PMBOK Project Management Standards and Practices

Posted on Feb 21, 2026 in Business Administration and Management (BAM)

PMBOK Definition and Components

PMBOK document published by the Project Management Institute (PMI) includes traditional and emerging good practices. It helps firms build policy, procedure, rules, and tools & techniques for managing projects. It describes the knowledge required in the project manager profession. The project manager tailors and applies PMBOK knowledge to each project.

Components

Project life cycle: Project phases from start to completion (flexible and independent of the product life cycle). Types include:

  • Predictive — defined early in the project.
  • Adaptive — scope is approved before starting each iteration.
  • Hybrid — combination of predictive and adaptive approaches.
  • Iterative — modified as knowledge increases.
  • Incremental — produces deliverables by iterations.

Project phase: Related activities that finish with deliverables completed.

Project process groups: Initiating — Planning — Executing — Monitoring & Controlling — Closing. These groups produce outputs from inputs using tools & techniques and are linked by outputs; they are independent of project phases.

Knowledge areas: Defined by their knowledge requirements and described by their processes, inputs/outputs, and tools & techniques. These include: Project Integration, Scope, Schedule, Cost, Quality, Resource, Communications, Risk, Procurement, and Stakeholder management.

Tailoring: The project manager ensures the best approach for the project context. Not all practices are used in every project; tailoring applies to tools & techniques, inputs, and outputs.

Project Definition, Objectives, and Deliverables

Project (definition): A temporary effort to create a unique product, service, or result. A project has a start and ends when one of the following occurs: the objective is reached; the objective cannot or will not be reached; it is no longer needed (strategy change, customer instruction ∅); lack or unavailability of funds or resources; or legal causes. Projects are done to fulfill objectives by producing deliverables.

Objective: An outcome toward which work is directed; a strategic position to follow.

Deliverable: A unique and verifiable result or product that performs a service required to complete the project. Deliverables can be tangible or intangible. Projects occur at all organizational levels and involve individuals, groups, and firms. Examples: merge firms, improve business process, modify software.

Project Management and Advantages

Project management (PM): The application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements.

Advantages of good project management: timely risk response; increased predictability and success; change management; reduced failure of project constraints; satisfying stakeholder expectations; meeting objectives; optimizing resources; delivering the right product at the right time.

Consequences of poor project management: missed deadlines; cost overruns; poor quality; rework; uncontrolled project expansion (scope creep); loss of reputation; unsatisfied stakeholders; failure to achieve objectives.

Environment: Influences projects positively and negatively. Types: Enterprise Environmental Factors (EEF) and Organizational Process Assets (OPA).

Program: A mega-project or multiple groups of related projects and subsidiary programs managed in a coordinated way to obtain collective benefits.

Portfolio: Projects and programs managed collectively to achieve strategic objectives. Often engage with the same stakeholders and use the same resources, which can create coordination problems.

Project Manager Definition and Competence

Project manager (definition): Person assigned by the firm to lead and be responsible for the team to achieve project objectives.

Area of influence: The project manager interacts and communicates with:

  • The project: understand stakeholder needs, include feedback, and develop a network.
  • The firm: request resources and funding, and set goals.
  • The industry: obtain knowledge about trends and information.

The project manager is a professional who must keep knowledge up to date.

Competence: The PMI Talent Triangle

The PMI Talent Triangle focuses on three skill areas:

  • Technical Project Management: Apply knowledge to deliver the desired outcome. Be aware of ones own knowledge and where to find experts.
  • Strategic and Business Management: See the high-level firm overview and support strategic alignment. Know strategy, goals, product, operations, market conditions, and competitors.
  • Leadership: Guide, direct, and motivate the team; negotiate; solve problems; respect team values; make decisions; build trust; and persuade.

Skills and Communication

Skills: Listening; presentation skills; verbal and nonverbal communication; feedback; conflict resolution; cultural and political awareness.

Five C’s of communication:

  1. Correct grammar and spelling.
  2. Concise expression.
  3. Clear purpose relevant to the reader’s needs.
  4. Coherent logical flow of ideas.
  5. Control of word flow.

Aim for good decision-making and low misunderstanding.

Differences: Management vs Leadership

Management is moving from A to B using a set of expected behaviors. Leadership works through debate and discussion. Compare highlights:

  • Systems and structure vs people relationship.
  • Bottom line vs horizon.
  • Operational issues vs motivation.
  • Use positional power vs influence power.
  • Maintain vs develop.
  • Administration vs innovation.
  • Short-term vision vs long-term vision.
  • Ask how & when vs what & why.
  • Rely on control vs inspire trust.
  • Do things right vs do the right things.
  • Accept status quo vs challenge the status quo.

