Category: Research and Development for the Standard for Project Management

Continuing changes in the project management profession and the ways in which projects are managed support a less prescriptive standard. Industry research, global participation with broad industry representation, and an iterative review process shaped and validated the move from a process-based standard to a principle-based standard. Future teams can evaluate the impact of the shift…

The draft standard was made available for public review and comment from 15 January to 14 February 2020. Almost 600 individuals submitted comments on the exposure draft. In response to the exposure draft comments, the content was reorganized and edited for clarity. Most comments indicated agreement with the intent of the principle-based standard. The Development…

The Development Team worked in pairs and small teams to develop the initial content for each of the three sections that comprise The Standard for Project Management. Once the initial drafts were integrated, the Development Team and Review Team 1 reviewed and commented on the drafts of each section of the standard. These reviews produced over…

Throughout the development process, global workshops were held where the move to a principle-based standard was presented and workshop participants were asked to explore guiding principles for project management. Workshops were presented in Dublin, Ireland (PMI Global Congress – EMEA); Bangalore, India; Brazilia, Brazil; Ottawa, Canada (PMI Global Executive Council meeting); Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States…

Content in the standard was validated using three main approaches: global workshops, iterative development, and public exposure draft.

Developing the standard included ensuring global stakeholder representation from a broad range of industries and the various approaches to managing projects.

Prior to updating The Standard for Project Management, significant research and review were conducted, including: Analysis of the research led to the conclusion that more organizations are embracing a variety of project management approaches. Some organizations are moving toward a hybrid approach which mixes predictive and adaptive practices. Organizations and project teams are tailoring their approaches…

Since 2010, PMI’s standards program has included research in addition to practitioner experience to develop standards. Academic research, market research, focus groups, and practitioner experience have been inputs when updating many of the standards documents, including The Standard for Project Management. As early as 2012, research suggested a move away from a prescriptive, process-oriented standard toward…

The purpose of this appendix is to provide insight into how the update to The Standard for Project Management was developed. Content includes: