PMBOK 7th Edition | The Standard for Project Management | PMBOK Guide Seventh Edition Insights

The Standard for Project Management and Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide Seventh Edition is now released. As anticipated, it has come with some radical changes compared to its all earlier versions. A lot of talks, discussions and differing criticizations are going on. In this article, let us explore "What exciting changes happened to the PMBOK 7th Edition".

Changes at the Outset

The new #PMBOK Seventh Edition has become thinner, leaner than the PMBOK Sixth Edition. The Sixth Edition was 756 pages in length but the PMBOK 7th Edition is only 370 pages in length. The earlier version was frightening, huge, and overstuffed. The PMBOK seventh edition is easy to read and understand, written in a lucid manner.

The book has 2 parts. The First 1-65 pages are The Standard for Project Management (The ANSI Standard) and the second part is the PMBOK Guide (1 to 195 Pages) and the remaining part is the Appendices.

The book is colorful and followed the #PMI brand colors. No earlier versions of PMBOK used color in texts, images, graphs, or figures. The containing images, figures, tables are made super easy to understand. You will love it.

Core Changes to Note

Process-based to principle-based: What a turnaround? All earlier versions starting from PMBOK's first edition to Sixth Edition all were process-based, which made it prescriptive in nature and difficult to fit in all contexts. Now the 12 principles would make PMBOK more applicable and broaden its use in any given situation. The principles are meant to guide the behavior, values of the people involved in the whole project ecosystem. You will surely appreciate it.

The earlier versions mainly focused on deliverables or outputs. Now we will focus on outcomes and the outcomes, in turn, brings the values for the stakeholders we are working for. This is awesome.

The system thinking and system view of the whole value delivery landscape where the project exists and works is another big change to note.

There are no processes and knowledge areas are in the PMBOK Seventh Edition rather we have eight Performance Domains. The processes and knowledge areas are deliverable and output-oriented, for instance, creating artifacts, plans, etc. But the intended outcomes most of the time are missing. The 8 performance domains are outcomes focus.

No more ITTOs are there in the 7th Edition. We have now Models, Methods, and Artifacts but they are not prescribed like the earlier ITTOs of Processes. They are mentioned as teasers, but where, when, and how to use that is not prescribed. You need to find the right match and options for your projects for your contexts. Context counts.

PMIStandards+ The digital content platform for the Standard for Project Management and PMBOK 7th Edition. The knowledge portal will go hand in hand with all the standards of PMI to support the community. For #PMI members all the resources are free on this platform: https://standardsplus.pmi.org/

I facilitated a live session on the changes dated 11 July 2021, if you are interested please check it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmEomeJmX3s

12 Principles

The principles of project management are not prescriptive in nature. They are intended to guide the behavior of people involved in projects. They are broadly based so there are many ways individuals and organizations can maintain alignment with the principles.

(1) Be a diligent, respectful, and caring steward

(2) Create a collaborative project team environment

(3) Effectively engage with stakeholders

(4) Focus on value

(5) Recognize, evaluate, and respond to system interactions

(6) Demonstrate leadership behaviors

(7) Tailor based on context

(8) Build quality into processes and deliverables

(9) Navigate complexity

(10) Optimize risk responses

(11) Embrace adaptability and resiliency

(12) Enable change to achieve the envisioned future state

Eight (08) Project Performance Domains

There are no Knowledge Areas in #PMBOK seventh edition rather we have 08 Project Performance Domains that are outcome-focused.

1. Stakeholders Performance Domain
2. Team Performance Domain
3. Development Approach and Life Cycle Performance Domain
4. Planning Performance Domain
5. Project Work Performance Domain
6. Delivery Performance Domain
7. Measurement Performance Domain, and
8. Uncertainty Performance Domain

Relationship with PMP Exam

Please do understand that the current #pmpexam is not depending upon the PMBOK Guide 7th Edition, rather it is based on Exam Content Outline (ECO) that is being effective from 02 Jan 2021. You can download the ECO from here and also know detail from the same link: https://pmi.org/pmp