Page 191 - Global Project Management Handbook

COMPETENCIES OF PROJECT MANAGERS 8-17

● PMSGB/SAQA: National Certificate in Generic Project Management (Project Administration
and Coordination) at NQF Level 4 (South Africa)
● PMI PMCDF: Project Manager Competency Development Framework (2002) (PMI)

The primary focus in selecting performance-based competency standards was on those
standards and/or guidelines that were developed in the context of nationally endorsed qual-
ifications frameworks. Such standards have been developed as a basis for criterion-based
assessment of workplace performance, and those available at the time the research was
conducted were those of Australia, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. The PMI’s
Project Manager Competency Development Framework was also included because its for-
mat is similar to that of the government-endorsed performance-based standards.
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Review and comparison of these standards identified 48 concepts or topics, of which
18 were represented at the topic level in all eight of the documents reviewed. These may
be considered core topics:
● Change control
● Cost management
● Document management
● Information/communication management
● Procurement
● Project closeout/finalization
● Project context/environment
● Project initiation/startup
● Project planning
● Project monitoring and control
● Quality management
● Reporting
● Resource management
● Risk management
● Time management/scheduling/planning

● Stakeholder/relationship management
● Team building/development/teamwork
● Work content and scope management
In developing the performance-based standards, the underlying assumption was that
regardless of the range of responsibilities, project managers at the threshold level of com-
petence are expected to produce essentially the same result—outputs and outcomes that
are acceptable to relevant stakeholders. However, they will be required to do this in dif-
fering contexts. The CIFTER table (see Table 8.1) was developed as a basis for identify-
ing roles based on the nature and context of projects. From this it was determined that
there should be two levels of project manager standards, Global Level 1 and Global Level 2,
where the Global Level 2 project manager would be operating in a more senior role and a
more complex environment.
Through a series of working sessions, issue of exposure drafts, and review and response
to feedback over a two-year period, performance-based standards were developed for these
two levels of project manager, Global Level 1 and Global Level 2, and ready for public
release in March 2006. There are six units in the standards: