Ever notice what a minefield of project management acronyms we are expected to negotiate our way through on a daily basis?
Take a conversation I recently overheard in a project management workshop:
“Yes I had to decide whether to do PRINCE2®or PMP® or even CAPM®! I know PMI® publishes the PMBOK® guide, and APMG is involved in accreditations. Oh, and did you know OGC have changed their name? Then I realised I need to consider that PMI requires PDUs and that I need to understand EVM and EMV.
I’m not sure if my next step should be MSP® or P3O® or even MoP®. And on that matter, do you know I’ve heard PPM been used in 2 different ways! Where’s the consistency in all this? Our PMO is also looking into P3M3® or even OPM3®…
By the way are you here just for foundation or practitioner as well?”
Am I dreaming; imaging this? Is this a nightmare? Is your brain hurting as well as mine by this verbosity of letters?
Is the sender trying to:
- (a) enlighten
- (b) empower
- (c) bedazzle
- (d) bamboozle
the poor receiver by this entanglement of characters?
In the interests of not wanting to leave you in acronym wilderness here’s a little cheat sheet to wind your way through the convoluted maze of project management acronyms:
| APMG | APM Group – Examination institute which accredits training and consulting organizations, and manages certification schemes for products like PRINCE2, MSP, P3O, MoP etc |
| CAPM | Certified Associate in Project Management is an entry-level certification for project practitioners from the PMI |
| EMV | Expected Monetary Value is a statistical technique that calculates the average outcome when the future includes scenarios that may or may not happen (referenced in the PMBOK guide) |
| EVM | Earned Value Management is a project management technique for measuring project performance and progress |
| MoP | Management of Portfolios approaches the management of change projects and programmes from a strategic viewpoint |
| MSP | Managing Successful Programmes represents proven programme management good practice in successfully delivering transformational change across a wide range of public and private sector organisations |
| OGC | Office of Government Commerce is the former owner of ‘Best Management Practice’ including PRINCE2, MSP etc. Now known as the Cabinet Office |
| OPM3 | PMI’s Organizational Project Management Maturity Model – a globally recognized best-practice standard for assessing and developing capabilities in Portfolio Management, Program Management, and Project Management |
| PDUs | Professional development units – PMP credential holders are required to participate in professional development activities to maintain the credential. |
| PMP | Project Management Professional is industry-recognized certification for project managers from the PMI. Globally recognized and demanded, the PMP demonstrates that you have the experience, education and competency to lead and direct projects. |
| PPM | (1) Abbreviation for project and programme management (2) Abbreviation for portfolio project management |
| PMI | Project Management Institute |
| PMO | Abbreviation commonly used for Project/Programme Management Office |
| PMBOK | Project Management Body of Knowledge |
| PRINCE2 | A project management method. The acronym stands for Projects IN Controlled Environments |
| P3M3 | Portfolio, Programme and Project Management Maturity Model that provides a framework with which organisations can assess their current performance and put in place improvement plans. |
| P3O | Portfolio, Programme and Project Offices provides guidance on how to define, establish and operate a portfolio, programme or project office. |
PRINCE2® , P3O®, MSP®, MoP®, P3M3® are Registered Trade Marks of the Cabinet Office Managing Benefits™ is a trade mark of the APM Group Limited