Lesson 4: Project Management Methodologies

The Project Management Institute

The Project Management Institute is the world's largest association of Project Managers, and coordinates, disseminates, and develops information relevent to the field.

Now, the jury is still out on whether or not the Project Management Institute in fact offers a methodology through the PMBOK. Personally, I do not believe that the PMBOK in itself represents a methodology, but rather the raw building blocks from which practioners (and those who love them) can develop their own methodology.

In other words, I believe that the PMBOK is something like a grocery store; what you need to eat is in there, but it's up to you to actually go in there, pick out your ingredients, and put them together into some edible.

However, just because I believe something is absolutely no reason why you should believe it. As I said, the jury is still out, so my recommendation is that you decide for yourself whether or not the PMBOK offers you a path, or if you need to build a path from the components that it describes.

This all may seem very confusing at this point, and it took me a lot of soul-searching and coffee to decide to even include this section. After all, my job is to help this stuff make more sense, not less. It is also just a basic tenet of instructional design not to introduce things and just leave it dangling there.

So you can see the internal struggle I've fought just for this section.

However, despite the risk of confusing things, I believe it is simply more important to reference the PMBOK in an introductory discussion of project management methodologies, than not mention it at all. Why? Well, because the PMBOK is pretty much everywhere you go in the project world. Even folks who don't agree with the PMBOK or don't use it, still need to know what it is. It's maybe a bit like Microsoft Windows in that regard.

So (1) what is this PMBOK thing, and (2) how does it relate to project management methodologies?

Well, the answer to the first question is that the PMBOK is a reference manual for project management, and includes a description of an many of concepts and terms used in the field.

The answer to the second question takes more typing. The PMBOK focuses on nine basic processes that it has identified as existing within competent project management. These nine management processes are:

• Integration Management: the processes used to effectively coordinate the various aspects and leyers of the project.

• Scope Management: the processes that focuses on the work that needs to be done to achieve the project goal(s).

• Time Management: the processes that ensure the project is completed on schedule.

• Cost Management: the processes that ensure the project does not deviate and/or exceed from its budget.

• Quality Management: the processes that ensure the project satisfies the need that it is based upon, as well as satisfies customer requirements and fitness for use.

• HR Management: the processes that make effective use of the people involved in the project.

• Communications Management: the processes that create the relevent creation, organizing, sharing, storing, and disposition of project information.

• Risk Management: the processes that identify, analyze, and manage project risk.

• Procurement Management:the processes that enable the acquisition of goods and services from outside the project staff in order to support the project goal(s).

Unlike the Lewis methodology that we looked at in the last section, you can see here that these nine management processes are not linear nor logical; you don’t finish up with integration management, and then move on to scope management. This is primarily why most people (including me) do not view the PMBOK as offering a methodology or a blueprint. Instead, we see it as offering the raw ingredients (which fall under the umbrella of each of the nine management processes listed above) for project managers to develop a methodology.

Confused?

Please don’t spend a lot of time with this right now. One of the real hazards of online education is that I can’t go through the PMBOK with you, and really make sure that we’re all on the same page.

Here is all I’d like to convey to you with regards to the PMBOK:

1. Many Project Managers all over the world rely on the PMBOK in order to either determine how to build their methodology, or for other field-related information.

2. It is the de facto book of standards in the field, and the most commonly referenced book.

3. Most project management methodologies will either be based on the material found in PMBOK, or will compare itself to the PMBOK (i.e. "we are different than the PMBOK methodology because...").

4. The Project Management Institute bestows its Project Management Professional (PMP) certification upon experienced Project Managers by administering a comprehensive exam that covers the material identified in the PMBOK.

References used in this section (these books are available for order via the Resources link above):

A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, by the Project Management Institute.

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