The PMBOK Third Edition

Something Old, Something New

 

By John Skovbroten PMP

 

PMI recently released the Third Edition of The Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), their standard for project management,. Like many of you, my first question was “How will this benefit me?” followed quickly by “How much rework will this generate for me?” I found that the answers depend on the extent to which each of us embraces the standard.

 

Something Old

 

The change is not radical for organizations and individuals that are using the PMBOK simply as a source for common project management vocabulary, and common understanding of tools and techniques. The new standard is not a total redesign, but one that builds on the concepts and artifacts of the prior editions.

 

There are still nine knowledge areas and five process groups. The primary artifacts are still the project charter, scope statement, work breakdown structure and project plan (now called project management plan).

 

Some names have changed, many descriptions have been improved and new tools and techniques have been added, but at a high level, the majority of the prior standard is still valid.

 

Something New

 

However, for project managers planning to take the certification exam, and those of us who teach prep classes, there is quite a bit of change to absorb. These “PMBOK Scholars”, need to drill down to the next level of detail.

 

At the detail level, we find that thirteen processes have new names, three have moved to different knowledge areas, and five have been added, bringing the total to forty-four.

 

The three most significant improvements are the addition of a process model, major expansion of the Integration knowledge area, and better coordination of all of the monitoring and controlling processes.

 

Process Model

 

Prior editions of the PMBOK drew a distinction between “core” and “facilitating” processes, where core processes had sequences and dependencies and facilitating processes did not. Most instructors and students felt that this distinction was somewhat arbitrary. Apparently PMI now shares that opinion, as they have replaced that model with a standard process flowchart showing the primary sequence of all the processes and the dependencies between them. In the past, various books and training organizations have generated their own model to fill the gap, so this new approach should be a good way to provide more consistency between sources.

 

Integration

 

One of the challenges of the prior standard was getting a quick understanding of the “big picture”. The thirty-nine process descriptions in the nine knowledge area chapters provided a thorough discussion of each tree, but needed a stronger overview of the forest.

 

This has been addressed nicely by building up the chapter on Integration. Now the Integration chapter contains the primary processes for each of the five process groups of Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and Controlling, and Closing. The detailed processes in each of the other chapters then roll up into one of the Integration processes, such as Develop Project Charter, Develop Project Management Plan, or Integrated Change Control.

 

Monitoring and Controlling Processes

 

In the prior editions, each individual knowledge area chapters had one or more controlling processes and the inconsistency that can result from multiple authors was quite evident. Some produced change requests to be approved, while others directly made changes to the project. Some produced deliverables with new names to describe a concept previously introduced in another chapter.

 

In the Third Edition, the controlling processes are still in each individual chapter, but now they consistently produce updates to previously produced artifacts, along with change requests to be addressed by the Integrated Change Control process. Now the monitoring and controlling processes have a same consistency as the planning processes.

 

In summary, I like what they have done. Many of the points that have been difficult to teach and difficult to apply in organizations have been improved. It’s clear that the standards team has listened to the input of practitioners, and done what they can to give us a more usable standard.

 

This new edition is now scheduled to become the basis of the certification exam starting at the end of September. For schedule updates, check with PMI at www.pmi.org.