THE MOVE TO A PRINCIPLE-BASED STANDARD

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 one that requires reflection to apply in practice. Since that time, many of PMI’s standards have moved to a principle-based format, such as The Standard for Program Management – Third Edition and The Standard for Portfolio Management – Fourth Edition. In addition, as part of supporting the development of ISO standards, PMI participated in discussions within ISO TC258¹ regarding the need to shift to a narrative- or principle-based approach and away from a process-based approach.

Comments by the review teams and exposure draft participants collectively affirmed the shift of The Standard for Project Management away from a process-based approach to a principle-based standard in keeping with research findings and practitioner need.