The 10 Project Management Knowledge Areas (PMBOK)

 What do you need to know to succeed in project management? Everything! While there is some truth to that joke, it is not helpful for the student or the experienced professional who is looking for a way to understand the many responsibilities of being a project manager. The project management tools, terms, knowledge, and skills are vast. This is why PMBOK was created — to help unify and standardize all these different parts.

What is PMBOK in Project Management?

PMBOK is the Project Management Body of Knowledge. It is a set of standard terminology and guidelines for project management published and updated by The Project Management Institute (PMI).

Project Management Knowledge Areas

Project Management Institute has divided the large field of project management into ten more digestible parts, which it calls the 10 project management knowledge areas in its A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). Project management knowledge areas coincide with the process groups, which are project initiation, project planning, project execution, monitoring and controlling, and project closing. These are the chronological phases that every project goes through.

There are four process groups in project management. The process groups take place during any of these project management activities and processes, which can be thought of as horizontal. The knowledge areas are vertical and represent the core technical subject matter necessary for effective project management.

1. Project Integration Management

What holds a project together? That would be the project integration management, which includes such fundamental plans as developing the project charter that is created during the initiation phase. This is the document that sets up the project and assigns the project manager.

The project management plan is implemented in order to reach a successful end of the project. It is approved by stakeholders and/or sponsors, and then it’s tracked through a change log as the project progresses. Project Manager software helps organizations monitor and manage these project plans.

This administrative area of the project schedule is where you will be able to organize, monitor, and control the production of the project. It allows you to see who has reviewed what, which tasks are complete or not, and when they are due. You also have access to request forms and other sources that may need approval from stakeholders or sponsors at the beginning or end of a project.

2. Project Scope Management

Scope relates to the project. So, that includes planning scope management which is a part of the project management plan. It also is when a detailed requirement for the final product or service is collected. You’ll also need to define scope in a scope statement. This is anything from a sentence to a bulleted list that is comprehensive to reduce major project risks. And we use work breakdown structures (WBS) on most projects.

Validate the scope of work during the project, which means making sure that the deliverables are being approved regularly by the sponsor or stakeholder. This occurs during the monitoring and controlling process groups and is about accepting the deliverables, not specifications laid out during planning. The scope statement is likely going to change over time as deadlines push project delivery back

3. Project Time Management

Project time management is not the best option for people who don't want to lose a lot of time. With a project, each step must be scheduled with start dates and deadlines as well as budgets. Things are constantly changing over the phases of any project, so these events will require revising them often. This involves planning schedule management, which involves creating a schedule for your project and determining who has responsibility for what. That means defining activities and isn't the same as making a work breakdown structure but similar. So, you create a task list that touches on every aspect of your project.

Related: Time Management Strategies & Tools

The tasks are then put in an order that makes sense and any dependencies between them will be noted. These dependencies are then determined to be either finish-to-start, finish-to-finish, start-to-start, or start-to-finish.

It's important to have a schedule of what needs to be done, and it's necessary to determine the number of resources needed for each task. Start by figuring out the critical path; then figure out the amount of resource time that is needed for each task. Using a Gantt chart, you can place the tasks on a timeline. Then work on balancing resources.

It's important to know what you need to do and how long each task will take. Start by figuring out the critical path; then figure out the amount of resource time that is needed for each task. Using a Gantt chart, you can place the tasks on a timeline. You can also balance resources.

4. Project Cost Management

This area involves the project's budget, which means it is vital to have good estimating tools to help make sure that the funds are covering the extent of the project and are being monitored regularly.

Related: Free Project Budget Template for Excel

Planned budget management will determine the method to establish the budget, which includes how and if it will change, what procedures will be used to control it, and how much each task will cost.

This will determine the spending for the project, if all tasks are taken into account and their costs are combined. We control that by performing an earned value analysis regularly throughout the project to make sure things get done on time and in a cost-effective way while still meeting deadlines.

5. Project Quality Management

If a project comes in on time and within budget, but the quality is not up to specifications, it will be considered a failure. A company can rely on quality management as part of its overall project plan; it may be a stand-alone document if the company has quality specifications for its product or service.

The process must include quality assurance. This is just a way to make sure that quality standards are being met. To control quality, the deliverables must be inspected to make sure that those standards outlined in the quality management plan are being met.

6. Project Human Resource Management

The process must include quality assurance. Quality control is how we make sure we have a process that ensures quality standards. To control quality, the deliverables must be inspected to make sure that those standards outlined in the quality management plan are being met.

After you've determined the job descriptions, it's time to fill those positions and acquire a project team. This can be done in-house by drawing from other departments in the organization or by getting new hires. The team needs development and potentially training to make them viable for the project.

Managing the project team is an ongoing responsibility of a project manager. The project manager must be able to assess the team and decide if they are working productively and that there are no internal conflicts, so everyone is satisfied.

7. Project Communications Management

Communication management is key in any project. You need to plan your communications from the start of your project so that you can inform everybody involved and make sure that your project runs smoothly.

Related: Free Communication Plan Template

Decide how and when information is communicated. You will know how and with what frequency people need information from you, your team or other groups relevant to the project. Think about how communication changes when issues arise in your work and how that might affect who receives what type of information.

Manage communications for the project to make sure it runs smoothly. This includes monitoring the effectiveness of communications and responding appropriately when needed.

8. Project Risk Management

Design plans will identify when risks might occur and how they can be minimized. A risk register should also be made to help prioritize the risks. Then, qualitative analysis can help find which one is the biggest one before a quantitative analysis can be done according to their impact on the project.

Now you'll need to take risks. If those risks turn out to be issued, then a response has been written in advance, with an owner who can make sure the risk is properly identified and handled. Controlling risk involves regularly reviewing the risk register and crossing off those risks that will no longer impact the project.

9. Project Procurement Management

It's important to find the best way to budget and schedule a project. Procurement is one part of your project that will have an impact on these factors. Planning procurement management starts with identifying the outside needs of the project and how those contractors will be involved.

Create a statement of work, terms of reference, request for proposals, and choose a vendor. Monitor the procurement process to ensure it is completed in accordance with your terms. Once the work has been done to satisfaction close out the contracts.

10. Project Stakeholder Management

The stakeholders must be happy, as the project has been created for their needs. Therefore, they must be actively managed like any other part of the project. To start one must identify the stakeholders through stakeholder analysis. It’s not always easy, but it’s a crucial part of starting any project, so find out who they are and what concerns they have.

Now that you have your project scope, it's time to plan stakeholder management. This will consist of listing all of the stakeholders and determining what their concerns are with the project and how they might impact it. This will lead to managing stakeholders’ expectations in order to make sure their needs are met and that you're communicating with them.

Throughout the project, monitor stakeholder engagement. Do this by understanding if the stakeholders’ needs are being satisfied and making adjustments as necessary.

Project Manager is a cloud-based project management tool. Its real-time dashboards and Gantt charts help you monitor the project accurately. We offer a free 30-day trial to see if our program can benefit you.