John Thorpe over ISO 21500

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ISO 21500, the new frontier for project management

January 31, 2010
Filed under Articles, Management, Project management

By John Thorpe

When considering project management I must admit that I have never given a thought to the fact that there may be British Standard or International Standards Organisation guidance in this field. Having asked around it would appear that I am not on my own!

Further investigation revealed that currently there are a range of publications under the flag of BS 6079 which offer guidance in the field of project management.

BS 6079-1:2002 describes a full range of project management procedures, techniques and tools that the user can select as appropriate to the project being considered. It gives guidance on the planning and execution of projects and the application of project management techniques.

The standard is positioned as a body of work which “aims primarily to provide guidance for relative newcomers to project management and to act as an aide-mémoire for more experienced practitioners and those who interact with project management teams.”

Further investigation revealed there is currently an ongoing initiative to develop an international standard for project management which will be launched as ISO 21500. The ISO / PC 236 committee is responsible for this initiative which was launched in November 2007 and is due to deliver its body of work by August 2012.

The chairman of the committee is Mr Miles Shepherd a well respected figure in the UK and International project management community, who is working with representatives of 38 countries on this initiative.

Having caught up with Mr Shepherd to discuss the programme and its challenges he was very keen to point out that this is “not a process which is looking to create a new method”. The aim is to deliver a “global, overarching guidance [for project management], not [another] how to do it [method], which is applicable globally and may be used to reduce barriers to trade”.

I found it interesting that 38 countries are involved in this process and especially the fact that ANSI (American National Standards Institute) are involved in this work, using the skills and knowledge of the PMI (Project Management Institute) which may add to the credibility and adoption when the standard is released.

This discussion with Mr Shepherd and my research led me to wonder if this is the missing link, something that could move the project management community on from its current turf wars and fixation with method rather than application.

If we were to consider ISO 21500 in the same way as say ISO 9001 which is seen as applicable for use in any organisation regardless of size, type or product (including service) then we may take a giant leap forward. By having a common, global set of requirements which an Organisation needs to fulfil to achieve project satisfaction through consistent delivery of products and services which meet customer expectations we can measure outcomes consistently.

PPM Diagram
Under this model we would not have to worry about unification of methods, we would not be worried if Prince is better than PMBOK, we would not have to worry about sector specific nuances; tools would be tools and project managers would be free to deliver. The model would recognise there is not a “one size fits all” approach that can be applied to the delivery of successful programmes and projects which can be mandated from a governing body.

Looking at successful organisations today, it can be clearly seen that they “pick and mix” from methods, tools, accreditations’ and best practice to form “their strategic approach” to delivering programmes and projects.

For individual PPM Professionals measures would move away from todays hang ups about specific methods and affiliations. False barriers across sectors could be banished as the focus moves to delivery and end results. Most importantly project management skills could be recognised and developed against recognised competencies to enable delivery within an accepted global standard.

For organisations’ that deliver projects a standard would be set which allows them to deliver locally or globally whilst recognising the need to be able to meet the nuances of their particular industry. When developing their PPM strategy, organisations would be driven to think holistically, driving out today’s tick in the box thinking that being a “method” compliant environment is acceptable.

John Thorpe writes for Arras People are programme and project management recruitment specialists, passionate about the project management community in the UK.

Tags: BS 6079, ISO 21500, project management tools