Project management skills are essential across a variety of industries. Even in the most technical industries, project managers have a lot to offer their organizations.
There is a high demand for project managers, so more and more professionals are considering a Post Graduate Program in Project Management.
If you’re preparing for your PMP certification exam, you’re in for significant changes with the new PMBOK® 7 vs. 6. Published by the Project Management Institute (PMI®), the PMBOK® (Project Management Body of Knowledge) offers comprehensive coverage of the exam’s required knowledge.
Here are the significant differences to watch out for in studying for the PMP exam.
PMBOK® Content
Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®) is one of the essential project management textbooks. It will be released by the end of this summer, and there will be a significant content overhaul from PMBOK 6. Reflective of shifting project management priorities, PMBOK 7 emphasizes performance over the process.
The Project Management Institute publishes the PMBOK® Guide to provide a global standard for all things project management, and each new edition reflects careful consideration of project management profession changes. The standard for project management, which is contained inside the PMBOK® Guide, is an American National Standards Institute or ANSI standard. It has to be updated every four to five years to meet professional standards.
PMBOK 6
PMBOK® 6 is a guide on how to manage projects. It’s broken down into sections for the project environment, what the project manager does, and essential knowledge in project management.
Structure and Focus
The PMBOK® Guide was redesigned for the seventh edition. This redesign included a different structure, which enabled the team to remove additional pages.
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PMBOK® 6 Knowledge Areas to Performance Domains in PMBOK® 7
The ten knowledge areas of the PMBOK® Guide have been replaced by a set of 8 performance domains in the PMBOK® Guide. The PMI defines a domain as “groups of related activities critical for the effective delivery of project outcomes.”
The PMI has created a clickable reference guide for the eight performance domains supporting the seventh edition. PMP® credential holders are expected to know information from the sixth edition because some of it is still relevant. For example, all of the knowledge areas contain testable content.
Also Read – PMBOK® Guide 7th Edition
PMBOK® 7
The contents within PMBOK® 7 include tailoring, models, methods, artifacts, and eight performance domains. There’s a drastic shift from processes to performance. The performance domains are focused on overall outcomes rather than just the processes and techniques used within a project’s executions. The importance of project quality is emphasized.
The concept of project tailoring was introduced and is based on the idea that a single approach may not allow project managers to meet the required project deliverables, organizational demands, and project needs. Tailoring encourages the management to adapt the specifications of a project so that it meets all requirements.
PMBOK® 7 Models, Methods, Artifacts
The new models, methods, and artifacts section provides users with articles, videos, and templates. It ties them to the performance domain they would be most helpful in, which offers excellent value for aspiring and working project managers alike.
Project Management Standards
You can find more changes between PMBOK® 6 and PMBOK® 7 under the project management standards.
PMBOK® 6
In PMBOK® 6, project management includes five comprehensive scales: initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing. These standards summarize the processes that project managers apply to deliver a successful project.
PMBOK® 7
In the 7th edition of PMBOK®, project management processes are now presented as project delivery principles.
PMBOK® 7 Project Management Standards
The 7th PMBOK® edition condenses the six domains of projects in an effort to focus on just twelve project management standards.
- Stewardship
- Team
- Stakeholders
- Value
- Holistic Thinking
- Leadership
- Tailoring
- Quality
- Complexity
- Opportunities & Threats
- Adaptability & Resilience
- Change Management
Value Delivery System
The rescheduling of the PMBOK® Guide from process-oriented to value-delivery model reflects the current global economic trend, as organizations have to cope with massive market changes.
Professionals preparing for the PMP® exam or certified professionals seeking to keep their skills relevant will benefit from the PMI’s new Value Delivery System Explainer. Anyone can open the resources and click through “the concept of information flow in creating value to life.”
The value delivery system focuses on maximizing the potential for value within a project. It is a process of ensuring that your communications are not too tight and that you take the time to focus on your clients as much as yourself.
New Platform: Standards Plus
“PMI Standards +” is a PMBOK-focused knowledge base that provides project managers, PMP credential holders, and those preparing for the PMP exam access to practical “PMI standards” advice.
PMBOK® Guide and the PMP® Certification Exam
Although the new PMBOK® Guide takes a different approach to detailing the Body of Knowledge that all project managers should be familiar with, it does not invalidate or replace technical knowledge released in the PMBOK® Guide sixth edition. All content in the PMBOK® Guide sixth edition is still relevant and useable material.
Also Read – PMP® Exam Changes and What You Need to Know About PMBOK® 7th Edition
Conclusion:
The PMBOK® Guide changes have been made in performance domains, tailoring, and models. The shift from the 6th Edition to the 7th Edition of the Guide includes more than a few process tweaks. The 7th Edition is an update on how the project management discipline presents itself at a conceptual level. Project managers should understand this content as PMBOK® Guide 7th Edition vs. 6th Edit.
As a premier partner of PMI’s Authorized Training Partner Program, we teach the PMI Authorized Exam Prep course materials with exclusive lessons to ensure that our students understand PMBOK® Guide content as they prepare to earn the PMP credential.