Introduction

Principles for a profession serve as foundational guidelines for strategy, decision making, and problem solving. Professional standards and methodologies are often based on principles. In some professions, principles serve as laws or rules, and are therefore prescriptive in nature. The principles of project management are not prescriptive in nature. They are intended to guide the behavior of people involved in projects. They are broadly based so there are many ways individuals and organizations can maintain alignment with the principles.

Principles can, but do not necessarily, reflect morals. A code of ethics is related to morals. A code of ethics for a profession can be adopted by an individual or profession to establish expectations for moral conduct. The PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct [2] is based on four values that were identified as most important to the project management community:

• Responsibility,
• Respect,
• Fairness, and
• Honesty.

The 12 principles of project management are aligned with the values identified in the PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. They do not follow the same format, and they are not duplicative, rather the principles and the Code of Ethics are complementary.

The principles of project management were identified and developed by engaging a global community of project practitioners. The practitioners represent different industries, cultural backgrounds, and organizations in different roles and with experience in various types of projects. Multiple rounds of feedback resulted in 12 principles that provide guidance for effective project management.

Because the principles of project management provide guidance, the degree of application and the way in which they are applied are influenced by the context of the organization, project, deliverables, project team, stakeholders, and other factors. The principles are internally consistent, meaning that no principle contradicts any other principle. However, in practice there may be times when the principles can overlap. For example, guidance for navigating complexity can present information that is useful in recognizing, evaluating, and responding to system interactions or optimizing risk responses.

Principles of project management can also have areas of overlap with general management principles. For example, both projects and business in general focus on delivering value. The methods may be somewhat different in projects as opposed to operations, but the underlying principle associated with focusing on value can apply to both. Figure 3-1 demonstrates this overlap.