The profession of project management continues to see growth and new global recognition.  

Work continues to progress on the development of the ISO Project Management Standard 21500 (Guide to Project Management).  The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) approved the initiation of this new international project management standard in 2006. PMI believes it is important for all project management practitioners to be aware of this upcoming international standard and to learn how you can participate in its development.

Approved by the Technical Management Board of ISO in November 2006, the project began in late 2007 as a Project Committee under the title ISO/PC 236, Project Management. The Committee expects to move the document into a Committee Draft in Q4 2009. It will remain in this stage from anywhere between two and five months.  If it is approved in that form, it will be expected to move into the Draft International Standard Phase, sometime in Q2 2011. At that stage it will be available to ISO member countries for comment and ballot voting. If ISO member countries approve the draft, the document will then become a Final Draft International Standard, and members will vote whether or not to publish it in its final form. A two-thirds majority vote is needed to approve the Final Draft and have it published. Final delivery of the standard is expected in 2012.

Numerous countries have agreed to participate in the development of this standard.  All of these countries have already established committees within their national standards body to work on the development of this standard.  The ISO Project Management Committee Secretariat is administered by PMI on behalf of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and is Chaired by Mr. Miles Shepherd on behalf of the British Standards Institute (BSI).

Anyone who would like to participate in the development of this standard is requested to contact the national standards body for his or her country. Contact information for ISO member countries can be found by following the above link to the ISO website.

The Project Committee:   

The Project Committee is made up of three working groups. Each group is tasked with specific duties:

§  Working Group #1 – is tasked with developing the official vocabulary used within the document

§  Working Group #2 – describes project management processes

§  Working Group #3 – develops informative guidance such as the indexes, appendices, navigation, etc.

Each working group is lead by a Convener and Secretary.  They are responsible for facilitating the work of the team and striving for consensus among the members.  Members of the working groups consist of subject matter experts (SMEs) nominated by their countries to develop the technical content of the Standard.

§  Working Group #1

o    Convener: Rebecca Winston, U.S.

o    Secretary: Robert Hierholtz, France

§  Working Group #2

o    Convener: Reinhard Wagner, Germany

o    Secretary: Walter Bowman, U.S.

§  Working Group #3

o    Convener: Reg Sutcliffe, U.K.

o    Secretary: Nigel Blampied, U.S.

Additional Information:

Participating Countries and Their Standards Bodies:
For more information on the participating countries and their standards bodies, please refer to the country listing.