Year Edition Project Groups Knowledge Areas Processes Pages

2017 Sixth + Agile 5 10 49 ~980

PMP 2018 - 7 Key Changes in PMBOK 6th

Edition
08 April, 2018

PMBOK 6th Edition has been released on 2017 Q4 and the PMP exam has changed for
PMBOK 6th Ed after 26th of March 2018. But what are the changes from the PMBOK
5th edition to PMBOK 6th edition? How will the PMBOK 6th edition change impact me?
From when will PMBOK 6th edition come into force? Yes, many questions for a PMP
aspirant like you. Let us dig deeper to understand what changes in PMBOK 6th edition and
what does not and how and whom it will impact.

PMI announced the high level changes that will be introduced in PMBOK 6th edition
previously. We will summarize the changes in PMBOK 6th edition in this article.

What is PMBOK?
PMBOK or A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge is the defacto standard
on project management. It conforms to American National Standard Institute (ANSI)
standard and is touted as the GOLD standard in project management.

Why is PMBOK important to you?

Are you aspiring to be a PMP- Project Management Professional? Then, the PMP
certification exam is based on the PMBOK though you need to also be knowing concepts
from other books and resources.
Even if you are not appearing for the PMP certification exam, if you are working in project
management arena, you still would need to know about PMBOK.

How PMBOK helps you?

PMBOK is helpful for all project managers and aspiring project management progessionals
including those preparing for PMP certification and Certified Associate in Project
Management (CAPM) certification.

If you are preparing for the PMP certification, your exam will be based primarily on
the PMBOK. Therefore, you need to understand what the PMBOK has and hence, the
changes from PMBOK 5th edition to PMBOK 6th edition are critical for you in your exam
preparation.

What if am a project manager and not right now thinking of PMP certification? Should
I still follow PMBOK?

PMBOK is the framework which guides project managers for successful completion of
projects according to the project objectives. Therefore, PMBOK and the changes in PMBOK
6th edition are definitely important for you too! Since the PMBOK 6th edition is aligned to
the current practices in project management, even if you are not planning for CAPM or PMP,
it is imperative to know about PMBOK 6th edition.

Why does the PMBOK edition change?

PMI revises the PMBOK every few years to ensure the Guide to Project Management Body
of Knowledge is current and meets the changing trends and practices in project management.
As you are aware, PMI is run by volunteers. This change from PMBOK 5th edition to
PMBOK 6th edition has been accomplished by the efforts of the volunteer base. These
volunteers are practicing project managers from various industries.

PMBOK 6th Edition: When will this happen?

PMI has released the PMBOK 6th Edition on 2017 Q4. Moreover, it is going to be released in
10 more languages this time. Therefore, check out if you have a PMBOK 6th edition that is in
your native language!

Will the online version of PMBOK 6th edition be released earlier? No, both the hard copy
and soft copy will be out at the same time. So, pick the PMBOK 6th edition that you are most
comfortable with.

Can I get a sneak peek of PMBOK 6th Edition?

PMI released the final version of the PMBOK 6th edition in 2017 Q4. Project Management
professionals across the globe could send their feedback on the changes proposed who are
members of PMI. But, now it is closed for comments. You can access to PMBOK 6th
Edition from PMI library. If you are interested in changes from PMBOK 5th Ed to
PMBOK 6th Ed, don't worry, we will give you a distilled version of what changes you can
expect from the PMBOK 6th edition in this article. So, read on.

PMBOK 6th Edition: What is changing in

PMBOK 6?
We will go through the changes in process groups, knowledge areas, processes, project
management plan components and project documents.

PMBOK 6th edition Process Groups

There were 5 process groups in PMBOK 5: Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring &
Controlling and Closing. These 5 process groups will remain same in PMBOK 6th edition as
well. There is essentially the same framework in PMBOK 6th edition too. A few additions in
the number of processes and streamlining of processes to reflect current practices has been
the focus of change to PMBOK 6th edition from the PMBOK 5th edition.

What is different in PMBOK6?

In PMBOK 6th edition, the processes are organized around the process groups. Since
processes are more relevant to the process group as compared to a knowledge area, PMBOK
6th edition has organized processes by process groups. As already mentioned, PMI listens to
the practitioners and hence brought about this change in PMBOK 6th edition.

Change #1: Changes in total chapters in PMBOK 6th

edition
We had a total of 13 chapters in PMBOK 5th edition. Chapter 1-3 was to give you an overall
picture of project management framework and the role and skills of a project manager. It
covered the concepts of project, program, portfolio and organizational structures in addition
to the life cycle of project.

PMBOK 6th edition consolidates these chapters. We have a new chapter on what a project
manager is supposed to do. In addition to this, the skills and competencies you should possess
as a Project manager are now aligned to the PMI Talent Triangle.

What is PMI Talent Triangle?

As a contemporary project manager, it is not enough if you have technical skills. The
dynamically changing project environment and the evolving trends in the industry necessitate
the project manager to have additional skills. What are the skills needed?
Strategic & Business Management

It is not enough to manage the triple constraints of a project. You need to understand the
business alignment and fitment of the project. Therefore, you need strategic & business
management skills. What does it involve?

