New Updates Bring Harmony to Four PMI Standards

At the end of December 2008, PMI will debut updates of four highly respected standards. By updating all four simultaneously, teams could ensure that the standards harmonized with each other.

Here, the team project managers give us an advance idea of what can be expected from their hard work . 

 A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK^® Guide) - Fourth Edition

PMI released the first PMBOK^® Guide in 1996 and since then it has become the global standard for project managers.

For the fourth edition, the project team made several improvements. The first was the inclusion of project documents such as issue logs, duration estimates and resource requirements, to aid project managers in project execution.

Another noticeable change, says Cynthia Stackpole, PMP, project manager for the update, was the combination of the change request, corrective action, preventive action and defect repair groupings into one heading called “Change Requests.”

“Our goal was to bring about clarity and have the specific planning process outputs serve as inputs to developing the project management plan and not the other way around,” she says.

The Standard for Program ManagementﾗSecond Edition

The most significant aspect of the latest edition of The Standard for Program Management Program is the development of knowledge areas specific to programs, explains Frank Parth, PMP, project manager for the update.

“It gives the program managers a significant amount of information that is relevant to managing large, complex programs,” he says. 

According to Mr. Parth, the second edition provides a consistent framework to adequately assess project , program or portfolio management.

“For the first time we are talking about governance and audits,” Mr. Parth says. “Both topics are highly relevant to programs but have not been included in any standards before.”

The Standard for Portfolio Management - Second Edition

The second edition of PMI’s Standard for Portfolio Management brings with it a noticeable foray into two significant knowledge areas: governance and risk.

“These are key additions, especially risk,” says Larry Goldsmith, PMP, project manager for the standard’s update. “At the portfolio level there are different risks involved, many of which are external, such as shareholder value. By taking on a given project within the portfolio, you could introduce the company to unnecessary risk.”

According to Mr. Goldsmith, the standard’s coverage area is significant for all project managers in part because of its role in advancing the profession’s career path from project to program to portfolio management.

Mr. Goldsmith adds that project managers should note the synchronization established throughout the standards’ development.

“There needed to be a level set between the four standards to make them more integrated instead of interfaced,” he says. “This is something we definitely accomplished.”

Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3^®)-Second Edition

Alignment with the PMBOK^® Guide—Fourth Edition was a driving force in developing the second edition of OPM3, PMI’s best practice standard for enterprise improvement.

The update includes the introduction of organizational enablers.

“These are the structural-, cultural-, technological- and human resource-focused best practices, which underpin the implementation of best practices in projects, programs and portfolios,” Tim MacFadyen, PMP, project manager for the new edition. “This ultimately helps foster project management within an organization and helps project managers anchor processes within the organization.”

The team also updated the standard’s self-assessment method (SAM) questions—refining the offering from 151 to 120 questions.

“The goal was to make SAMs very straightforward—clearing up any confusion and facilitating application for PMP credential holders,” Mr. MacFadyen says. “Our goal was to simplify and make sure people find solid use of the standard.”