PMBOK describes nine knowledge areas or categories of project management discipline. Getting experience in any of these areas of knowledge will help you become a rock star in your organization. Understanding and applying all nine will make you irreplaceable. In my next series of articles, I will discuss each area in detail and identify specific examples and methods that will help you become this irreplaceable rock star.
To start this new series, I want to turn to Katie Schwalbe, Ph.D., PMP and a professor at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Being an active member of PMI and an expert in the industry, she has written several textbooks and practical guides on this issue. In her book, Information Technology Project Management, she describes each of the nine knowledge areas and identifies some of the tools and methods used in each area. These areas of expertise include:
1. Integration management - project selection methods and methodologies, stakeholder analysis, charters, project management plans, project management software, change requests, change control panels, review meetings, and lessons learned.
2. Area management - descriptions of the scope, work breakdown structure, mind map, job applications, requirements analysis, area management plans, area verification methods and area change control tools.
3. Time management - Gantt charts, project network diagrams, critical path analysis, failure, fast tracking, schedule performance indicators.
4. Cost Management - Net Present Value, ROI, Payback Analysis, Cost Earned Value, Project Portfolio Management, Cost Estimates, Cost Plans and Cost Basics Management.
5. Quality management - quality indicators, checklists, quality control charts, Pareto charts, fish charts, mathematics models, and statistical models.
6. Human Resource Management. Methods of motivation, empathic listening, responsibility allocation matrices, project organization charts, resource histograms and team building exercises.
7. Communication management - communication plans, start meetings, conflict resolution, media selection, status and progress reports, virtual messages, templates and project websites.
8. Risk management - risk management plans, risk registers, probability / impact matrices and risk ratings.
9. Procurement management. Analysis, conclusion of contracts, request for proposals or quotations, choice of sources, supplier evaluation matrix.
* Schwalbe, Project Management in Information Technology, sixth edition, 2010.
Follow my next article on integration management, in which I will identify four keys that will help you better integrate projects, resources, and people into your work management process.
