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Will the new PMBOK Guide lead to more successful project delivery?

 

Will The standard for project management and

a guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) – 7th Edition

recently published by the Project Management Institute (PMI, 2021)

lead to more successful delivery of projects?

 

COMMENTARY

By Martin J. Smit, PhD, PMP

Johannesburg, South Africa


Background

I retired at the end of 2018 after a working career of some 45 years of which many of these years were spent in the domain of organisational project management. What I enjoy about retirement is that there is more time for me to attend virtual conferences, webinars, and “do research” to continue to learn about the latest advancements in organisational project management.

In previous commentary articles that were published in the PMWJ, I (Smit, 2019, 2020 and 2021) mentioned that I am now in a new phase of my life and that it is an opportune time for me to do some reflection after having had the privilege to gain excellent experience in organisational project management. In this commentary article I would like to express an opinion about The Standard for Project Management and the PMBOK® Guide – Seventh Edition that were recently published by the Project Management Institute (PMI, 2021) by asking the question: Will The Standard for Project Management and the PMBOK® GuideSeventh Edition lead to more successful delivery of projects?

The aim of this opinion article is to:

  • Highlight some of the key changes between the PMBOK® Guide Sixth and Seventh Editions.
  • Respond to the above-mentioned question.

I am writing this opinion article within the following context. While I have done some “reading/research” on the adaptive (agile) and hybrid approaches my experience is predominantly applying the predictive (waterfall) methodologies as well as Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM). I have not actively been practicing as an organizational project management practitioner since my retirement in 2018. Early in 2020 I did comment on the Exposure Draft for The Standard for Project Management – Seventh Edition (PMI, 2020). I am not aware if PMI did release a Draft PMBOK® GUIDE – Seventh Edition for influence and comments by stakeholders. The contents of the PMBOK® GUIDE – Seventh Edition is new to me, so I obviously do not have the insight that the contributors and reviewers have that developed the new standard and the guide.

KEYWORDS:  Project Management Institute (PMI), The Standard for Project Management – Seventh Edition, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) – Seventh Edition

Key changes between the PMBOK® Guide Sixth and Seventh Editions

Overview

Early in 2020 PMI actively engaged with a broad range of stakeholders to participate and comment on the Exposure Draft for The Standard for Project Management – Seventh Editions. It is clear to me that The Standard for Project Management and the PMBOK® Guide – Seventh Edition (PMI, 2021) have involved significant and substantive changes in the nature of the content to address the need for a broad range of approaches to project and product delivery with a stronger focus on outcomes rather than deliverables.

Summary of key changes

PMI (2021) states that with project management evolving more rapidly than before, the process-based orientation of past editions could not be maintained in a manner conductive to reflecting the full value delivery landscape and has therefor shifted to a principle-based standard to support effective project management. According to PMI (2021) the global project management community has embraced the shift towards a set of principle statements that capture and summarize generally accepted objectives for the practice of project management.

More…

To read entire article, click here

How to cite this article: Smit, M.J. (2021). Will The standard for project management and a guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) – Seventh Edition recently published by the Project Management Institute (PMI, 2021) lead to more successful delivery of projects? Commentary, PM World Journal, Vol. X, Issue X, October.  Available online at https://pmworldlibrary.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/pmwj110-Oct2021-Smit-will-New-PMBOK-Guide-lead-to-better-project-delivery.pdf


About the Author


Martin J Smit, PhD, PMP®

Johannesburg, South Africa

 

 Martin Smit is retired and continues to learn to keep abreast of the latest advancements in organizational project management. His career spanned some 45 years. He worked for Eskom, the electricity utility in South Africa, for 39 years where he held various management positions in construction-, outage-, maintenance-, and project/program- management. During the latter years Martin worked in the Eskom Project Management Office (EPMO) as an Organizational Project Management Specialist. He has extensive experience in the development and application of project, program and portfolio management methodologies, processes, and best practices.

Martin is certified as a facilitator to conduct project definition readiness assessments. He is also certified to facilitate learning, conduct outcomes-based assessments and moderation. Martin has developed and presented various project and outage management training courses.

Martin holds a MSc (Management of Technology and Innovation) from the Da Vinci Institute in the domain of Project Management and a PhD in Engineering from the North-West University in the field of Development and Management Engineering. The title of his thesis was: “Development of a project portfolio management model for execution organizational strategies: A normative case study.” He also has qualifications in civil and mechanical engineering, information management, management, and maintenance practice. Martin has been a Project Management Professional (PMP®) since 1992 (No. 1071).

During his career Martin has presented various papers at national and international conferences and he has also published some articles in international journals.

Martin can be contacted at martin.smit@vodamail.co.za

To view other works by Martin Smit, visit his author showcase in the PM World Library at https://pmworldlibrary.net/authors/martin-j-smit/