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Apply as Needed:Using the
PMBOK 
® 
Guide 
to Build a Practical Project Management Process
1-800-843-8733www.learningtree.ca
©2007 Learning Tree International. All Rights Reserved.
 
Introduction
Many project managers, ater passing their PMI Project Management Proessional (PMP) certication exam,nd it dicult to apply the principles o the
 PMBOK 
®
Guide
(
 A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge,3rd Edition
 ) when managing their projects at work. That’s largely because using the
 PMBOK 
®
Guide
as the basisor real-world project management requires a dierent approach than memorizing inormation and situationalquestions.Dening a practical and eective project management process is a daunting task or any organization; however,basing the process on a recognized and stable project management standard, such as the
 PMBOK 
®
Guide
 , makesthe task easier…
if 
the standard is used appropriately. The current
 PMBOK 
®
Guide
oers a wealth o detailedproject management knowledge that can serve as an excellent basis or building a project management processrom the ground up, but its complexity can be an obstacle in dening a project management process in a simple,straightorward manner. Also, or all its strengths (and there are many), you must remember that the
 PMBOK 
®
Guide
is structured as areerence manual, which can sometimes make it cryptic and conusing. Its purpose is not to provide a road map with a clear “start to nish”pathway or a project, but rather to provide a checklist o what you should considerduring the journey, based on accumulated knowledge o what’s been recognized as being “best practices.” At Learning Tree, we believe that or the best results, you should take your academic knowledge o the
 PMBOK 
®
 Guide
 , mix it thoroughly with your own project management experience, sprinkle in the types o projects that aredone in your organization and then create a customized approach or successully accomplishing projects in yourown work environment.
Strengths and Challenges o the
PMBOK 
®
Guide
 
Using the
 PMBOK 
®
Guide
eectively as the oundation or your project management process requires you torecognize both its strengths and challenges. Its strengths include:• High quality content ocusing on essential project management knowledge and practices thatare “generally recognized as good practice or most projects, most o the time”• Dening and describing proven skills, tools and techniques targeting delivery o acceptableand consistent project results• A common project management language and approach or project managers and theirorganizations to useUltimately, this deeply detailed approach presents users with a two-dimensional view o what successul projectmanagers must do regardless o the type o project they are working on, arrayed across nine knowledge areasand ve process groups.On the other hand, the
 PMBOK 
®
Guide
has some inherent challenges that impact successul implementation o its contents. While it is a highly regarded, comprehensive ANSI standard that denes the discipline o projectmanagement, it is organized like a project management reerence manual describing what might be done, versusa gate-driven project management road map. Typically, we dene a project management process in an organizationby ocusing on who does what activity when. This is in confict with the primary ocus o the
 PMBOK 
®
Guide
 , which is to provide details and options or doing a specic thing. Thereore, this lack o milestone and gate-drivencontrol points is a serious gap that must be addressed when dening a project management process.
1
1-800-843-8733
•
www.learningtree.ca
LEARNING TREE INTERNATIONAL
 
Position Paper
©2007 Learning Tree International. All Rights Reserved.
Apply as Needed: Using the
PMBOK 
® 
Guide 
toBuild a Practical Project Management Process
 
In addition, when using the
 PMBOK 
®
Guide
in order to create management processes, you must build them withtheir detailed inputs, outputs, tools and techniques into a useul set o activities and deliverables that t
 your 
 projects and
 your 
organization. The necessary steps are:1. Identiy the required results, deliverables and milestones or your projects.2. Build a set o activities to be done to achieve these results.3. Support your process with deliverable templates, techniques and checklistsshowing how necessary activities are perormed.
Using the
PMBOK 
®
Guide
Wisely and Well
Plainly stated, the goal o building a solid project management process or your organization will be infuenced by  which o the
 PMBOK 
®
Guide
processes and supporting details you select and how you incorporate them into auseul, practical approach that works or you and your own circumstances. It will require an understanding o thetypes o projects that you work on and careul consideration o the
 PMBOK 
®
Guide
contents and principles andtheir relevance to the work you do. But this ront-end work isn’t the only aspect that makes achieving the goaldicult. To succeed, you also need to resist the temptation to simply apply a “standard”view o project manage-ment to dene a process. Although it may seem easier in theory, it usually results in processes that exceed yourrequirements or, more commonly, are at odds with the people and projects in your organization.Right rom the start, bear in mind that too much content and detail will result in a complicated, overwroughtproject management process that everyone in the organization will resist and no one will want to use. In order tobe eective,
 PMBOK 
®
Guide
contents must be prioritized, streamlined and tailored to t your business drivers, your organization and your projects. While there are overarching commonalities in how projects are managed, the
 PMBOK 
®
Guide
has it right in recognizing that the implementation is up to you.
Three Steps or Practical Application o the
PMBOK 
®
Guide
 
Step 1: Use a Gate-Driven Road Map
Because the
 PMBOK 
®
Guide
was not conceived as having gate-driven processes, the guidelines you give yourproject teams need to incorporate them. Start by dening major gates across the project lie cycle, then provide theproject teams with what’s required to successully complete the work and meet the gate. It’s also important to buildin reviews and approvals at each gate as part o what must be passed beore moving on to the next phase in theproject. Now you’ve set the stage or eective project control.By providing project managers and team members with a project management road map, you’re giving them aclearer direction and perspective on how to get where they need to go and what they need to accomplish along the way. Best o all, by ascribing these additional review and approval responsibilities to the entire project team and key stakeholders, you’ve added a critical element o control to your project management process.
Step 2: Select and Defne “Must Do” Processes
Don’t let the rich contents o the
 PMBOK 
®
Guide
overwhelm your common sense. The act is, most projectmanagement processes work better the simpler they are, so begin by recognizing it’s preerable to build a processthat is both easy to understand
and
easy to use. By prioritizing and selecting a core set o processes and relatedactivities, you can quickly get your projects up and running and keep the project team engaged with the new requirements o the process they are using.
2
1-800-843-8733
•
www.learningtree.ca
LEARNING TREE INTERNATIONAL
 
Position Paper
©2007 Learning Tree International. All Rights Reserved.
Apply as Needed: Using the
PMBOK 
® 
Guide 
toBuild a Practical Project Management Process
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