Have you ever taken the responsibility of organizing a surprise birthday party? Maybe you were in charge of planning the family camping trip? At work, were you tasked with creating a marketing plan, implementing changes to reduce operation costs, or introducing new software for client management? If you did any of these, you are already familiar with various aspects of project management and have been developing the skills that project managers need. PECB’s ISO 21502 training courses aim to help you advance your project management skills and set you on a path to becoming a great project manager.

What is ISO 21502?

As an update of ISO 21500:2012, ISO 21502:2020 provides guidance to help project managers and project-based organizations deliver projects successfully. The standard also provides high-level descriptions of effective practices in project management.

The guidance provided by ISO 21502 can be applied to any organization and all types of projects. Moreover, apart from project managers and executive management, the standard can be used by project sponsors and boards, auditors, and organizations that develop national or organizational standards or practices for project management.

Why is project management important for you?

The advent of remote work and project-based companies are expected to increase the demand for skilled project management professionals. Obtaining a professional certification in project management enables you to take advantage of the opportunities in an emerging work market. Additionally, project managers are needed across industries, and professional certification can be the first step toward a career focused on managing projects in specific sectors, such as:

• Manufacturing
• Construction
• Services and information technology (IT)
• Education
• Management consulting
• Utilities
• Government
• Agriculture and mining
• Oil and gas

At the organisational level, ISO 21502 recommendations can help organisations optimise their resources while maximising value creation, thus, achieving their intended outcomes. It also promotes employee collaboration and enhances communication among personnel, suppliers, and customers relevant to the project, which results in stakeholder engagement and customer satisfaction. Moreover, ISO 21502 can lead to better business decisions, including prioritising tasks for projects and mitigating risks.

A career in project management will transform how you plan and undertake activities and tasks within the context of projects. As a trained and certified project manager, you will lead the project team, plan activities for the project, define the project objectives, scope, schedule, and budget, identify, assess, and treat risks, engage and communicate with stakeholders, and manage the overall implementation of the project.

Benefits of ISO 21502

By using ISO 21502 guidelines on project management, organisations and project managers will be able to:

• Transform their ideas into tangible or intangible deliverables
• Manage and engage stakeholders successfully when developing and implementing projects
• Initiate, plan, implement, control, and close projects with specific objectives, scope, resources 
• Control changes to projects
• Manage organizational and societal changes that impact projects
• Conduct risk assessments regarding the project and manage identified risks 
• Learn from project management activities

Changes made from ISO 21500:2012 to ISO 21502:2020

ISO 21502:2020 cancels and replaces ISO 21500:2012. The first edition of ISO 21502 has changed from a process-based to a practices and narrative-based format. In addition to the introductory clauses, ISO 21502 is made up of four main clauses:

• Clause 4 Project management concepts
• Clause 5 Prerequisites for formalizing project management
• Clause 6 Integrated project management practices
• Clause 7 Management practices for a project

Beside the structural change, the following aspects have been added to ISO 21502:

• Oversight and direction activities of the sponsoring organization
• Information on project outcomes and benefits
• The organizational context of projects
• Additional project practices (benefits management, change control)
• New topics: project environment, project life cycle, decision points, gates
• Explanation of additional project roles and responsibilities
• Pre-project and post-project activities

Why choose PECB?

As a global provider of training, examination, and certification services, PECB aims to help you demonstrate your commitment and competence by providing you valuable education, evaluation, and certification against internationally recognized standards.

Our ISO 21502 certifications represent peer recognition of your professional capabilities and demonstrate that you are able to manage and support projects by using efficient project management practices.