By making sure that your project management knowledge and practices are up-to-date, PMI global standards are the foundation of the profession.

What is a Standard?

A standard is a manuscript, established by consensus and approved by a recognized body, which provides for common and repeated use, rules, guidelines or characteristics for activities or their results, aimed at the achievement of the optimum degree of order in a given context.

Developed under a process based on the concepts of consensus, openness, due process, and balance, PMI standards provide guidelines for achieving specific project, program and portfolio management results.

How are PMI Standards Developed?

Our standards are approved and developed under consensus-based methods that ensure all interested stakeholders can contribute and participate.

Learn more about PMI standards development

Get Involved

The PMI standards and process depends on the feedback of public, so it’s only appropriate that we give you numerous ways to chip into the development of our standards.

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Current PMI Standards Projects

As the project management profession grows and develops, we continue to expand and update our library of standards.

View current PMI Standards

International Standards Activities

To support the project management profession, our volunteers and staff participate in a number of international standards activities.

ISO/TC 258 Technical Committee

The ISO/TC 258 Project, Programme and Portfolio Management Technical Committee builds standards related to project management and carries on the work started by ISO PC236, which developed ISO 21500. TC258 has published a standard on portfolio management, ISO 2150, and is developing the following standards:

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  • Governance of PPP
  • Program management
  • Vocabulary for project management
  • Work breakdown structuresdad
  • Earned value management
  • Project and program manager competencies

The TC has also started an action to reassess and revise 21500.Other project management-related themes are under review for new activities.

PMI administers the ISO/TC 258 Secretariat on behalf of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). PMI staff member Karl Best serves as secretary. Mr. Miles Shepherd serves as chairperson on behalf of the British Standards Institute (BSI) until the end of 2016.

Interested in participating?

If you are fascinated in participating in ISO/TC 258, you must first connect your country’s mirror committee; you can start by contacting your country’s national standards body. See the ISO website for a list of the national standards bodies.

If you or your organization are domiciled in the United States and would like to engage in ISO/TC 258 actions, you can contribute by joining the U.S. Technical Advisory Group (U.S. TAG), an ANSI-accredited committee comprised of subject matter experts, individuals and entities directly and materially affected by the standards activities of ISO/TC 258.

Call for Technical Experts

The U.S. TAG has an ongoing call for technical experts. See a short presentation to learn the requirements for participation and how to apply.

Additional International Activities

We also participate in the activities of the following ISO committees:

  • ISO/IEC JTC1/SC7 Software and Systems Engineering
  • ISO PC262 Risk Management