National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of ISO 21502:2020. Together with BS ISO 21500, it supersedes BS ISO 21500:2012, which will be withdrawn on publication of BS ISO 21500.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee MS/2, Project, programme and portfolio management.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its committee manager.

This publication does not purport to include all the necessary provisions of a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

This British Standard was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 31 January 2021.

Foreword

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.

The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www.iso.org/patents).

Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not constitute an endorsement.

For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.

This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 258, Project, programme and portfolio management.

This first edition of ISO 21502, together with ISO 21500:—1, cancels and replaces ISO 21500:2012, which has been technically revised. The main changes compared with ISO 21500:2012 are as follows:

the concept of project management has been expanded to include project-related oversight and direction activities of the sponsoring organization;
information about how projects can deliver outcomes and enable the realization of benefits has been added;
consideration of the organizational context of projects has been added;
descriptions of additional project roles and responsibilities have been added;
new topics have been added, such as creating a project environment that is conducive to success, project life cycles, decision points and gates, and additional project practices, such as benefits management and change control, to reflect current practices in project management;
pre- and post-project activities have been added;
the format has been changed from process-based to practices and narrative-based (see Annex A for details).

Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.

Introduction

This document provides guidance on concepts and practices for project management that are important for and have an impact on a project’s successful delivery.

The target readership for this document includes, but is not limited to:

executive and senior management, to provide a better understanding of project management and to help them to give appropriate support and guidance to project managers and those individuals working on projects;
individuals involved in the governance, direction, assurance, audit and management of projects, such as project sponsors, project boards, auditors and project managers;
project managers and project team members, to have a common basis upon which to understand, conduct, compare, evaluate and communicate the practices used on their project;
developers of national or organizational project management standards, processes and methods.

In addition, this document can also be useful to individuals involved in supporting:

the governance, direction and management of portfolios and programmes;
project teams, programme and project offices or similar organizational structures;
the academic study of project, programme and portfolio management;
functions related to the management of projects, such as finance, accounting, human resource management, procurement and legal.

1 Scope

This document gives guidelines for project management. It is applicable to any organization, including public, private and charitable, as well as to any type of project, regardless of purpose, delivery approaches, life cycle model used, complexity, size, cost or duration.

NOTE Delivery approach can be any method or process suited to the type of outputs, such as predictive, incremental, iterative, adaptive or hybrid, including agile approaches.

This document provides high-level descriptions of practices that are considered to work well and produce good results within the context of project management. This document does not provide guidance on the management of programmes or portfolios. Topics relating to general management are addressed only within the context of project management.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 Project management concepts

4.1 Overview

4.2 Context

4.3 Project governance

4.4 Project life cycle

4.5 Project organization and roles

4.6 Competencies of project personnel

5 Prerequisites for formalizing project management

5.1 Overview

5.2 Considerations for implementing project management

5.3 Continuous improvement of the project management environment

5.4 Alignment with organizational processes and systems

6 Integrated project management practices

6.1 Overview

6.2 Pre-project activities

6.3 Overseeing a project

6.4 Directing a project

6.5 Initiating a project

6.6 Controlling a project

6.7 Managing delivery

6.8 Closing or terminating a project

6.9 Post-project activities

7 Management practices for a project

7.1 Overview

7.2 Planning

7.3 Benefit management

7.4 Scope management

7.5 Resources management

7.6 Schedule management

7.7 Cost management

7.8 Risk management

7.9 Issues management

7.10 Change control

7.11 Quality management

7.12 Stakeholder engagement

7.13 Communication management

7.14 Managing organizational and societal change

7.15 Reporting

7.16 Information and documentation management

7.17 Procurement

7.18 Lessons learned

Bibliography

BS ISO 21502:2020

Project, programme and portfolio management. Guidance on project management

Current, Under Review

Published:

31 Jan 2021