Project Management is a field of knowledge, skills, tools, techniques and a vital field with changing the needs and expectations.

PMI has announced some major changes in PMBok 6^th Edition.  PMBok 6^th Edition has been released in 2017.  

In the article, I have summarized the major changes that have been incorporated in PMBok 6^th Edition:

#1 CHANGE: Changes in the Name of Knowledge Areas

 There is no new addition of the knowledge areas but alteration has been done in the name of two knowledge areas so that they exhibit what they mean.

• Project Time Management is referred to as Project Schedule Management. To have a clear understanding that it the schedule that we administer and not time
• Human Resource Management is now called Project Resource Management. To get a clear picture that we administer both team and physical resources.

#2 CHANGE: CHANGES IN THE PROCESSES

In the PMBoK 6^th Edition 3 new processes have been added and there are total Nine processes that have been renamed, there is one process that has moved between the knowledge area and there is one process that has been deleted.

• Name of 3 New Processes

• Rename of 9 Processes

• The shift in the Process: There is one process which has moved between the knowledge area

• One process by the name of Close Procurement has been removed from PMBok 6^th Edition.

So now PMBok 6^th Edition has 49 Processes as compared to the earlier edition.

#3 CHANGE:  ADDITION OF NEW CHAPTER

In PMBok 6^th Edition there has been an addition of a new chapter i.e. Chapter No. 3 which talks about the Role of Project Manager which addresses the skill sets required by the organization. This is in sync with the PMI Triangle which makes the 3 levels of the skill set necessary.

#4 CHANGE: GROUPING TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES

PMBok 6^th Edition has grouped together some of the Tools and Techniques in 6 Broad Group:

• Data gathering
• Data analysis
• Data representation
• Decision making
• Communication skills
• Interpersonal & team skills

#5 CHANGE:  KNOWLEDGE  AREA SECTIONS:

In the 6^th Edition of PMBok each knowledge area has 4 new sections:

• Key Concepts
• Trends and Emerging Practices
• Tailoring Considerations
• Considerations for Agile/Adaptive Environments

#6 CHANGE: INTRODUCTION TO AGILE:

One of the high and major change which has been made in PMBok 6^th Edition is the inclusion of Agile Concepts. It has incorporated the Agile Concepts in all the 10 Process knowledge areas.

#7 CHANGE: INTRODUCING RISK RESPONSE STRATEGY

A new strategy has been introduced which is related to risk response i.e. “Escalate” for both Positive and Negative Risk. If any of the Project Manager has identified a risk that is beyond his area of concern he should escalate.

#8 CHANGE: NOTATIONS:

Various Notations have been included which will help project managers and aspiring project management professionals to differentiate between an “Ongoing Process” and “Non- Ongoing Process”.

#9 CHANGE: OTHER CHANGES:

• A distinction has been drawn between “Communication and “Communications”
• In earlier editions, it was mentioned Project Scope as part of the Total Scope. PMBok 6^th Edition focus on both Product Scope and Project Scope.