Project Management Standards


Concern for the competence of project managers in successfully delivering projects is evidenced not only through research into project success and various aspects of project management competence, but through the development of standards that can be used to guide the development and assessment of project personnel.

Standards relating to aspects of project management competence fall into two main areas—those relating to what project managers are expected to know, represented by project management body of knowledge guides; and those relating to what project managers are expected to be able to do, which primarily take the form of performance-based or occupational competency standards.

There are three widely accepted project management knowledge standards:

  • A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide)—PMI (Project Management Institute 2000)

  • sIPMA Competence Baseline (ICB)—IPMA (International Project Management Association 1999)

  • Association for Project Management Body of Knowledge (APM BoK)—APM (UK) (Dixon 2000).

Of these, the PMBOK Guide is the most widely recognized and accepted, with over 800,000 copies distributed worldwide. It was approved as an American National Standard (ANSI/PMI 99-001-2000) on 27 March 2001. It defines nine knowledge areas within project management, and claims to "identify and describe that subset of the [Project Management Body of Knowledge] PMBOK that is generally accepted" (Project Management Institute 2000, 3), providing a "consistent structure" for the professional development programs of PMI including:

  • Certification of Project Management Professionals (PMP )

  • Accreditation of educational programs in project management.

The PMBOK Guide, which in its current form was published in 2000, was developed through a process of consultation, "written and reviewed by a global network of project management practitioners, working as volunteers" (Project Management Institute 1999a).

Performance based competency standards describe what people can be expected to do in their working roles, as well as the knowledge and understanding of their occupation that is needed to underpin these roles at a specific level of competence.

The first generic performance-based competency standards for project management were the Australian National Competency Standards for Project Management, which were developed through the efforts of the Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM) and endorsed by the Australian Government on 1 July 1996. In the United Kingdom, the Occupational Standards Council for Engineering (OSCEng) produced standards for Project Controls (Occupational Standards Council for Engineering 1996) which were endorsed in December 1996 and for Project Management (Occupational Standards Council for Engineering 1997) which were endorsed in early 1997. The Construction Industry Standing Conference (CISC), the Management Charter Initiative (MCI), and what was then called the Engineering Services Standing Conference (ESSC), now the Occupational Standards Council for Engineering (OSCEng), developed Level 5 NVQ/SVQ (National Vocational Qualifications/Scottish Vocational Qualifications) competency standards for construction project management. A section of the Management Charter Initiative Management Standards, titled Manage Projects (Management Charter Initiative 1997), provides a further set of competency standards for project management but in this case, within the general management framework.

Of these standards, the Australian National Competency Standards for Project Management and the OSCEng standards for both project management and project controls have attracted the most interest. However, the Australian standards, which follow the same structure as the PMBOK Guide and use the PMBOK Guide as a knowledge base, have attracted the most global interest.

The Australian standards were developed over a three-year period commencing in 1993 and culminating in the endorsement of the standards by the Australian Government in 1996. Development was carried out by a consultant working under the guidance of a Steering Committee and Reference Group representing over fifty Australian organizations. The standards development process is well documented (Gonczi, Hager, and Oliver 1990; Heywood, Gonczi, and Hagar 1992) and requires the examination of existing information about the occupation and analysis of the purpose and functions of the profession and the roles and activities of its members (Heywood, Gonczi, and Hagar 1992, 46) in order to derive the units and elements of competency that provide the structure for the standards. There are nine units in the standards, described at Levels 4, 5, and 6 as shown in Table 3.

Table 3: Units in the Australian National Competency Standards for Project Management

Level 4

Level 5

Level 6

Unit 1

Not Applicable at Level 4

Guide Application of Project Integrative Processes

Manage Project Integration

Unit 2

Apply Skills in Scope Management

Guide Application of Scope Management

Manage Scope

Unit 3

Apply Skills in Time Management

Guide Application of Time Management

Manage Time

Unit 4

Apply Skills in Cost Management

Guide Application of Cost Management

Manage Cost

Unit 5

Apply Skills in Quality Management

Guide Application of Quality Management

Manage Quality

Unit 6

Apply Skills in Human Resources Management

Guide Application of Human Resources Management

Manage Human Resources

Unit 7

Apply Skills in Communications Management

Guide Application of Communications Management

Manage Communications

Unit 8

Apply Skills in Risk Management

Guide Application of Risk Management

Manage Risk

Unit 9

Apply Skills in Procurement Management

Guide Application of Procurement Management

Manage Procurement

NB: Level 4 of the standards does not include the Unit relating to Integrative Processes.




The Frontiers of Project Management Research
The Frontiers of Project Management Research
ISBN: 1880410745
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2002
Pages: 207

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