The Ten PMBOK Knowledge Areas | What Changed in Later Editions, and How to Use Them

Look up the ten PMBOK knowledge areas and you will run into the note that they were abolished in the 7th Edition. Yet the classification is still in daily use, and there is value in knowing it. This article lists the ten knowledge areas and sets out how their status has changed across editions.

First: This Is Not the Current Framework

Setting the context straight.

The ten knowledge areas belong to the PMBOK Guide up to the 6th Edition. The 7th Edition, published in 2021, dropped the concept and replaced it with eight performance domains and twelve principles.

The 8th Edition changed things again. The principles were reduced to six, the performance domains to seven, and processes and focus areas were reintroduced. It is a partial return to the specificity of the 6th Edition, prompted by feedback that the 7th was too abstract to apply.

Why they are still worth knowing

Abolished does not mean useless. There are three reasons.

• Conversations in practice still run on this classification.
• Many organisations still have internal standards and templates built on the 6th Edition.
• As a checklist of what needs managing, it still works.

The third is the practical one. To check which areas a project is neglecting, a ten-way split remains usable.

The Ten Knowledge Areas

As defined in the 6th Edition.

1. Integration management

Pulls the other nine together and keeps the whole coherent. Producing the project charter and deciding on change requests sit here.

2. Scope management

Defines what is in and what is out. Building the WBS belongs here.

3. Schedule management

Sets the order and duration of work and tracks progress. Renamed from time management in the 6th Edition.

4. Cost management

Estimates the budget and controls how it is spent, including contingency reserves.

5. Quality management

Confirms the deliverables meet the requirements. Settling the evaluation criteria up front is the core of it.

6. Resource management

Secures and allocates people and equipment. Broadened in the 6th Edition to cover more than human resources.

7. Communications management

Designs who is told what, and when. Deciding on meeting structures and reporting formats belongs here.

8. Risk management

Identifies what could go wrong and decides the response in advance. It covers opportunities as well as threats.