example (made up) |
|---|---|---|
| Avoid (threat) | Change the approach so the risk goes away | Use a standard checkout instead of a custom one |
| Transfer (threat) | Move the risk to another party, such as through insurance or a warranty | Buy hosting with an uptime guarantee |
| Mitigate (threat) | Reduce the likelihood or the impact | Test the payment connection in week 1 |
| Accept (threat or opportunity) | Take no action, often with a contingency reserve | Live with a small risk of a late stock photo |
| Escalate | Pass the risk to someone with authority | Ask the sponsor to settle a conflict with another department |
| Exploit (opportunity) | Make sure the opportunity happens | Assign a star developer to finish early and earn a launch-date bonus |
| Share (opportunity) | Partner so both gain | Co-promote the launch with a partner |
| Enhance (opportunity) | Raise the chance or size of the gain | Add a referral feature that increases sign-ups |
Is a response worth its cost? A worked check
Suppose the risk is that the payment connection fails late, costing $3,000 to fix. The team thinks the chance is 30%. An early test would cost $400 and, the team judges, cut the chance to 10%.
| Chance | Impact | Expected cost | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before the response | 30% | $3,000 | $900 |
| After the response | 10% | $3,000 | $300 |
| Reduction | $600 |
The expected cost falls by $600 for a $400 test, a net benefit of $200. It is worth doing, but only just, and the probabilities are judgments. If the test cost $700 it would not be. The $400 comes from the work budget and not from the $1,320 contingency, which stays for risks that have not been planned for. Record the result, since the risk register should be updated after every response.
Conducting procurements
Conduct Procurements is the stage where the project gets sellers’ responses, selects a seller and signs a contract or agreement. The Oguz textbook (section 9.6) walks through the sequence: decide whether to make or buy, solicit with requests for quotes or proposals, select sellers, then manage the contract. A request needs a clear statement of work, since vague scope leads to disputed invoices.
The textbook describes three main contract types. The risk column is our summary:
| Contract type | How the buyer pays | Who carries the cost risk |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed price | The same amount regardless of effort | Mostly the seller |
| Cost-reimbursable | The seller’s costs plus a fee | Mostly the buyer |
| Time and materials | A rate for time worked, plus materials | Shared, but cost rises with effort |
Example. The website team buys a payment integration. Seller A quotes a fixed price of $2,400. Seller B quotes $90 an hour and estimates 25 hours.
| Outcome | Seller A (fixed) | Seller B (time and materials) |
|---|---|---|
| Work takes 25 hours | $2,400 | 25 × $90 = $2,250 |
| Work takes 35 hours | $2,400 | 35 × $90 = $3,150 |
If the scope is clear and well understood, the fixed price protects the budget. If the work is uncertain, a cheaper hourly estimate may end up costing more. Compare total risk, not only the first number. Also weigh each seller’s track record and the contract’s terms for changes and acceptance. Contract management after signing is covered in our guide to the cost of poor contract management.
Executing in agile and hybrid projects
Agile teams do planning and executing in the same short cycle. They plan a small batch of work, build it, show it and adjust. Several executing processes still apply: team development, communication, quality checks, risk responses and stakeholder engagement all happen every cycle. Many teams run a hybrid: a fixed budget and a contract set at the start, with the work itself planned in short iterations. See the use of agile project management.
Weekly executing checklist
Executing: weekly rhythm
- Monday: confirm priorities and blockers with the team; check who is available this week.
- Daily: a short stand-up. Update the issue log.
- Midweek: review quality checks done and defects found; review risks due for action.
- Midweek: chase anything waiting on a stakeholder, supplier or approver.
- Thursday: log all change requests raised this week; none are worked on until approved.
- Friday: send the sponsor a one-page status. Lead with decisions needed.
- Always: add lessons to the log when they happen.
Common mistakes
- Executing without a baseline. If the plan is vague, you cannot tell whether execution is going well. Revisit planning.
- Doing the work, then asking for the change. Unapproved changes make the schedule and budget meaningless.
- Ignoring the people side. A team stuck in conflict will miss dates however good the schedule.
- Treating risk responses as paperwork. A response nobody carries out protects nothing.
- Reports with data and no decision. Say what you need from the reader.
- Waiting until the end to check quality. Fixing defects late costs more than catching them early.
- Hiding bad news. Early warnings are cheap. Late surprises are not. See why projects fail.
If you are studying for the exam, our PMP exam prep course guide explains what to look for in a course.
Frequently asked questions
What is the executing process group?
The PMBOK group of processes that carry out the plan: doing the work, managing quality and knowledge, leading the team, communicating, acting on risks, buying from sellers and engaging stakeholders.
How many processes are in the executing process group?
Ten in the PMBOK Guide, Sixth Edition, out of 49 in total.
What are the processes in the executing group?
Direct and Manage Project Work, Manage Project Knowledge, Manage Quality, Acquire Resources, Develop Team, Manage Team, Manage Communications, Implement Risk Responses, Conduct Procurements and Manage Stakeholder Engagement.
What is the difference between executing and monitoring and controlling?
Executing does the work and produces deliverables and raw performance data. Monitoring and controlling measures that work against the plan, reports on it and decides on changes.
What are the key outputs of executing?
Deliverables, work performance data, issue records and change requests, along with updates to the plan and project documents.
Where does most of the budget get spent?
During executing, because that is when the work, the team and the suppliers are paid for.
Is the executing group still used in the PMBOK Guide, Eighth Edition?
PMI’s page for the Eighth Edition does not describe the five groups by name. Many courses and organizations still use the groups, so check which edition applies to you.
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