Main Changes in the PMBOK® 8th Edition

If you are a member of PMI, you can access this link to comment on the current drafts of The
Standard for Project Management and A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge.
These two drafts are now open for review, and once finalized, they will be unified into a single
book as part of the 8th edition of the PMBOK®—the best-selling foundational standard
periodically issued by PMI since 1996. The release date for the newest version has not been
made public; we only know it will be sometime in 2025.

As far as we can read from the current versions, the main changes that we can expect are these
three:

 Processes are Reintroduced.

 Project Management Principles are Reduced by Half.

 Project Performance Domains are now Process Driven.

1) Processes are Reintroduced

"The Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge" 8th Edition will include 40
processes, aligned with 7 performance domains and organized within the same process groups
as in the PMBOK® 6th Edition.

40 Processes in PMBOK8
Compared to the PMBOK® 6th Edition, the old 10 knowledge areas have been replaced by
7 performance domains:

 The Project Integration Management knowledge area is now the

Project Governance performance domain.

 Cost has been renamed to Finance.

 Stakeholders performance domain now includes Communications.

 Project Quality Management is now treated as a behavioral principle.

 Project Procurement Management has been moved to an annex.

PMBOK® 6th Edition standardized 49 processes organized in 10 knowledge areas (chapters 4 to

13) and 5 process groups:

49 processes in PMBOK6

2) Project Management Principles are Reduced by Half

1. Adopt a HOLISTIC View: Ensure that all aspects of

the project are considered, leading to better decision-
 making and more effective project execution, which
not only aligns with organizational goals but also
fosters resilience and adaptability, resulting in a
successful project.

2. Focus on VALUE: Shift focus from deliverables to

intended outcomes to deliver on the project's vision
or purpose, rather than merely creating specific
deliverables.

3. Embed QUALITY into Processes and Deliverables:

Ensure outcomes that meet project objectives and
align with the needs, requirements, and acceptance
criteria set by relevant stakeholders.

4. Be an Accountable LEADER: Guiding the project

team with integrity, making responsible decisions,
and fostering a culture of trust and responsibility.

5. Integrate SUSTAINABILITY Within All Project Areas:

Meet the project’s present needs without
compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs.

6. Build an EMPOWERED Culture: Collaborate

proactively, promoting unity in shared objectives
efficiently and effectively through stakeholders and
teams with diverse skills, knowledge, and experience.
6 principles and 7 performance domains in PMBOK8

3) Project Performance Domains are now

Process Driven

"The Guide to the Project Management Body of

Knowledge" 8th Edition will include 7 process
driven PERFORMANCE DOMAINS (check the 8 performance
domains of PMBOK7 at the end of this article):

1. GOVERNANCE: Processes required to make

decisions that enhance the value proposition of a
project in an integrated and holistic manner—and,
when appropriate, to cancel a project.

2. SCOPE: Processes required to ensure that the project

encompasses all of the work required to complete the
project successfully, ensuring that only required work
is mapped and no unnecessary work is performed to
optimize costs and time, maximizing the project’s
value.
 3. SCHEDULE: Processes required to oversee the
project’s timely completion.

4. FINANCE: Processes involved in planning,

estimating, budgeting, financing, funding, managing,
and controlling costs, so the project can be
completed, maximizing the value to the organization.

5. STAKEHOLDERS: Processes required to determine,

manage, and control the stakeholder engagement of
the project.

6. RESOURCES: Processes required to plan, estimate,

and acquire the resources needed to successfully
complete the project, lead the project team; and
control resources.

7. RISK: Processes required to conduct risk

management planning, identification, analysis,
response planning, response implementation, and
risk review on a project.

Remembering the PMBOK7✝️

PMBOK7 included 12 principles and 8 performance domains,

most of them will be gone in PMBOK8:
12 principles and 8 performance domains in PMBOK7
"The Guide to the Project Management Body of
Knowledge" 7th Edition included 8 PERFORMANCE
DOMAINS:

1. STAKEHOLDERS: The project needs a productive

working relationship with stakeholders throughout
the life cycle. Stakeholders who are project
beneficiaries should be supportive and satisfied;
stakeholders who may oppose the project or its
deliverables should not negatively impact project
results.

