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PMBOK® Guide - 4th Edition Changes

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PMI has refined PMBOK further, and introduces various minor and major changes. This chapter gives a description of most of the changes done.

Process Names:

All process names are now in a verb-noun format as follows:

PMBOK 3rd EditionPMBOK 4th Edition
Activity DefinitionDefine Activities
Activity SequencingSequence Activities
Activity Resource EstimatingEstimate Activity Resources
Activity Duration EstimatingEstimate Activity Durations
Schedule DevelopmentDevelop Schedule
Schedule ControlControl Schedule

You should not bother too much about this changes.

Change requests clarified:

Change requests now include following:

PMBOK Processes:

PMBOK 4th edition decreased number of processes from 44 to 42. Following two processes have been deleted from the PMBOK:

Following two processes have been added:

Following processes have been merged into a single process:

Project Mgmt Plan vs. Project Documents:

PMBOK 4 gives clear distinction between Project Management Plan and Project Documents. Here is the list of major factors:

Project Management PlanProject Documents
  • Requirements management plan.

  • Communications management plan

  • Risk management plan

  • Procurement management plan

  • Scope management plan

  • Schedule management plan

  • ETC.

  • Assumption log

  • Change log

  • Risk register

  • Duration estimates

  • Resource requirements

  • Source selection criteria

  • ETC.

Project Charter vs. Project Scope Statement:

PMBOK 4 gives clear distinction between Project Charter and Project Scope Statement. Here is the list of major factors:

Project CharterProject Scope Statement
  • Project purpose or justification

  • Measurable project objectives and related success criteria

  • High-level requirements

  • High-level project description

  • Summary milestone schedule

  • Summary budget

  • Project approval requirements

  • Project Manager, responsibility and authority level.

  • Authorizing person

  • Product scope description

  • Project deliverables

  • User acceptance criteria

  • Project boundaries

  • Project constraints

  • Project assumptions

Process Diagrams:

PMBOK 4 deleted Process Flow Diagrams and introduced a new Data Flow Diagrams.

Triple Constraints:

Triple constraint expanded to include quality, resources and risk. So now common project constraints are:

Interpersonal Skills:

New appendix has been added which explains following interpersonal skills for a project manager:

Miscellaneous Changes:

There are following important considerable changes have been done in the latest version of PMBOK 4th edition.


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