Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)

The PMBOK is a prevalent project management standard, and it is the Project Management Body of Knowledge and dominant project management standard used widely across various projects. The PMBOK basically consists of several terminologies and guidelines. This has been documented in the form of a book, as you can see here Project Management Book of Knowledge PMBOK Guide. The Project Management Institute PMI publishes it, and this guide is used as a support to prepare for the PMI certification.

1. The Dominant project management standard
2. A set of standard terminology and guidelines (a body of knowledge) for project management
3. Documented in a book – the fifth edition came out in 2013
4. Published by project management institute (PMI)
5. The PMBOK guide is also used as a support to prepare the certifications offered by the PMI.

Project Initiation: The main goal is to select and start projects formally

The key outputs include:

1. Assigning the project manager
2. Identifying key stakeholders
3. Completing the project charter

Project Planning: The project plan guides execution.

The key outputs include:

1. A work breakdown structure (WBS)
2. A project schedule, in the form of a Gantt chart with all dependencies and resources
3. A list of prioritized risks

These are the five main process groups in the PMBOK. The initiating processes, the planning processes, the controlling processes, executing processes, and closing processes. The initiating process group initiates the project initiation activities, and as the project takes off, the planning processes are carried out by the project manager. The plan is to keep refined as it continues. In the executing processes, the project manager directs the project team to carry out various activities. Simultaneously, the controlling processes are carried out, and it monitors if there are deviations from the plan and then takes controlling actions. Further, once the project completes, the closing processes are carried out.

References:

• NPTEL Software Project Management by Rajib Mall, IIT Kharagpur.

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