Hi, it's Margaret Maloney, and right now I would like to talk to you about deciphering the PMBOK guide, if I may say it that way. And here I am with my PMBOK. And you can see, look, all kinds of markers in there. So yes, I really do use it, but I couldn't use it until I learned how it worked, if I can say it that way. And something I want to say is that I think that learning, I can't, learning to speak PMBOK. Sometimes I even say PMBOKIAN and I mean that with every bit of respect because again look, I'm clearly using it but understanding how the PMBOK works. It feels, sometimes, like you're learning another language, and it doesn't matter whether you're reading the PMBOK in your native language. So I'm a native English speaker and I read a version of the PMBOK that's in English, and it still, at first, I felt like I was learning a new language. And that's why, together, we're going to decipher the PMBOK guide. It's the heart of running a project successfully. It's the heart of following the best practices that are brought to us by the Project Management Institute. And if you're a person whose working on the PMP, studying for your Project Management Professional and getting ready for that exam, so much of that exam is based on this guide that it is truly important that you really decipher the guide and understand how it works. And there's a key. And that's what we're going to talk about. So let's talk about the key to the PMBOK guide. Before we dive in, let's just get our general understanding here. You'll, you've heard me say PMI, you already know PMI probably, but we still want to make sure, PMBOK and PMP. So, the PMI is the Project Management Institute and they are the globally recognized professional organization, they support project management and they are in over 250 countries, I couldn't even name them all. They probably have close to 300,000 members or even more right now, so I, don't take that as an exact number, I suppose you could look that up. I'm just sharing all that with you to let you know that they're big. And they are the champions of project management. And they help us by creating best practices for how to run projects. And they don't just sit somewhere in an office and make them up. They reach out to the project management community. And one of the ways in which we understand these best practices is through what's called the PMBOK guide. But the proper name is the guide to the project management body of knowledge. It's just common to abbreviate it, because as you can tell saying the guide to the project management body of knowledge, that's a little bit of a mouthful, right? That's the process framework, and this is something really important. The PMBOK guide is not a book of methodology. It's not these are the phases to use. It is about processes we should use to help run a project. Processes. And the PMBOK speaks in terms of major process groups. You'll see that in a minute as we continue on. And, as you've already heard me say, the PMP, project management professional, and this is a professional designation that is administered by the Project Management Institute. And in order to be able to legally and rightfully call yourself a PMP, you need to apply for and take the exam that is administered by the Project Management Institute, and of course pass that exam. And then keep current on your education. And they have something called PDUs, or professional development units. Which you maintain to show that you are keeping current in your profession, and I'm going to say that's, PDU is a topic for another day. But the reason that PMP comes up here is, so often many of you who are seeking to understand this PMBOK guide. It could be because you are getting ready to prepare for the exam, for the PMP exam. And the PMP exam draws largely from the PMBOK guide. It could also be that you are just looking at the PMBOK guide and you want to be able to run projects using the best practice approach. And you want to know what that means. And that's why we're here right now, that's why you're with me right now is you know, as I said, to decipher, decipher this book, it's because once you do, it's going to make it so much easier for you. So with that thought in mind, let's look. >> Okay, so the PMBOK guide starts out with a couple of chapters, an introductory chapter, a chapter on project organizations, and then, chapter three, processes. And, this is a book of process In initiating, there are two processes. And these two processes, which you're getting started here, are creating your charter and identifying your stake holders. Planning, most of the processes that are in the guide to the project management body of knowledge, I'll say live here. And that's because a good plan is going to make your life so much easier. Executing, a recap, because I already said this, you can think of this as doing and monitoring and controlling, measuring, are we meeting the plan? And so monitoring and controlling, a good word to associate with that is measuring. And then closing is not just the end of your project, it's wrapping up something cleanly. I'm going to say that's kind of Margaret speak, but wrapping up something cleanly. So these are the five major process groups that the Project Management Institute would like us to use when we run projects and these five major process groups are all throughout the guide to the project