Functional manager: manages a business unit. Operations manager: manages specific operations.

Kick-off Meeting, Change Control, and Integration

Kick-off meeting: Marks the transition from planning to execution. Purpose: update project objectives, gain commitment, explain roles and responsibilities, and present the Project Charter.

Integrated Change Control

Integrated change control: Review change requests, approve and manage changes to deliverables, project documents, and the project management plan; and communicate decisions (including verbal suggestions). The project manager has full responsibility for this process and ensures all changes are documented to prevent risk and to integrate changes with project objectives. Each change has a cost, risk, and schedule impact and the project manager decides to accept or reject. To evaluate changes the manager uses expert judgment, data analysis, and decision-making tools & techniques such as voting, and ensures that affected documents are updated and stakeholders informed.

Project Integration

Project Integration Management is the main responsibility of the project manager. Other knowledge areas such as cost or risk can be handled by specialists, but Project Integration Management cannot be delegated. It involves coordinating all project aspects: objectives, resources, stakeholders, expectations, and processes to ensure the various elements work together. The more complex the project and the more diverse the stakeholders, the more important integration is to success.

Processes: Develop Project Charter and Project Management Plan; Manage Project Work; Manage Knowledge; Monitor and Control Project Work; Perform Integrated Change Control; Close Project or Phase.

Control Project Work

Control Project Work: Track, review, and report project progress and compare actual performance to the plan to identify deviations. Use tools & techniques such as Earned Value Analysis (EVA) to evaluate project performance, update forecasts for cost and schedule, monitor risk, and ensure proper change management. This also includes producing work performance reports, corrective and preventive actions, and keeping stakeholders informed. The goal is to correct issues early and keep the project aligned with business needs.

Project Charter

Project Charter: A formal document (not a contract since there may be no dollar exchange) that authorizes the projects existence and start. It gives the manager the authority to apply resources and make decisions. It establishes partnership between the performing and requesting organizations. It includes: purpose and description; authorized sponsor; milestone schedule; preapproved financing; exit criteria; risks; and the assigned manager. It is used to record all assumptions and constraints throughout the project life cycle.

Responsible: The project manager and sponsor develop the charter, but Project Integration Management cannot be delegated.

Project Scope Management: Definition and Steps

Project Scope Management (definition): Includes the processes required to ensure that the project includes only the work required to complete it successfully, that is, to define and control what is and is not included in the project.

Steps:

  1. Plan Scope Management.
  2. Collect Requirements.
  3. Define Scope.
  4. Create WBS.
  5. Validate and Control Scope.

Collect Requirements

Collect Requirements: Determine, document, and manage stakeholder needs and requirements to meet objectives, providing the basis for project scope and the WBS.

Methods (USE) include: expert judgment (similar projects, conflict management); data gathering (brainstorming, interviews, surveys, benchmarking); data analysis (of procedures and agreements); data representation (affinity diagrams, mind maps); decision-making (voting vs single decision); team skills (observation, conversation); prototype (early feedback before build).

Outputs (GET): Requirements documentation (must be unambiguous, traceable, acceptable, complete, and consistent) and the requirements traceability matrix (a grid that links requirements to the satisfying deliverables).

Check that firm and customer agree on requirements. Scope validation is the process of formalizing the acceptance of completed project deliverables. It brings objectivity to the acceptance process and raises the probability of acceptance by validating each deliverable. Verified deliverables are reviewed with the customer and ensured to be complete and satisfactory.

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

WBS: A hierarchical decomposition of the total scope of work to be done by the project team to accomplish project objectives and create required deliverables.

Purpose: Allow better planning, estimating, assigning responsibility, tracking progress, and ensuring nothing is overlooked.

Decomposition: Guided by the degree of control needed. It varies depending on project size and complexity. The WBS must be decomposed into work packages until:

  • All work is included at every level.
  • No overlapping of work packages.
  • One responsible party for each work package at the lowest level.
  • Deliverables are clearly specified.
  • Quality control can be performed at each level, avoiding situations like “90% done” due to missing data.
  • Each activity is well defined and short enough to allow better estimation and control.

Example WBS:

  • Level 1: Project Management, Training, Data, Infrastructure, Support Equipment (SE), Facilities, Test.
  • Level 1.1: Support PM activities, train industrial park workers, technical orders, port modernization, organizational-level SE, industrial park, mock-up.
  • Level 1.2: Environmental PM, safety compliance team, engineering data, railway upgrades, intermediate-level SE (subsystems), operational test.