Taking PMBOK® out of the Box

There’s genuine excitement within the PM community (along with the inevitable confusion) as we collectively evaluate the new release of the 4th edition of the PMBOK® guide. The PMBOK® is a foundational framework representing the collective experience of practicing project managers working in projects around the world including China, Norway, Finland, Europe, Asia, South America, Africa, among others.

When it comes to explaining the essence of project management, the PMBOK® is known to be dry and abstract at times but we also trust it for its comprehensiveness and authority. The key question is of course does it really help us execute projects successfully. While no one expects the PMBOK® to guarantee project success on its own, there are project managers who use it as a guideline to plan and manage projects effectively.

We need to understand that the PMBOK® can only tell you many of the things you need to do (“The What”); it does not prescribe the way you should do them (“The How”). PMI also mentions that a lot of processes mentioned in the PMBOK® might not be applicable in some parts of the project life cycle. The key lies in the project manager’s ability to identify the right tools and processes and map them to the project context.

We put these questions to practicing project managers and came up with 4 criteria for project success:

1.    People and their skills
2.    Organization of the project environment
3.    Decision making
4.    Alignment of the project to business strategy

Some limitations: PMBOK® and project complexity

Projects are complex in their structure; they are uncertain and heavily time limited; this means that balancing the interrelationships between the project’s components as well as technological/user uncertainties along with time criticality would determine the dimensions of complexity. A central limitation of the PMBOK® is that it does not account for different Project Dimension (Technology, Complexity, Novelty and Pace (Time) and related classifications for each) of a project. Based on these dimension the application of PM processes and methods needs to be chosen and applied.

If we are to do justice to this dimension of complexity, of which we do not even possess a common definition, a project would actually need to be seen as a large program. Hence the initiative may involve multiple systems.  In this situation what is perhaps needed is rigorous implementation of Configuration Management System as well as an Interdependency/Interface Management Process.

Tips on using the PMBOK®.

You will find that the worst misuses of the PMBOK® occur when it is used a set of dictums intended to be applied uniformly to all projects. Aaron Salo, PMP® and Change Manager, puts it best:

The PMBOK® is a recipe book. In the hands of a chef, who can coordinate the timing of the courses, understand what ingredients are in season and choose the best recipes for a great meal, it is a very useful tool.  Without the chef, it is only a book.

Here are a few of our favorite tips:

• Put people first and use the PMBOK® to make sure that their roles and responsibilities are clearly defined
• Use the work-breakdown concept to drive down to the most elemental aspects of defined work
• Always have an “out”..or a backup plan for every major step along the way. Use Risk management and Contingency planning.
• Use Earned value principle to check progress against time-line and amount work completed.
• PMBOK® gives your team a shared vocabulary. Use this common vocabulary in team communications while managing projects to minimize chances of misunderstanding and to live and perform excellent projects.

While performing projects based on international PMI standards, we should remember that the benefits thereof accrue not only to the project managers, but to their organizations, internal and external customers, and other stakeholders.