management body balance. My favorite part, so remember that this is a book of process which you're like getting every say, I don't know, many times. You can count how many times I say this is a book of process if it amuses you. One of my favorite parts of the PMBOK guide, what I call the key the Rosetta Stone [SOUND] it's table three dash one, so table three dash one in your PMBOKGuide. And the reason I call it the key, The Rosetta Stone, is because it's laying out for you and I, the bodies of knowledge on one side, and the major process groups across the top. And then what it's showing us for each body of knowledge is what processes should we consider using. What those processes are called and what major process groups do they live in? As I will say, if you're a person who is getting ready for the PMP exam, then this is a great table to know. And if that's not you, guess what? This is a great table [LAUGH] to know, and the reason I say that is because, again, it's the key to understanding the whole book, all right? And so, after we have our introductory chapters, the introduction, the chapter about project organizations, we go into this chapter on processes, which explains the process groups and then it displays the process groups and the relationship to the bodies of knowledge. And then the whole book, look at that! It's called The guide to the project management body of knowledge. Oh, okay. So after chapter three each chapter is a chapter about, say it with me, a body of knowledge. And then the way that it works in each chapter so for example, if we were to look at project scope management. Now the way that it works, and every chapter follows this template, I'm just happening to go here, the way that it's going to work is, it's going to start out with a little introduction, project scope management includes the processes required to ensure that the project includes all the work required and only the work required to complete the project successfully. Managing the project's scope is primarily concerned with defining and controlling what is and is not included in the project. Right from the PMBOK. And so, what happens is the chapter starts off with a discussion of, what is that body of knowledge? Then it's going to list the processes in that body of knowledge. Then you're going to see a diagram, in each chapter you're going to see this diagram. And this diagram is displaying for you all of the processes but, it's doing it in a certain way. And, this certain way is part of the key. All right, we're talking about a book on process. Every body of knowledge has processes that we used. What a process needs in order to work is something that is required to help in input, let me say it that way, in input. Every process needs inputs, something you use. Every process requires a tool or technique. That's the how to, how am I supposed to do this. And every process results in something, and that's an output. You're going to hear the acronym ITTO's, inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs thrown around. That's how the bodies of knowledge are mapped out in the book. And so every chapter again, start with a brief description, list out the processes for you. Showing you a diagram of all the processes with their inputs, their tools and techniques, and their outputs. And from there it goes through and discusses each process sequentially in the order in which we would, it would be hoped that we would follow them. And so scope management starts off with 5.1 plan scope management. So now there's some discussion about what is that process. Plan scope management is the process of creating a scope management plan that documents how the project scope will be defined, validated, and controlled. The key benefit of this process is that it provides guidance and direction on how scope will be managed throughout the project. Okay, so that's a description of what is planned scope management. Again, our friends the inputs, the tools and techniques and the outputs. There's a data flow diagram. Some people find those useful, some do not. Each data flow diagram will tell you, it'll show you using graphics what goes into the process, the process, and then what comes out. And so that's a nice way to help understand the flow of information, or documents, whatever it is, deliverables into a process. What happens and then what comes out. Then, the next part is then, the process is discussed in depth. And, each input is described. The tools and techniques that are used, also described, and the outputs are described. Then, the next process. So, that's the secret. That's the secret decoder ring to the PMBOK guide. It's a book about the processes we should use to run our projects. It covers bodies of knowledge, things we should think about when we're running the project. Within each body of knowledge there are processes we should consider following. And each process has inputs, tools and techniques, an output. And all the way through, all the way through this book, once you get beyond the first three chapters, that's how it works. Now you know the secret and it's really important to understand that secret. Because, understanding the relationships between those processes and the inputs, and the tools, and the techniques, and the outputs. Those are some of the keys to how we successfully run our projects. Now you got it, thanks, and bye for now.
