Featured Topics

Agile approaches to project management aim for early, measurable ROI through defined, iterative delivery of product increments. They feature continuous involvement of the customer throughout the product development cycle. Although agile has its roots in software and IT, agile adoption is growing and expanding in a wide range of industries.

Identifying business needs. Recommending relevant solutions. Working with stakeholders to elicit requirements. Analyzing, defining, documenting and managing requirements. BAs help to shape the outcome of projects to ensure they deliver business benefits and is a thriving certification at PMI.

Change is inevitable and accelerating. Organizations that manage it effectively will pull ahead of their competition. Change initiatives are time consuming and costly, but by approaching change management with a disciplined approach, organizations can survive and thrive.

In today’s fast-paced, competitive, dynamic environment, the challenging characteristics of programs and projects may be viewed as complexity. Efforts to navigate complexity include setting up the appropriate organizational structure, diligently researching programs or projects prior to approval, cultivating talent, fostering leadership, nurturing flexibility and being resilient.

Cost is one of the key performance indicators for projects. Involved in controlling costs are processes centered around planning, estimating, budgeting, financing, funding and managing costs so that the project can be completed within the approved budget.

Estimating is a critical part of project planning, involving a quantitative estimate of project costs, resources or duration. One conundrum in estimating, especially for public-sector projects, is that bidders sometimes make overly optimistic estimates in order to win the business.

Responsibility. Respect. Fairness. Honesty. Those are the values that drive ethical behavior for the project management profession as reflected in the PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. Project managers face decisions and ethical dilemmas every day. While project managers often know what to do, how to do it can become a challenge, and when stakeholder interests conflict, ethics enter the picture. Ethics is the discipline of “how to do it best.”

Governance is the framework, functions and processes that guide activities in project, program and portfolio management. In organizational project management (OPM), governance provides guidance, decision making and oversight for the OPM strategic execution framework.

Strategic PMOs enable strategic change in organizations. PMOs vary widely. Some serve as a means to standardize project-related governance processes and facilitate sharing of resources and tools. Others serve as centers of excellence, and still others align project and program work to corporate strategy across an enterprise.

Portfolio management ensures that an organization can leverage its project selection and execution success. It refers to the centralized management of one or more project portfolios to achieve strategic objectives. Our research has shown that portfolio management is a way to bridge the gap between strategy and implementation.

A program is a group of related projects managed in a coordinated manner to obtain benefits not available from managing them individually. Program management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to meet program requirements. Organizations with mature program management are far more successful than those without it, according to our research.

Even projects that are delivered within budget and on time are not successful if the quality of the deliverable is poor. Quality management is all about identifying and following quality requirements, auditing the results of quality control measurements and using quality measurements to control quality, recommending project changes if necessary.

Our Pulse of the Profession® research has shown that poor requirements management is a major cause of project failure. The requirements process generally includes a needs assessment, elicitation and analysis of requirements, monitoring and controlling requirements and evaluation of solutions.

Hiring, developing and retaining the people needed to turn corporate strategy into reality is of critical importance. Research sponsored by PMI shows that talent deficiencies significantly hamper 40 percent of strategy implementation efforts. This topic also covers the management of supplies through the supply chain and the option of outsourcing your talent needs.

What could possibly go wrong? As a project manager, it’s your job to know that, as well as each risk’s probability and impact. There are many tools and techniques available to plan for and evaluate risks and how to mitigate them.

Time is finite. Control of time is a competitive advantage. There are many tools and techniques available to manage schedules, much of it connected to overall project planning and sequencing of activities.

Project scope is the work required to output a project’s deliverable. Change happens, and project scope management includes the process to manage scope changes and make sure the project will still come in on time and within budget. Scope is often defined by a work breakdown structure, and changes should take place only through formal change control procedures.

Strategic and business management is a part of the PMI Talent Triangle™ — meaning employers need and value skills in this area. It consists of knowledge and expertise in one’s industry or organization and the subsequent ability to align your team in a way that enhances performance and better delivers business outcomes.

Sustainability is about how organizations manage financial, social and environmental risks to ensure their business can continue to operate, regardless of obstacles such as resource shortages, environmental disasters, and social and political events. It also relates to green practices and business continuity planning, as well as stakeholder engagement.