The Project Management Institute (PMI)PMI is the Project Management Institute, a not-for-profit professional association dedicated to “advancing the practice, science and profession of project management throughout the world”. They do this in a conscious, proactive manner to increase the chances of adoption and utilization of PMI project management processes in organizations throughout the world.

The Project Management Institute was founded in 1969 by working project managers; today, there exist over half a million PMI members. PMI is also a certificate-granting organization, the most famous of which is the PMP (Project Management Professional) credential. The full list of credentials offered by PMI include:

  • Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)
  • Project Management Professional (PMP)
  • Program Management Professional (PgMP)
  • PMI Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP)
  • PMI Scheduling Professional (PMI-SP)

In addition to issuing credentials, PMI also publishes a variety of standards. The most widely recognized of these is the PMBOK (Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge), a comprehensive book of project management norms, methods, processes and practices. It is this guide that PMP certification candidates must study in order to pass the PMP examination. The full list of standards include:

  • A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide)
  • Construction Extension to the PMBOK Guide
  • Government Extension to the PMBOK Guide
  • Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3)
  • Practice Standard for Earned Value Management
  • Practice Standard for Project Configuration Management
  • Practice Standard for Scheduling
  • Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures
  • Project Manager Competency Development Framework
  • The Standard for Portfolio Management
  • The Standard for Program Management

PMI features a research department that has sponsored projects since 1997. To date over US $15 million has been invested in the project management profession.

PMI is a dynamic organization. Throughout the world, a great number of PMI chapters host PMI chapter meetings where project management practices are discussed and presented by a variety of project management experts. While PMI-based material is of course frequently presented at these meetings, topics may also include non-PMI-based project management materials.