How Good Project Work Is Done

The 12 Project Management Principles

Twelve guiding truths that shape sound project decisions across any method or industry. Each principle page explains what it means, why it matters, and how it plays out in practice.

PMBOK® Guide — 7th Edition Select a principle to explore it in detail.
1

Be a diligent, respectful, and caring steward

Project managers are entrusted with other people's resources, time, and trust, and stewardship is the duty to use them responsibly. In practice it means…

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2

Create a collaborative project team environment

Build the conditions — shared agreements, clear structure, and good processes — in which a diverse group becomes a real team. A collaborative environment…

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3

Effectively engage with stakeholders

Engage stakeholders proactively and to the degree each one needs — because they can advance or derail value at every turn. This is engagement…

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4

Focus on value

Keep the project pointed at value, not just outputs, and adjust as you learn. Value — the benefit to the customer or organization —…

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5

Recognize, evaluate, and respond to system interactions

Treat the project as a system that interacts with other systems, and stay alert to those dynamic interactions. A holistic view helps you act…

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6

Demonstrate leadership behaviors

Show leadership behaviors — and adapt them to people and situations — regardless of your title. Leadership is distinct from authority, and anyone on…

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7

Tailor based on context

Design the approach to fit this project's context — its objectives, stakeholders, and environment — using just enough process. Every project is unique, so…

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8

Build quality into processes and deliverables

Build quality into the processes and the deliverables rather than inspecting it in at the end. Quality means meeting acceptance criteria and satisfying stakeholders'…

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9

Navigate complexity

Continually spot and navigate the complexity that arises from people, interacting systems, uncertainty, and ambiguity. You cannot eliminate complexity, but you can reduce its…

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10

Optimize risk responses

Continually evaluate risk — threats and opportunities — and respond in a way that maximizes the upside and minimizes the downside. Good responses are…

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11

Embrace adaptability and resiliency

Build adaptability and resiliency into how the team works so the project can absorb shocks and keep moving. Adaptability is responding to change; resiliency…

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12

Enable change to achieve the envisioned future state

Prepare the people affected to adopt and sustain the new ways of working a project introduces. Projects create change, and change only delivers value…

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