Talk:Project Management Body of Knowledge

Review by Dunseiz

GENERAL COMMENTS

In general I like this article for its conciseness.

The references are done manually as far as I can see. I have made the first two "linked" reference for you because they are slightly different in the code you have to use. They can be copied/pasted and modified to fit the rest of the references.

There are a few grammatical mistakes mainly related to present tense verbs (he/she/it does VS. we/they do as well as he/she/it walks or we/they walk)

BACKGROUND

"This article will be about..." Does "be about" mean a general talk or is it more specific? Another way of phrasing it could be something like "provide the reader with a “table of contents” level understanding and starting point for in-depth exploration". I know, this is taken directly from Josef and Christians "templates and instructions" but something that tells the reader what he or she can expect to gain from reading the article.

TABLE 1

It says "table 1 below..." and I, as a reader, am not in doubt what table to look after but I would still provide the table with a figure text saying "Table 1" - just to uphold standard formatting.

I see that the numbering starts at 4 - is that on purpose or is that a mistake?

Review by "User"

Hej APPPM mate!

First of all I have to admit that you, in my eyes, chose quite a challenging task with the PMBOK, as it is not easy to find an appropriate level of detail for this article. Another challenge is to keep it interesting or exciting for the reader. But I think you are on the track already and hope I can contribute to your success. But let’s start now…

Formal Aspects

• I need to say that you have quite a good amount of small grammar mistakes (e.g. “is” instead of “are”, missing articles like “…is (a) new standard within PM)
• Make sure you write names always in capital letters (e.g. International (P)roject (M)anagement (A)ssociation (IPMA)”)
• In my opinion your sentences tend to be too long. Find more often the dot button on our keyboard and it will be fine and more clear for the reader. ;-)
• It might be a good idea to check your text for repetitions of words (e.g. your 2nd, 3rd and 4th sentences all begin by “The standard…”).
• You should annotate the table (“Table 1”).
• Consider labeling the axes of the table, i.e. “Processes” and “Main topics”.
• You could also consider illustrating the processes described by the PMBOK (probably 5 simple arrows each including its process name), which would make the article more clear and visible.
• I think especially the section “Content of the standard” (Capital letters please!) should be split up into some sub-sections. Therefore you should use Wiki’s sub-headlines (“ === Sub === “). Definitely you apply that to distinguish more between the description of the processes and the one of the main topics. So make it more structured, more transparent for the reader.

Content Aspects

• As I mentioned in the beginning, it is a hard task to keep it exciting/interesting for the reader. To contribute more to this requirement you should maybe re-think or refine the mission you are trying to accomplish with your reports. Maybe you could be a bit more ambitioned and aim at a little more then summing up the standard.
• For example you could try to reflect on the application of PMBOK. Try to find some interesting quotes from PMs regarding the use, the benefits, the limitations of the standard. Especially the discussion part would benefit from that.
• Another interesting aspect could be the tools provided by the “groups of processes”. You only mention that there are tools existing. Instead you could give a brief outline or overview about the most interesting tools.
• At least if you pick up some of my suggestions you could extend the length of the article a little bit.
• The logical flow of your article basically follows the standard. Try to apply some transition section/sentences to make it more smooth and understandable. Point out more clearly and from the beginning, what you want to do within this article.
• I do not see any quotes throughout your text. Make it more lively, make it more proof by taking more and different sources into account.
• If you start using the term “main topics” stick to it. Don’t confuse the reader by using just “parts” later on.
• I like how relate the stakeholder analysis, power/interest grid etc. to Project Stakeholder Management. Try to find more relations. Provide the reader with some more links.

Overall, I think, you still have some potential inside your article that you should pick up to improve! What I find most noticeable is that you almost do not deploy any different angles, approaches or applications. So basically there is no controversial character within your text. Due to that, the discussion section keeps below its expectations.

I think it is okay to have no controversy in your article, but then you should just focus on condensing relevant information throughout your work. Also apply visualization.

Anyway, I think you are on a good way and you will maybe be on a better one with my review. And please just remember to ask somebody to check your formal mistakes before handing it in. ;-)

Cheers! Yours “User”