The US-based Project Management Institute’s Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK) is the most widely acknowledged assembly of the underlying principles of good project management in the world. The current third version of the PMBoK was released in 2004, and the number of people who have achieved the associated Project Management Professional (PMP) accreditation worldwide is approaching 250,000. The PMBoK presents a significant collection of project management knowledge in an accessible package. It is clearly an important element of a professional Project Manager’s toolkit.
The UK-based Office of Government Commerce’s PRINCE2 method is the mandated or de facto standard project management method in the UK, many parts of Europe and increasingly in Australia. The current fourth edition was released in 2005. The number of people acquiring PRINCE2 qualifications continues to increase exponentially. The take-up of PRINCE2 in the USA, India and China has begun, with significant growth rates already in each country. PRINCE2 supports organisational needs for effective governance of projects.
The remaining differences between the PMBoK and PRINCE2 perhaps reflect their differing origins. The PMBoK was compiled at a time when project failure rates were much higher than today, and it may have been felt that a ‘project manager’ problem needed to be addressed. PRINCE2 arose somewhat later in a public sector environment probably having project managers with PMPs or at least knowledge of the PMBoK, but still experiencing significant project failures. Here it was felt that a ‘governance’ problem needed to be addressed.
There is a distinct polarisation of views in the project management profession as to which is the true way, PMBoK or PRINCE2, as though these methods are mutually exclusive. Some organisations require their senior project managers to be PMP qualified; others mandate PRINCE2 Practitioner status. Most organisational project management methods are currently based on either the PMBoK or on PRINCE2.
The differences between the PMBoK and PRINCE2 methods appear to have narrowed since the last release of each method. The differences that remain reflect the origins of each method. The PMBoK focuses on the needs of individual project managers. PRINCE2 provides a wide range of features to facilitate better organisational control of projects.
There is no reason why an organisational project management method based on PRINCE2 and hence mandating a range of formal controls under which all projects must operate, could not be used as the foundation for a project run by a project manager with a PMP rigorously utilising the knowledge areas of the PMBoK. Such an approach would address the ‘project manager’ and ‘governance’ problem areas, if well implemented and enforced. Which then leads to the need to better align projects with organisational strategy, which is addressed by the emerging area of strategic program management.
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