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PMBOK Guide, Third Edition – Is more really better
A Review by R. Max Wideman – Part 2
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, Third Edition, is copyright by the Project Management Institute, PA, USA, 2004. It has been distributed on a CD free of charge to members of the Institute
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In Part 1 of this review we took a general look at the Institute's latest A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, Third Edition, highlighting the good points but also drawing attention to some serious Missed Opportunities. In this Part 2 of our review we look at Sections I and II of the Guide in more detail, examining both What We Liked and the Downside.项目管理者联盟
Section I – The Project Management Framework
What We Liked PgMp.mypm.net
In Chapter 1 it states:项目管理者联盟
"Uniqueness is an important characteristic of project deliverables. For example, many thousands of office buildings have been developed, but each individual facility is unique - different owner, different design, different location, different contractors, and so on. The presence of repetitive elements does not change the fundamental uniqueness of the project work."项目管理者联盟
Well almost. We would go further and argue that even if the buildings were otherwise identical, as in the case of standard homes in a housing estate development for example, each home could still be run as a project. Each would still be unique not by virtue of the deliverable itself but by virtue of its time, place and most likely its workforce. There is some confusion here between the "deliverable" as a "product", and the work that goes into creating the product. The work is transient but the product is permanent! We'll have more to say on this when we get to Section III, chapter 5.项目管理者联盟
"The project manager should also examine the organizational culture and determine whether project management is recognized as a valid role with accountability and authority for managing the project"项目管理者联盟
Good point, but what does s/he do upon discovering that it isn't?项目管理者联盟
Good lists of general management knowledge and interpersonal skills, potentially required by project team members, have been added to section 1.5. Portfolios, portfolio management and project management office (PMO) get passing mention in sections 1.6 and 3.2. However, the Guide makes it clear that it focuses on the case of a single project. Still, the Guide provides a good list of some of the key features of a PMO.项目管理者联盟
Chapter 2, Project Life Cycle and Organization, is an improvement over its 2000 predecessor. It explains that:项目管理者联盟
"The project life cycle defines the phases that connect the beginning of a project to its end" and "The phases of a project are not the same as the Project Management Process Groups described in detail in Chapter 3."
"The transition from one phase to another ... is usually defined by ... some form of technical transfer or handoff."
The maturity of the organization with respect to its project management system, culture, style, organizational structure and project management office can also influence the project."
It also illustrates that a project life cycle commences with an "Initial Phase" and ends with a "Final Phase". This observation is not as inconsequential as it might seem, as we shall see later.转自项目管理者联盟
Downside项目管理者联盟
While the Guide's new sections on "project life cycle" are an improvement over the 2000 Guide, if any section deserved its own unique "Section", such as that accorded to the project management process groups, it is this one. As we said earlier, a well-formulated project life span, with appropriate "gates" between the major phases, is the vehicle for the sponsor or the executive management of the performing organization to exercise proper control over the whole project management process. Many project failures can be directly attributed to a lack of a sound PLS process. As one reviewer suggested "the Guide has become more systems-based [at the team level] and less executive oriented. I'm concerned that it reinforces bureaucracy over management and excellence of decision-making."项目管理者联盟
Also, the Guide suggests that many projects take place in a single phase. Every knowledge area chapter states categorically in a standard paragraph: "Each process [of the knowledge area] occurs at least once in every project and occurs in one or more project phases, if the project is divided into phases." (Emphasis added). Does this suggest a very limited view of project management, perhaps an obsolete one that real projects only exist once they get to "execution"? If so, this overlooks the importance of project management from the perspective of corporate management, to say nothing of the importance these days of project portfolio management. As one reviewer observed "The whole area of justifying, optimizing and initiating a project and its overall management and team are inferable as largely somebody else's job."项目管理者联盟
Probably for the same reason, the Guide fails to mention the "Business Case", which should be corporate management's justification to proceed to a "Concept Phase" where an idea can be developed with broad parameters for proceeding to definition and planning. The guide does discuss the "Project Charter", defined as a document issued to formally recognize the existence of a project and authorize the use of resources. However, this document when presented in considerable detail is more appropriately applied to the release of the project for its execution phases.项目管理培训
Failure to recognize these natural and logical steps in the PLS is another reason for frequent project failure, or at least under-performance, in terms of maximizing product benefits. There are, alas, many instances where the project management was exemplary but the product was, nevertheless, an abject failure.talent.mypm.net
In passing, in the Organizational Structure section of Chapter 2, the chart titled "Organizational Structure Influences on Projects", which has been around for many years, has been significantly revised. It was probably a good idea to remove the old percentages shown against "Percent of Performing Organization's Personnel Assigned Full Time to Project Work". But this row has been relabeled "Resource Availability", and the row in the old chart labeled Common Titles for Project Manager's Role has been removed. The net result is that the chart no longer makes sense.bbs.mypm.net
So, now in the functional column of the new chart we have the prospect of a project manager working part-time with little or no authority, no control over the project budget and little or no resource availability. But he or she does have part-time project management administrative staff. As a personal comment, as an aspiring project coordinator/leader in a functional organization under the old chart, I might well have been happy to work part-time on a project with support people. That is even though virtually none of them worked full-time and I had little or no authority.项目管理者联盟
However, under the new chart I don't think I would be at all happy about working as a project manager in the functional organization with little or no resource availability and little if any authority. It would be of little consequence whether I worked on the project part-time or full-time, I would be inclined to hand over the work to the part-time project administrative staff and let them get on with it.项目经理圈子
Section II – The Standard for Project Management of a Project
This section consists of a single chapter, Chapter 3: Project Management Processes for a Project.转自项目管理者联盟
What We Liked项目管理者联盟
The problem with this Section is that we could not find anything that we did like. Worse, the cover page is largely titled as "The Standard for Project Management of a Project". From this we must conclude that, as the official Institute standard, this section becomes the be-all and end-all of project management.项目管理者联盟
Downsidetalent.mypm.net
As we indicated earlier (under Missed Opportunities) the problem starts with the labeling of the five project management process groups, a problem that first surfaced in the 1996 version of the Guide. The groups in question are designated in order as Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring & Controlling, and Closing. Monitoring and controlling project activities is a perfectly legitimate repetitive management activity no different from that of operational management.项目管理者联盟
Henri Fayol first described it in his classic description of management back in 1916. He said "To manage is to forecast and plan, to organize, to command, to coordinate and to control." Except that the key element of forecasting is missing, this is not far from the Guide's own description: "General management encompasses planning, organizing, staffing, executing, and controlling the operations of an ongoing enterprise."项目管理者联盟
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