With the changes in PMBOK 6th edition, you need to understand skills that help you analyze
competition, market, know the legal implications, business models, etc.

Leadership Skills

Though leadership skills were discussed in PMBOK 5, the PMBOK 6th edition gives a
greater emphasis to these skills. Leadership skills include emotional intelligence, problem
solving, team building and influencing which give you the needed competency to motivate
your team.

Technical Skills

PMBOK 6th edition continues the need for skills with respect to the domain you are working
in. In addition to this, you would need to know the performance management, earned value
management, governance, life cycle management, etc. which were part of the earlier edition
too.

Change #2: PMBOK 6th Edition Knowledge Areas:

There are 10 knowledge areas in PMBOK 5. These knowledge areas will still exist in
PMBOK 6th edition but 2 of these knowledge areas will appear with new names as below in
the table::

What changed in knowledge areas in PMBOK 6th edition?

As you have seen, number did not change but names of two knowledge areas changed to
better align with project needs. Now, every knowledge area in PMBOK 6th edition will have
4 additional sections. These are:

 Key concepts
 Tailoring considerations: Earlier edition had a mention on need for tailoring but
nothing specific was mentioned. PMBOK 6th edition has more detailed guidelines on
these and an appendix added that discusses the tailoring considerations. Using these
tailoring guidelines, you know which processes to put more focus on that depend on
the size of the project you are working on and of course the scope of work!
 What are the developments and New practices being used in project management is
also discussed
 Focus on Agile and adaptive methodology: keeping with the changing trend in various
industries, PMBOK 6th edition has included what a project using agile or adaptive
methodology may use

Why Name Change in PMBOK 6th Edition?

Human Resource Management

Human Resource management knowledge area is renamed as Resource Management

knowledge area. Definitely, this is a logical change that was needed, since many project
managers have felt this need for a long time. Why only people when we need to also manage
other materials, equipment, machines, etc.?

Because, project management disciplien does not cover human resources alone. It covers
other types of resources as well. Physical resources (materials, equipment, licenses …etc) are
also part of project management and their management is essential for success.

Often, equipment and tools are shared resources and planning their availability and managing
them is a critical aspect for successful project completion. Therefore, this Resource
Management knowledge area now includes human resources and other resources too.

Time Management

Time Management knowledge area is renamed as Schedule Management knowledge area to

emphasize the importance of scheduling in project management. Moreover, this now supports
the Practice Standard on this published by PMI – Practice standard for Scheduling. Practice
standards help you implement the concepts in the PMBOK. These practice standards detail
how you can use the tools, techniques and processes given in the foundation standards.
PMBOK 6th edition is a foundation standard. Therefore, it makes sense to bring the Time
Management in line with the Practice Standard for scheduling.

What are the changes in the processes in PMBOK 6th Edition?

There were a total of 47 processes in PMBOK 5th edition. Were processes added or removed
from PMBOK 6th edition? How does it impact me for PMP or CAPM exam?
Total Number of processes increased from 47 to 49. But, there were both additions and
deletions. Then, how did the final count go up?

Change #3: Three New Processes in PMBOK 6th Edition:

Here is the tally of the processes: There will be three new processes in PMBOK 6th edition.

Close procurement in Procurement Knowledge area has been removed as a process and the
content of this process clubbed with control procurement and close project. Close
procurement was dealing with the closure of contracts of vendors which was generally not
performed by project managers in most organizations. Hence, PMI implementing Kaizen and
feedback into its processes has modified to reflect the reality.
Therefore the tally is PMBOK 5th edition 47 processes to which 3 added = 50 from which 1
removed, essentially becomes 50-1=49 in PMBOK 6th edition.

Manage Project Knowledge in PMBOK 6th edition:

This is the new process added to Integration knowledge area under execution process group
and the total count in integration becomes 7. What is this process meant for in PMBOK 6th
edition? Execution in Integration is where the deliverables are being created. This is where
there is a need for decision making. Hence, there is a need for processing data to information
to knowledge & wisdom based on which the decisions will be made. Keeping with the
current trends, knowledge is power which will help project manager use the data crunching
technologies and make informed decisions.

Implement Risk Response in PMBOK 6th Edition:

In risk management, earlier editions had planning risk response & control of risk (now
monitor risk) while there was no explicit mention on implementation. Though the
implementation was part of the execution process of integration, the need for explicit
implementation was realized in the PMBOK 6th edition.

PMI survey also stated that many project failures are due to improper risk management.
Hence, this implement risk response in execution is a needed addition in the risk management
knowledge area.

Control Resources in PMBOK 6th edition

This is the new process which is for monitoring and controlling the different resources that
are there in the project. This is aligned to the change in the knowledge area from Human
Resources to a broader ‘Resource’ management. Hence, keeping track of the various
resources and their utilization becomes imperative. Therefore, this control resources process
has been added to PMBOK 6th edition.

Change #4: Six Changes in Existing Processes in PMBOK

6th Edition:
There are slight changes in existing processes in PMBOK 6th Edition.

