| A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) | |
|---|---|
| Genre(s) | Business |
| Publisher | Project Management Institute |
| Publication date | 2008 |
| ISBN | 9781933890517 |
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) is a book which presents a set of standard terminology and guidelines for project management. The Fourth Edition (2008) was recognized by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as an American National Standard (ANSI/PMI 99-001-2008). The Third Edition (2004) was recognised as a standard by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers — IEEE 1490-2003.
Note: the IEEE standard was withdrawn in 2009, but the archive can still be retrieved.[1][2]
Contents |
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) was first published by the Project Management Institute (PMI) as a white paper in 1987 in an attempt to document and standardize generally accepted project management information and practices. The first edition was published in 1996 followed by the second edition in 2000.[3]
In 2004, the PMBOK Guide — Third Edition was published with major changes from the first edition. The latest English-language PMBOK Guide — Fourth Edition was released on December 31, 2008.
The PMBOK Guide is process-based, meaning it describes work as being accomplished by processes. This approach is consistent with other management standards such as ISO 9000 and the Software Engineering Institute's CMMI. Processes overlap and interact throughout a project or its various phases. Processes are described in terms of:
The Guide recognizes 42 processes that fall into five basic process groups and nine knowledge areas that are typical of almost all projects.
Each of the nine knowledge areas contains the processes that need to be accomplished within its discipline in order to achieve an effective project management program. Each of these processes also falls into one of the five basic process groups, creating a matrix structure such that every process can be related to one knowledge area and one process group.
The PMBOK Guide is meant to offer a general guide to manage most projects most of the time. There are currently two extensions to the PMBOK Guide: the Construction Extension to the PMBOK Guide applies to construction projects, while the Government Extension to the PMBOK Guide applies to government projects.