While the art and science of project management has been established for the most part in the past years - and with much reference to the previous versions of PMBOK Guide - project management specialists today believe that there is a need to calibrate the PM knowledge base to reflect the current real-world practices. Therefore, the fourth edition of the PMBOK Guide was published to specifically meet the demands of the project management profession.

For instance, the fourth edition of the guide focuses on consistency and clarity, and thus, in turn, this version eliminates any redundant information. That said, the section, Appendix A – Fourth Edition Changes of the PMBOK Guide, lists all of the modifications from the previous edition. Specifically then, the following major changes are included in this appendix:

1. Emphasizing Consistency and Clarification. All processes are explained in the verb-noun format - making the words sound clearer and more active. Standard verbiage is still incorporated throughout the entire document in order to aid users’ understanding. On the other hand, there is a clear differentiation between project management plans and project documents. According to the new PMBOK Guide, while the project manager utilizes project documents to manage projects, these documents are not necessarily part of the project management plan. Project documents, themselves, include estimates, change logs, and requirements lists, and other pertinent items.

2. Reduction of Processes from 44 to 42. The Develop Preliminary Scope Statement and the Plan Scope, which were included in the previous versions of the guide, were deleted from the fourth edition. On the other hand, two other processes, namely Collect Requirements and Identify Stakeholders, were added to the newer version.

3. Replacement of Scope Planning with Collect Requirements.  In Chapter 5 – Project Management Scope, section 5.1.3 identifies the requirements collection outputs as Requirements Management Plan, Requirements Traceability Matrix, and as Requirements Documentation. All requirements are identified through the use of the Requirements Register - the place where the stakeholders’ needs are recorded.

4. Inclusion of A Data Flow Diagram for Each Process. Instead of process flows at the beginning of Chapters 4 to 12, data flow diagrams are included in the newer version to identify which part of the project management cycle a certain process falls.

5. Identifying Key Interpersonal Skills for Managing Personnel. To emphasize a more pro-active approach to managing project teams, the Manage Project Team process is listed under the Executing Process Group. This process recognizes and discusses the important people skills that a project manager needs in order to lead a successful project team. Specifically, these people skills include Leadership, Team Building, Motivation, Communication, Influencing, Decision Making, Political and Cultural Awareness, and Negotiation.

6. Recognizing the Importance of Managing Stakeholder Expectations. Although stakeholders do not necessarily manage project teams, it is important for team members to keep the expectations of stakeholders in mind when the team members are making decisions. When team members consider the stakeholder expectations in this manner, Managing Stakeholder Expectations moves from being a controlling process to being an executing process.