Estimate Activity Resources was belonging to Planning Process Group and Time
Management Knowledge area. In PMBOK 6th edition, it is still belonging to Planning
Process Group but now it will be part of Resource Management knowledge area.

6 processes are renamed in PMBOK 6 although the content of these processes remains same.
Table below shows the changes of process names from PMBOK 5 to PMBOK 6th edition.

The table shows the processes where there is either a name change or a new process
added/moved.
Why have these done? If you look at the changes that have been happening in the PMBOK
over the years, one major reason is to bring uniformity while another is bridging the gaps that
were there. These changes to the process names in PMBOK 6th edition reflect the reality in
terms of what happens there.

Control to Monitor: While the project is executed, we observe (monitor) to understand what
is happening and customize the strategy to meet changing needs. This is the realignment that
has been done in communication, risk and stakeholder knowledge areas for the processes in
monitor and controlling process group in PMBOK 6th edition.

Quality Management: While quality assurance is one way to manage quality during
execution, there are also other aspects to be taken care of. This management of quality is
what the name change reflects.

Stakeholder: During the project, it is essential to understand how to involve stakeholders,

their participation to ensure all the stakeholders are in consensus with the progress and
results. Hence, the change to engagement in PMBOK 6th edition from management makes
sense.

Comparison of processes by Knowledge Area in PMBOK 5th edition and PMBOK 6th
edition:
Change #5: PMBOK 6th Edition Changes in Project
Management Plan Components and Project Documents
 In PMBOK 5, project management plan components (procurement management plan,
stakeholder management plan … etc.) were depicted as inputs/outputs to a process. In
PMBOK 6th Edition, project management plan itself will be depicted as input/output.
 Beneath the input/output table, a list of potential project management plan
components is identified. However, the components of the project management plan
that will be inputs or updated depends on the needs of the project.
 Project documents are listed as an input and project documents updates is listed as an
output, as appropriate. Beneath the input/output table, there is a list of potential
project documents that may be inputs, or may be updated as an output. The needs of
the project will determine the actual project documents that should be inputs or
updated as an output.

Change #6: Agile in PMBOK 6th Edition

Again an addition to keep up with current practices is, adding more information on the
iterative and adaptive methods. Therefore, this includes the agile methodology in PMBOK
6th edition. Many projects are embracing the agile methodology to deliver their projects.
Hence, PMI has updated the PMBOK 6th edition with the relevant agile practices that are
needed for each knowledge area. Moreover, an appendix containing practices used in
adaptive environment is a great change in PMBOK 6th edition.

Change #7: Other notable changes in PMBOK 6th

Edition:
Escalate Response: During project execution, you may not be able to handle all the risk and
the many need to be escalated to others to be addressed appropriately. You can do this in
PMBOK 6th edition using ‘Escalate Response’

Scope: Though you may have seen the mention of project scope as part of the total scope,
PMBOK 6th edition emphasizes the importance of both product and project scope.

Many processes are renamed from control to monitor, bringing commonality in terms of tools
and techniques used for each process are a few changes.

What changes can I expect in PMP Exam

with PMBOK 6th edition?
Will there be a drastic change in the PMP exam when the PMBOK 6th edition comes? To
answer this, we need to understand what impacts the PMP Exam:
PMP Exam will change in two instances:

 When PMBOK edition gets updated: As you have seen, there are quite a few
changes in PMBOK 6th edition. The names of knowledge areas, processes, etc. have
changed. A few new concepts added. Therefore, the exam has to be aligned to the
modified/updated content.
 Role Delineation Study: PMI advocates and practices continuous improvement.
Therefore you see the PMBOK edition changing every few years, as it has now
changed to PMBOK 6th edition.
 Exam Content Outline: The outline upon which the PMP Exam is based depends on
the Role Delineation Study. The most recent study was conducted by PMI in 2015
and hence major changes in exam content may not be expected.

Therefore, exam terms may be realigned to reflect the PMBOK 6th edition changes.

What about CAPM Exam?

Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) is for beginners in project management.
CAPM exam is more dependent on the PMBOK. While the application of project
management knowledge is tested in PMP, it is more conceptual in CAPM. Therefore, you
may expect greater changes in CAPM exam with updates to PMBOK 6th edition.

How does change to PMBOK 6th edition affect me?

Are you an aspiring PMP or CAPM? Then, what we have given above will apply to you.

When will the PMP Exam change?

PMP exam has changed on 26th of March 2018 and since then, PMP exam questions are
coming based on PMBOK 6th Edition.
What if I am already certified?

You too need to be aware of the changes in PMBOK 6th edition. As a practicing project
manager, you definitely will find this very helpful to guide you in the projects.

PMP renewal

On top of that, attending an upgrade workshop on the PMBOK 6th edition changes will give
you the Professional Development Units (PDUs) required for your PMP Renewal. Moreover,
as part of the PMI code of ethics which you abide by, you need to evaluate yourself of the
latest changes and trends in the project management profession.

In a nutshell, PMBOK 6th edition has filled many gaps, made terms, processes more
uniform across the knowledge areas.