PMBOK Guide 8th Edition – ManagementYogi’s First View and Analysis on the Process Groups, Performance Domains and Addition of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

 

The PMBOK® Guide, 8th edition is currently available on the Project Management Institute’s (PMI®) website. It’s a draft version. There has been a complete overhaul when you compare the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide 8th edition with the 7th edition or the 6th edition. Nevertheless, commonalities remain. One fresh introduction has been with respect to Artificial Intelligence (AI).  

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https://publiccomment.pmi.org/ 

If you are a Project Management Professional (PMP®) from my sessions and/or have used my courses and books on project management, portfolio management, risk management, agile management among others, I’d strongly suggest that you go through it and give your review comments. PMI has been a pioneer in the field of project-program-portfolio management for decades and has made enormous contributions towards it.

Do note that it’s a draft edition and hence the approved one will have additions, removals and modifications. A number of new contents can also be added.

Now, let’s see the changes briefly on the Process Groups and Performance Domains. 

Process Groups (PG)

The Process Groups (PGs) have made a comeback in the PMBOK 8th edition, draft version. Yes, indeed! In the PMBOK 7th edition, it was completely removed with the exception of a few lines in one of the Models-Methods-Artifacts (MMA) sections. 

In fact, a note in the PMBOK8 draft is as follows:

“This eighth edition reintroduces the ITTOs and process descriptions within the organization structure of the project management performance domains.”

I agree with this approach and idea. It gives aspiring Project Management Professional (PMPs) to know what project management actually is, with more clarity, rather than high content in abstract. For a newcomer and even with experienced PMs, it’ll be much more useful. 

The process groups in the PMBOK, 8th edition, remain the same:

• Initiating
• Planning
• Closing
• Monitoring and Controlling
• Closing

However, the number, name, content, and sequencing of the processes are different. If you have used my PMP Course, you’d quickly capture and write down the processes on your own in a sequence.

A New Process Map

Following are the processes across the PGs in PMBOK Guide, 8th edition.

• Initiating = 2 processes 
• Planning = 19 processes 
• Executing = 9 processes
• Monitoring and Controlling = 9 processes
• Closing = 1 process

In total, there are now 40 processes:

= Initiating (2) + Planning (19) + Executing (9) + Monitoring and Controlling (9) + Closing (1)

= 2 + 19 + 9 + 9 + 1

= 40

Earlier, in the PMBOK Guide, 6th edition, there were 49 processes:

= Initiating (2) + Planning (24) + Executing (10) + Monitoring and Controlling (12) + Closing (1)

= 2 + 24 + 10 + 12 + 1

= 49

In my sessions, books and courses, I explain the importance of the processes and how they interact. It’s a must-know for anyone aspiring to be a PMP. The sequencing of processes should be on your finger-tips to really know and understand project management. 

In addition, if you understand the process map and the flow as well as interactions of the processes, it’s much easier to understand the PMBOK Guide. 

Performance Domains (PD)

Performance Domains (PDs) are completely changed in the PMBOK Guide, 8th edition. Earlier in the PMBOK Guide, 7th edition there were PDs such as Stakeholders, Team, Development Approach and Life Cycle (DALC), Uncertainty, Measurement, among others.

The PMBOK8 resembles more like the PMBOK, 6th edition. I agree with this approach, as real-world project managers need to know what actually happens on ground. PMBOK6, in fact, was more suitable in this regard.

The knowledge areas (KAs) in the PMBOK6, 6th edition final approved version, were:

1. Integration Management
2. Scope Management
3. Schedule Management
4. Cost Management
5. Quality Management
6. Resource Management
7. Communication Management
8. Risk Management
9. Procurement Management
10. Stakeholder Management

The performance domains (PDs) in the PMBOK Guide, 8th edition draft version, are:

1. Governance
2. Scope
3. Schedule
4. Finance
5. Stakeholders
6. Resources
7. Risk

Do note that the two top changes are:

1. It’s not called a knowledge area, but a performance domain.

2. There is no “management” word involved in the PDs, but simply the name of the PD. For example, inplace of Schedule Management, it’s simply called Schedule.

What Happened to Quality, Communication and Procurement?

The first thing (again if you have followed my courses and books or sessions), you’d have noticed are the following:

• Integration Management is not there.
• Quality Management is not there.
• Communication Management is also not part of the list.
• Procurement Management, too, is not part of the list.

So, what happened to them?

Again, as I went through, these are the changes:

• Integration Management is now Governance PD.
• Quality Management content (significant aspects) has been moved into Scope PD.
• Communication Management is moved into Stakeholders PD.
• Procurement Management content (some aspects) has been moved into Schedule PD.

For the performance domain, you also have these additions:

• Key Concepts
• Processes
• Tailoring considerations (in many places). 

I find these to be very important and useful. 

Also, in every performance domain, you’ll have:

• Interactions with other domains: For example, how Governance PD interacts with Scope, Risk, Resources PDs, among others.
• Check Results (Outcomes): This is another important aspect. You need to know when the respective PD will be considered to be successful.

Knowledge Areas and Performance Domains are two different concepts. You can read these two articles to learn more.

• PMBOK 7th edition: Principles, Performance Domains and Artifacts - How They Plug and Play Together (1)
• PMBOK 7th edition: Principles, Performance Domains and Artifacts - How They Plug and Play Together (2)

Introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

A key and important addition in the PMBOK Guide, 8th edition is the direct addition of rapidly evolving Artificial Intelligence (AI) related content. For example, in Schedule PD, there is a section on AI and ML (machine-learning) based schedule optimization. 

PMBOK8, in fact, has a dedicated section on it – X3: Artificial Intelligence.

Among others, this section covers AI in project management context, strategies for AI adoption, and above all, usage of AI in various PDs such as Governance, Risk, Schedule, Stakeholders.

Conclusion

If you are a keen learner of project, program and portfolio (PPP) management, I’d strongly recommend that you go through the new draft for the PMBOK Guide, 8th edition. 

References

[1] PMP Live Lessons – Guaranteed Pass or Your Full Money-Back, by Satya Narayan Dash

[2] PMP 35 Contact Hours Online Course, Full Money-Back Guarantee, by Satya Narayan Dash

[3] Book, I Want To Be A PMP – The plain and simple way, Second Edition, by Satya Narayan Dash