Customer Reviews

A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge

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I have recently read a few PMP books cover to cover, and I thought I should share my experience with other readers with an intention to help them to find the right books.

THIS BOOK.
Well this is THE book. You cannot avoid it. But it is very poorly written. The evidence of what I'm saying starts wiith the name. I was looking for Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), and this is named as Guide to PMBOK. You would think if this is a guide to PMBOK, where is the PMBOK. Then I realized that this is it. You have to have it because this the official PMBOK: the information source for both the PMP and CAPM exams. However, don't count on this alone for the PMP and CAPM exams.

A brief review of what I think are the top three PMP books follows:

1. PMP In Depth by Paul Sanghera, Thomson Course Technology.
This book has just hit the market and is relatively unknown. But I found this a rock solid book. Almost all the topics are covered with adequate depth. The material is presented in a logical learning sequence and the presentation is very cohesive: no hopping from topic to topic. It's an easy and interesting read. All concepts are clearly defined and expalined. This makes it a great book for both the PMP and the CAPM exams. I feel that the communication management could have more coverage. Although for the exams, the current coverage is enough.
The material is organized in order of the project lifecycle (the process groups) consistent with the way the exam objectives are organized. Furthermore, exam objectives covered in a chapter are explained in the beginning of the chapter. This makes the exam preparation easier and confusion-free.
I recommend this book for a self contained book for the PMP and the CAPM exams, and also if you just want to build a good understanding of the project management basics. Oh yes, the book is very reasonably priced.

2. The PMP Exam Prep by Rita Mulcahy; RMC publication.
It is a very good book if you are either taking a course from the author or from an instructor who is using this book as a text book. There are lots of exercises. Unfortunately, this is not a self contained book. Topics are not covered with enough depth. Also there is a poor flow and a lots of hopping from topic to topic. Moreover, it's outrageously high priced. Too many cross references and overhyped.
Overall I recommend this book if you are using it in a course.

3. The PMP Exam by Andy Crowe; Velociteach.
This is a great book and relatively self contained. You can study this book and pass the PMP exam. There are a only a few topics, which are not covered in adequate depth. In this and in Rita's book, The coverage is organized around the knowledge areas while the exam objectives are organized in order of the process groups. That breaks the exam objective coverage into pieces, and may cause confusion.
I recommend this book if you are looking for a self contained book to pass the PMP exam.

Let me start by saying that I did study the book along with other study materials, took the PMP exam and passed. Having some organized body to professionally certify project managers is a good idea. However, this book flat out stinks. It's incredibly wordy and makes simply concepts way too complex. That seems to be a major flaw with the entire PMI model. They are trying to make project management a science. It's not.

That being said, the certification process is worth your time. I did learn a lot. Just don't become a "PMI Junkie". Let me explain. Many of the things PMI teaches are a bit silly and don't really apply to real life situations. There are some out there that just take what PMI says as the complete truth without questioning anything or seeing how the teachings relate to the workplace. These are people I call "PMI Junkies".

So my advice... get the book, get certified, learn what you can and make sure you use some common sense.

Note: This applies to the 3rd edition of the PMBOK Guide. The fourth edition appears to have cleaned up quite a few of these discrepancies.


This is a poorly written book. Diagrams that were updated or changed for this edition are badly done, to the point of being meaningless. Many processes have wildly different outputs for the same set of inputs. There are some process inputs that are inputs into most every process (e.g. "organizational process assets" a meaningless phrase if ever I heard one). Unfortunately the team in charge of this edition did not see it fit to have the book technically reviewed by the many experts in the field.

Beginning project managers will be ill served by trying to read this book and attempting to make sense of its contents. I would strongly recommend both classroom training and mentorship for those wanting to get into the field. Books alone won't cut it. This one certainly won't. I haven't come across one single experienced PM who used this book beyond passing the PMP exam.

For a more detailed critique of this book, search the web for Muhamed Abdomerovic's review. Unfortunately URLs cannot be pasted here. Some examples (mine):
1. Diagram 3-4: All those arrows pointing to nowhere in particular
2. Diagram 3-7: What's the difference between the gray boxes and the white boxes? Ditto for 3-8 and 3-9.
3. Figure III-2: Unclear what this diagram attempts to convey
4. Figure 4-2: What is the usefulness of showing a flowchart of integration tasks alone? Clearly on a project, a Project Manager with half a clue would not follow these tasks sequentially to the exclusion of the other knowledge areas!

I could find such inconsistencies almost all through the documents (e.g. some process names are verb phrases, others noun phrases). Finding other such gems is left as an exercise to the interested reader.

There is a widespread notion that Project Management = PMBOK. Nothing could be farther from the truth. You do not need the PMBOK to be an effective project manager. Conversely, knowing the PMBOK does not a Project Manager make (though the PMP certification would have you believe otherwise).

The first PMBOK was issued free and purported to be a taxonomy of project management methods and processes. In this regard it was pretty good. However, this latest version of the PMBOK(R) has moved from being a guide covering a wide variety of practices (reflecting the wide variety of projects and management processes) to a narrow one which is apparently required only to pass the PMI's PMP exam. In that regard it is essential as the exam is based on the book.

It is not essential and is hardly a "bible" for any purpose other than passing the exam and with an absence of footnotes or bibliography it makes a poor guide to the real world of project management. I'm disappointed in the way a useful resource has been converted into something more appropriate for a cult or multi-level marketing association.

PMI, bring back a bibliography, bring back alternative points of view, show some evidence about the efficacy of the procedures you have published. It won't hurt, I promise.

