Project management standards are the rules and conventions governing the way in which a project will be conducted. They may be driven by organizational practices or by the project’s unique requirements and may address any aspect of a project from the technology that will be employed to the way in which meetings will be conducted and documented .
The Project Management Institute (PMI) is a globally recognized organization that provides guidelines, rules, and characteristics for project, program, and portfolio management . PMI’s standards are constantly evolving to meet the needs of its members. The latest version of PMI’s Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide is the Seventh Edition . The Seventh Edition has more inclusive content, digitization, and provides more flexibility in bringing results and value to your organization .
PMI’s standards include foundational standards, practice standards and frameworks, practice guides, and lexicon of project management terms . Foundational standards include PMBOK Guide and PMI global standards that continually and accurately reflect the evolving profession . Practice standards describe the use of a tool, technique or process identified in the PMBOK Guide or other foundational standards . Practice guides provide supporting information and instruction to help you apply PMI standards. Practice guides may become potential standards and if so, would undergo the process for development of full consensus standards . The lexicon provides a standardized set of frequently used project, program, and portfolio management terms with clear and concise definitions to improve understanding and consistent use of terminology .