PMBOK 6th Edition Feedback

The following issues have been brought to the attention of PMI, and are listed here with their responses, as applicable.

As you will see, some are minor errors in editing, while others may affect our understanding of the topic.

* If you would like to be kept up to date with changes and additions, please contact us at majed.abdeen@eyapro.com with the subject: PMBOK updates.

1. In PMBOK page 222, the Control Schedule Diagram is missing number 5 from the Tools and Techniques list.

2. In PMBOK Page 29, it states that "The project sponsor is generally accountable for the development and maintenance of the project business case document". That means the Project Sponsor is Accountable for the project business case document, not only being Informed about it. However, In BA for Practitioners Page 34, the RACI table 2-1 indicates that the Sponsor should be Informed about it but is not Responsible.

   1. The PMI answer to this was:

      1. In response to your second question, for organizations that have business analysts, often times the business analyst conducts a business case and/or feasibility study to determine if a project is viable. Often times it is at the request of the potential project sponsor. Thus the sponsor would be informed of the results, in an organization with business analysts. However, in reality, not all organizations have business analysts. In that case the sponsor is accountable for the business case, however, they may assign someone else to do the work, or they may do the research themselves. Either way, the sponsor is accountable for the information in the business case.

3. On Page 144, DECISION-MAKING techniques, there are 3 methods: Voting, Autocratic decision making, and Multicriteria decision analysis. However, in the T&T diagram on page 138, only 2 methods are mentioned.

4. I noticed potential issues with EEFs & OPAs.

• 1. On page 40 the following item comes under OPAs in section 2.3.1 PROCESSES, POLICIES, AND PROCEDURES:

     1. Guidelines and criteria for tailoring the organization’s set of standard processes and procedures to satisfy the specific needs of the project; However, on page 180 it's listed as an EEF under section 6.1.1.3 ENTERPRISE ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS. I believe it should be listed as OPA only.

  2. on page 344, under section 9.4.3.5 ENTERPRISE ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS UPDATES.

     2. 1. Employee development plan records, and

        2. Skill assessments.

• • 1. They are listed under the EEFs, but I contacted PMI, who have confirmed that these are both, in fact, OPAs not EEFs. PMI confirmed that this will be updated in the next reprint of PMBOK Ver. 6.

• 3. Personnel administration

• • • 1. On page 102 "Personnel administration" is classified as an OPA, but on pages 135, 141, and 152 it's classified as an EEF.

      2. On pages 368, 383, 519, 526, and 533 "Personnel administration policies" are classified as an EEF, but since the guide is talking about policies, I think it should be an OPA not an EEF.

      3. The explanation on page 102 about "Personnel administration", focuses on skills, competencies, and behaviors. So, I believe these are EEFs rather than OPAs.

• • 1. PMI's answer regrding these points was as follows:

       1. Personnel administration that focuses on the organization or enterprise at large is more of an EEF. It contains influences, including organizational policies associated with bringing staff on board and policies associated with outsourcing or bringing on consultants. However, policies that apply to projects specifically, or policies that are part of the PMO can be considered OPAs. Thus, until this is further clarified, consider organization-wide information as more of an EEF and project specific policies as more of an OPA.

5. On page 688 in the table, Regression analysis is listed under Scope, when it should be under Integration.

6. on page 175, where the reference number for Practice Standard for Scheduling is [2] when it should be [16]

7. on page 235, I've included "Alternatives analysis" under Data Analysis as one of the T&T on my diagram.

8. on page 240, there's an extra letter "s" in "Resources requirements" as one of the inputs to Estimate Costs, it should be "Resource requirements".

9. on page 250, under section 7.3.1.2 PROJECT DOCUMENTS, the reference for Basis of estimates is 6.4.3.2. which refers to the Schedule Management, but it should refer to the Estimate Costs process section number 7.2.3.2

10. on page 195, I've included "Voting" under Decision making as one of the T&T on my diagram.

11. on pages 101, 198, 208, 339, 334, 347, 351 the reference section number for Project team assignments is 9.3.3.1. when it should be 9.3.3.2.

12. on page 382 the reference section number for Issue log is 4.6.3.3. when it should be 4.3.3.3

13. on page 382 there's a missing letter "s". It says "Quality report" instead of "Quality Reports". The same error is on page 379.

14. on page 387 the reference section number for Lessons learned register is 4.3.3.1. when it should be 4.4.3.1.

15. on page 388 in the T&Ts table, in number 3. Data Analysis should be Data Representation.