• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Project Management Knowledge

Simply explained by a PMI-certified Project Manager

  • Home
  • Acronyms and Abbreviations
  • Definitions
  • About the Author
  • Deutsch
  • Show Search
Hide Search

Tom

The History of Project Management

Tom · Oct 19, 2019 · Leave a Comment

The pyramids. Built thousands of years ago. Huge buildings. In some cases, with very complex structures inside. How likely is it that these masterpieces were built without planning? Obviously, there must have been some planning to create the pyramids. Master builders were responsible for the completion of a pyramid, and a lot depended on being successful. Most probably their life. While we don’t know exactly how they planned, we can assume that they most likely did not call it project management, though. The notion of a “project” did not exist at that time.

The term “project” entered the English language with a different meaning than it carries today. In the beginning, a project was a plan, derived from a Greek word that meant “before the action”. Only later, a project was not only about “planning the work”, but also about “working the plan”.

Project Management as we know it today was formed in the 1950s. A few decades earlier, in the 1910a, the Gantt chart was invented by Henry Gantt. As a management consultant, he needed a system that would easily show what parts of a production are currently being built. Similar systems had been invented earlier, but Gantt’s charts showed dependencies whereas most other systems had not. Gantt Charts became augmented by the Critical Path Method, and project management was more and more regarded as a distinct discipline. The PERT technique followed a few years later.

In the 1950s, the American Association of Cost Engineers was built by early project managers, although they did not call themselves like that. This association did not only focus on costs but on the overall process of planning and scheduling. The first association with the term project management in its name came to birth in Vienna in 1965, the International Project Management Association. In 1969, the Project Management Institute was initiated in the US.

PMBOK, 6th Edition and German Translation coming

Tom · Oct 18, 2018 · Leave a Comment

The 6th edition of the PMBOK has arrived in 2017, and some definitions have already made it into our site. The interesting news here is that the Agile Alliance has contributed to the new PMBOK since more and more stakeholders are using agile approaches in their projects. This also means that this site will incorporate more terms of the agile world in the next few weeks.

Also, I have decided that I will add a German version of all articles and definitions. This is a huge effort, and it will be handled using machine-learning based techniques. At the same time, it is also a test in how far further languages can be added to this site. Also, this is a good opportunity to go through all 700+ definitions again đŸ™‚

The importance of defining Goals and KPIs

Tom · Apr 8, 2017 · 1 Comment

A project manager is asked to manage a project that is supposed to improve a software. He plays around with the software and also thinks that there is room for improvement but asks for data that supports the need to improve. He also wants to know what the business impact of an improvement would be. What are the KPIs, the Key Performance Indicators, that show that the project is successful? Unfortunately, the customer does not have any data whatsoever, there is just a “feeling” that something is wrong. Also, as he does not really know what is wrong, no business value can be attached to the project.

The project manager insists that a baseline is needed but the customer replies that he was not too happy about having a project manager involved in the first place since that conversation proves that project management increases complexity and adds unnecessary steps to the project. Sounds weird? No, that’s a true story. And I have experienced this more than once. And to be completely honest, I have experienced it on both sides of the fence: As a product manager, I was often annoyed by the additional questions asked by developers and project managers, and as a developer or project manager, I have seen product managers being annoyed when I asked those questions. In fact, starting a project without clearly defined goals and KPIs is like flying without a precise destination and without instruments that let you know where you are above the clouds.  [Read more…] about The importance of defining Goals and KPIs

All new terms of the PMBOK 5th edition

Tom · Jun 26, 2016 · Leave a Comment

It took a bit longer to go through this, but here they are, all the terms that have been added to the 5th edition of the Project Management Body of Knowledge, 5th edition. There are some interesting terms in it, terms that we would have thought were already part of the project management world but that had not been added officially. And who would have thought that Emotional Intelligence finally made it into the PMBOK? 238 new terms while some terms also had to leave our beloved PMBOK. Schedule Activity had to leave the PMBOK already in the 4th edition, but what has S-Curve done to the project world that it did not make it into the 5th edition? [Read more…] about All new terms of the PMBOK 5th edition

A fool with a (project management) tool is still a fool

Tom · Apr 21, 2016 · Leave a Comment

This should not come as a surprise but most people don’t really want to hear this: You can buy and use as many project management tools as you want but if you don’t know how to manage a project, then you will still fail. Project management tools can make your project management efforts more efficient, and the scale of the projects you are able to manage can be different, but if you just rely on tech and tools, you will just fail at scale. [Read more…] about A fool with a (project management) tool is still a fool

PMBOK 5th Edition

Tom · Nov 22, 2015 · Leave a Comment

[UPDATE April 28th, 2016: There are more than 200 new terms in the 5th edition of the PMBOK, and we are adding new terms every day now!]

In 2013 already, the PMI has updated the PMBOK. Please note that not all new terms have been added yet, we are working on this right now. There have been significant changes, i.e. a huge number of terms has been added and another huge number of terms has been removed. Having said that, even if some terms are officially “outdated”, they will still be used by some project managers. In some cases, project managers have been using the new terms even before they have been added to the PMBOK which clearly shows that the PMBOK is also updated to reflect the changes in reality. Please note that we try to mention in which version of the PMBOK terms are mentioned or not mentioned so that you know for which version the term is important if you are preparing for your Project Management Professional certification or any other certification the PMI is offering.

We will also update the abbreviations/acronyms.

  • Page 1
  • Page 2
  • Page 3
  • …
  • Page 16
  • Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Dear Visitor, I am a PMP (Project Management Professional), certified by the Project Management Institute since 2004. I have been managing dozens of projects, small and huge, successful and unsuccessful. This site is supposed to help you learn the required vocabulary of the project management world. Please feel free to check my certification status or to learn more about me.

Copyright © 2019

  • Privacy Policy