The Project Management Institute: Membership Functions and Benefits

The Project Management Institute is a professional organization for project-management professionals that was established in 1969 (Project Management Institute, 2005). According to the organization's Web site, PMI currently has more than 200,000 members from 125 countries; members represent a wide range of professional disciplines, including technology, pharmaceuticals, and engineering, among many others (Project Management Institute, 2005). Rather than being an organization with commercial drives, this is a reputable group to belong to as it can not only provide you with extensive information related to the project management sector, it can also allow you to build a network. Personally, this network that has been built through my own membership has allowed me to obtain a few new consulting positions.

For the Project Management Institute, potential members should be aware that there are three different levels of membership amongst which prospective applicants can choose: chapter membership, special interest group membership, or a college membership. Chapters are based on geographical location, and link together members from a particular region. Special interest groups are, as the name suggests, organized not around geographical location, but by shared professional interests. This structure to the Project Management Institute makes it perfect for those seeking to network as you will certainly find many others in similar industries. This is good for you professionally as well as socially as oftentimes, you will find yourself surrounded by like-minded individuals who share your passions and strengths.

Finally, college membership is for those applicants who have developed expertise in a particular area of project management, and who wish to share the particular methodologies and practices that they have devised with other PMI members (Project Management Institute, 2005). At all levels of membership, PMI offers its members access to networking communities, opportunities for professional development through conferences, trainings, and workshops, and discounted rates on products and services offered by the organization (Project Management Institute, 2005).

One of the most important features of the Project Management Institute is its series of articles and information pieces that, once collected, are known as the Project Management Body of Knowledge, or PMBOK. In short, this is a set of best practices devised by PMI for project managers to apply in the oversight and development of their projects. These best practices consist of five processes: (1) Initiating; (2) Planning; (3) Executing; (4) Controlling and Monitoring; and, (5) Closing (Davidson Frame, 2002). The processes are not discrete; rather, they overlap throughout the lifecycle of a project. In addition to the five processes, PMBOK addresses nine areas of knowledge: (1) Project Integration Management; (2) Project Scope Management; (3) Project Time Management; (4) Project Cost Management; (5) Project Quality Management; (6) Project Human Resource Management; (7) Project Communications Management; (8) Project Risk Management; and, (9) Project Procurement Management (Davidson Frame, 2002).

PMBOK serves as both a planning and a risk management tool for project managers. When a project manager applies these processes and knowledge areas consistently, his or her team can operate more efficiently and effectively because they are working from a shared set of expectations and can measure their progress using a common framework, rather than individual and disparate standards.

References

Davidson Frame, J. (2002). The new project management: Tools for an age of rapid change complexity, and other business realities. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Project Management Institute. (2005). Introduction to PMI. Retrieved on April 28, 2007 from http://www.pmi.org/info/AP_IntroOverview.asp?nav=0201