The 3rd Edition of the PMBOK Guide offers no substantial improvement over its predecessors. While the inaugural 1996 Edition and the follow-on 2000 Edition remain fundamentally aligned in framework and terminology, the latest edition of PMI's standard serves up a revisionist version without offering any supporting evidence for some very dubious changes.
Those of you who are familiar with the earlier editions of the PMBOK Guide may find it interesting that in just four short years some of the knowledge and practice that was generally accepted as "being applicable to most projects most of the time", and for which there was "widespread consensus about their value and usefulness" has changed or disappeared along with the definitions of certain fundamental terms and concepts used in project management.
To make matters worse, the 3rd Edition has almost doubled in size (390 vs. 216 pages), but has added a net of only 5 additional processes. The loquacious nature of the text diminishes clarity and in several instances creates confusion. Top it off with inconsistent and contradictory use of terminology and this "standard" represents a step backwards.
Of course, for those of you seeking the PMP credential, this "new" edition is the foundational reference document for the certification examination....Good Luck.

I understand everyone's frustration with the PMBOK. The challenge with the PMBOK is that one has to understand that this is NOT a teaching book, rather it is a catalogue of the parts of Project Management. Because PMI is THE authority on Project Management, one simply must accept it for what it is: PMBOK's usefullness is primarily for passing the Project Management Professional (PMP) exam, and again, it doesn't matter what the truth is so much, what matters on the exam is the "PMI'isms" mostly found in the PMBOK for the exam.

To learn and tie the components of PMBOK together there are very good TEACHING books are out there, my favorite come from RMC, Rita Mulcathy, et al.

I have helped many through the PMP and the PMBOK *must* be the starting place to pass the exam. I encourage all my 'students' to read it TWICE, (both are painful!!) the first time through simply gain the overall perspective of this CATALOGUE of PM Parts, the second time through see how the parts fit together, the PROCESS GROUPS and the KNOWLEDGE AREAS, how they fit together in THE MATRIX and then the second dimension of how they SEQUENCE.

Most of the successful candidates on the PMP can recreate this matrix, PROCESS GROUPS / KNOWLEDGE AREAS from rote memory immediately before the exam (on the blank sheets they give you) and the 150+ inputs/tools techniques/outputs and their order of sequence --no small task, but the PMP is worth it.

Again, the PMBOK is the essence of PMI and PMP. No real value in being critical of it, but take it for what it is, a tool, and make yourself a PMP from this material. (Actually, once you see what the PMI has done here one can take a prespective to appreciate the succinct, no nonsense way they assembled the info. . .

This book was the textbook for a Project Management course I recently completed. We covered the project management methodologies, as promoted by the Project Management Institute (PMI). I found the format of this book somewhat difficult to absorb. However, I must admit that the PMI did a good job including many concepts that are important to the profession of project management.
The first three chapters give a good introduction to project management, while chapters 4 through 12 are dedicated to each of the 9 PM knowledge areas. The core of this book is the set of 44 processes, mapped out into the 5 process groups and the 9 knowledge area. Each process has corresponding Inputs, Tools and Techniques, and Outputs. One aspect of the formatting of the book I found unhelpful was that I think of the processes in terms of the process groups, while they are explained in the chapters corresponding to the knowledge areas.
The process groups are:
1. Initiating
2. Planning
3. Executing
4. Monitoring & Control
5. Closing
The knowledge areas are:
1. Project Integration Management
2. Project Scope Management
3. Project Time Management
4. Project Cost Management
5. Project Quality Management
6. Project Human Resources Management
7. Project Communications Management
8. Project Risk Management
9. Project Procurement Management
Looking beyond the difficulty to absorb the material, this is an American National Standard and is necessary reading for the PMP and CAPM designations. The PMP designation is valued in the industry and is a good boost to the careers of Project Managers. However, if you are taking the exam you should consider using other exam guides in addition to this book.

Are you like me? Are you looking for the PMBOK and don't want this fool thing called "A Guide To The Project Management Body Of Knowledge"?

If so, I'll save you some time. They are one and the same. It was the word "Guide" that threw me. I didn't want a *GUIDE* to the Project Management Body Of Knowledge, I wanted the actual Project Management Body Of Knowledge book itself. Well.... this is it.

Good luck.

The authors have just filled pages with information being repeated over and over again.

Also there are sentences that have grammatical errors. They have complicated a simple process. PMI didn't do a good job managing the project of writing and editing this book.

Helps to get certified.

For those new to this book it is pretty much the project manager's bible in the same sense that "The C Programming Language" by Brian W Kernighan, Dennis M. Ritchie is to programming. That is to say this is the one to get off the ground with. It is also the basis of the PMP (Project Management Professional) test given by the PMI® (Project Management Institute.)

It comes in both paper, and CD-ROM using Adobe Reader. I have seen the paper book but bought the CD version it includes a tutorial on how to use the CD-ROM media. The media is a mater of preference. There are 425 pages and a good index and references.

Be aware that there are earlier versions. At the time of this review this is the latest version; however as The Body of Knowledge advances so will the PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge Guide ®.) There for it is advisable for people that have read the earlier version to now read this version as a few terms have changed and some emphases have shifted.

As with any institutional book this is a good starting place or a solid foundation. However it may not cover concentrating on the waterfall concept of project management many instances such as the Unified method among others. They also do not take in many external influences as FDA requirements. And it is up to the reader to reconcile the two institutions.

Some changes to the Third Edition:

* Differences in project life cycle and product life cycle are better explained.

* The number of process changed from 39 to 44.

* A greater emphasis is placed on the importance of Process Groups.

* Chapter three "Project Management Process for a Project" is moved and renamed "The Standard for Project Management of a Project."

* The project management processes now show process integration.

PMP Exam Prep, Fifth Edition: Rita's Course in a Book for Passing the PMP Exam