2. TEAM: The project team should be high performance,

empowered, resilient and aligned with objectives.
They should trust each other and keep ownership of
deliverables and outcomes in a collaborative
environment.

3. DEVELOPMENT APPROACH AND LIFE CYCLE: The

project should follow a lifecycle –predictive,
adaptative, or hybrid – which is consistent with the
development approach for the project deliverables.
The series of phases of the project lifecycle should
 help governance and project termination if strategic
criteria are no longer realizable.

4. PLANNING: Project managers should visualize next

week, next month, how to get the project done, etc.
The planning model should be holistic, including the
component needed to manage stakeholder
expectations, and progressively elaborated as new
information is discovered.

5. PROJECT WORK: Status reports should demonstrate

that project work is efficient and effective. Quality
assurance should show that the processes are
relevant and effective. The project communications
should be effective to engage stakeholders.
Procurement and material resources should be
managed properly. Projects using a predictive
approach should have an integrated change
management procedure. Projects using an adaptive
approach should have an updated product backlog.
The project team should minimize rework and
optimize velocity.

6. DELIVERY: Project should demonstrate alignment to

the organizational strategy and business. Project
benefits should be realized in the time frame in which
they were planned. Deliverables should be validated,
and requirements should be met”.

7. MEASUREMENT: At each project review meeting,

measurements should indicate whether the project is
performing as expected or if there are variances, in
order to take timely and informed decisions and
actions.
 8. UNCERTAINTY: The project management team
should be alert to anticipate any opportunity or threat
which may have a positive or negative effect on a
project’s objective or value delivery.

"The Standard for Project Management" 7th Edition included

12 PRINCIPLES:

1. Be a diligent, respectful, and caring STEWARD:

Stewards act responsibly to carry out activities with
integrity, care, and trustworthiness while maintaining
compliance with internal and external guidelines.
They demonstrate a broad commitment to financial,
social, and environmental impacts of the projects
they support.

2. Create a COLLABORATIVE project team

environment: Project teams are made up of
individuals who wield diverse skills, knowledge, and
experience. Project teams that work collaboratively
can accomplish a shared objective more effectively
and efficiently than individuals working on their own

3. Effectively ENGAGE with stakeholders: Engage

stakeholders proactively and to the degree needed to
contribute to project success and customer
satisfaction.

4. Focus on VALUE: Continually evaluate and adjust

project alignment to business objectives and
intended benefits and value.

5. Recognize, evaluate, and respond

to SYSTEM interactions: Recognize, evaluate, and
respond to the dynamic circumstances within and
 surrounding the project in a holistic way to positively
affect project performance.

6. Demonstrate LEADERSHIP behaviors: Demonstrate

and adapt leadership behaviors to support individual
and team needs.

7. TAILOR based on context: Design the project

development approach based on the context of the
project, its objectives, stakeholders, governance, and
the environment using ‘just enough’ process to
achieve the desired outcome while maximizing value,
managing cost, and enhancing speed.

8. Build QUALITY into processes and deliverables:

Maintain a focus on quality that produces
deliverables that meet project objectives and align to
the needs, uses, and acceptance requirements set
forth by relevant stakeholders.

9. Navigate COMPLEXITY: Continually evaluate and

navigate project complexity so that approaches and
plans enable the project team to successfully
navigate the project life cycle.

10. Optimize RISK responses: Continually evaluate

exposure to risk, both opportunities and threats, to
maximize positive impacts and minimize negative
impacts to the project and its outcomes.

11. Embrace adaptability and RESILIENCE: Build

adaptability and resiliency into the organization’s and
project team’s approaches to help the project
accommodate change, recover from setbacks, and
advance the work of the project.
12. Enable CHANGE to achieve the envisioned future
state: Prepare those impacted for the adoption and
sustainment of new and different behaviors and
processes required for the transition from the current
state to the intended future state created by the
project outcomes.