The informal practice of project management used to take place way before it emerged as a distinct profession in the 20th century. So, as a distinct profession, task management also has some distinct norms and guidelines which a project manager has to follow. In this regard, the Project Management Institute or PMI which actually holds the PMP certification program published a manual.
It was titled as A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, which is now abbreviated and popularly known as PMBOK Guide. This guide has attained immense esteem is the project management industry and the people now apply the practices portrayed in this guide to their professional spheres. KnowledgeHut is one platform where you can get your PMP training based on this guide.
Understanding a Project
It is a temporary work undertaken for a finite time span to achieve a certain result or provide a certain service. So, now you have to break down this above statement and once you do that, your understanding of the task will start to clear up. First, it is temporary work. So, it has a start time and an end time. Second, it has a defined goal or end result that has to be achieved through certain resources. Third, it can have professionals from a single organization or professionals from multiple organizations working together for a singular goal.
Understanding Project Management
You have already got a brief idea of what a project is. Now, it is time to understand what its management is. Basically, it is a process with which the end result is obtained. Now, this process consists of various man management skills as well as technical skills. Also, there has to be a person who is leading the pack to achieve the end result.
Otherwise, it can be very difficult to achieve what a company looks to get. For example, developing software for a particular company is the project which needs to get completed within a deadline. To create that software, a certain number of people start to work together. There has to be a person who will lead this team of professionals. Otherwise, it is hard to get desired outcomes. This is what managing a task is all about.
Difference between Project and Project Management
Between project and project management, the one thing that creates the difference is the word management. Project is the final result of a certain work which is done through management. The human resources who take part in the task need to have certain skill but the man who is managing this task needs to have technical skills for the work and apart from that, the person also needs certain management skills which are there in the Project Management Body of Knowledge Guide in order to manage the task successfully. A professional with PMP certification can follow this Guide word to word and that is why big companies are always looking for the professionals who have PMP certification.
Why PMBOK® Guide is Invaluable?
This Guide is the compilation of the best practices and norms applied by most companies to achieve successful results while undertaking a task. A PMP® certified professional is well equipped with the knowledge of this Guide. Therefore, they add value to their respective companies. When you have tasks running with PMP certified professionals, you know that the positive result will come because the professionals will know their role better than anyone. Here are some of the most important reasons why the Guide is invaluable for the companies and why they always look for professionals who the understanding of this guide.
Effectiveness of the Guidelines
First of all, you have to understand where this Guide emerged. Before the first edition of the PMBOK® Guide came out in 1996 with 176 pages, there were still project based works. So, it brought the success mantra of those projects into one place. Because of that, the professionals of project management could follow the same set of rules which are the foundation of a successful task and bring out results for their respective companies. Basically, it is the culmination of the processes applied in a successful task of the past. So, you can guess that when this set of rules and guidelines get applied to a job, it will achieve success.
Standardizing the Work Ecosystem throughout Companies
Every company has different tasks and different work policies. So, when a professional moves from one company to another, he or she will take some time to get used to the work ecosystem of the company. However, the companies might be trying to bring out different end results through different jobs but the fundamental process of reaching the end result will be the same for companies. That is what the Guide brings to the table for the big companies. It basically streamlines the entire process of project management and that is why it actually helps the professionals to get adjusted to the new environment quite easily.
Standardize Practices across Departments
Most companies want to streamline their work structure. They want to have a certain set of norms, which can be applied to all the sectors of the company, be it development or distribution. this Guide gives companies that opportunity which will help them to apply the same set of guidelines for the development and distribution department and because of that they are able to make the entire work process much smoother and more efficient. That is why companies of this age revere this ultimate Guide.
Final Thoughts
If you are a business owner, you would want to have things in your company which will actually work and helps your company to grow on a bigger scale. PMBOK® Guide is one such thing which helps companies to make their project management easier. Professionals with PMP certification has to come to terms with the guidelines of this Guide. Therefore, it is not rocket science to gauge why companies are always looking for professionals with PMP certification. Big companies understand that professionals with PMP certification will add value to their company.