Standards

Project Management Competence Baseline of Ireland (PMCBI)

Project managers manage projects, programmes and project portfolios in a fast changing environment with many interested parties and external influencing factors. The projects are more numerous, more complex and more varied in nature. The case for a comprehensive description of a project manager's competence is compelling.

The PMCBI provides the official definition of the competences expected from project personnel by the IPMA for certification system of the International Association of Project Management (IPMA). It contains basic terms, tasks, practices, skills, functions, management processes, methods, techniques and tools that are used in good project management practice and theory, as well as specialist knowledge and experience, where appropriate, of innovative and advanced practices used in more specific situations.

The eye of competence represents the integration of all the elements of project management as seen through the eyes of the project manager. The eye also represents clarity and vision. The Irish Project Management Competence Baseline (PMCBI) is integrally linked to the IPMA Competence Baseline (ICB3), which is used as a reference basis for the IPMA Validated certification programme. The PMCBI describes the essential knowledge and experience requirements of a person responsible for project management and a qualification for certification process matched to it.

The principal objective of the Institute in producing this book is to provide a solid foundation for the advancement of the profession of project management in Ireland. It achieves this by outlining the main principles, practices, and procedures involved in project management, providing a convenient method of self-assessment of one's knowledge and experience in those areas and a procedure for formal qualification and certification. The Institute's wish is that the book will be helpful to all those interested in project management and an incentive to many to obtain formal qualification and certification in the profession. The formal definition of the project management body-of-knowledge (the knowledge essential to its practice) and of a procedure for qualification and certification is a critical part of the establishment of project management as an important business profession.

ISO 21 500 Standard for Project Management

ISO 21500 provides high-level description of concepts and processes that are considered to form good practice in project management. New project managers as well as experienced managers will be able to use the project management guidance in this standard to improve project success and achieve business results.

Miles Shepherd, member of IPMA Research Board and Chair of the ISO project committee that developed the new standard, states: “ISO 21500 enables people in any organization to understand how the discipline fits into a business environment. It is also intended to be used as a basic guide, aimed at the informed reader without an in-depth knowledge of project management.”

Karl Best, Secretary of the project committee, comments: “In an increasingly global economy project managers need guidance to help them understand the basic principles of managing projects. ISO 21500 can help those involved in projects improve the success of a wide variety of project types.”