U.S. Office of Personnel Management www.opm.gov - Recruiting, Retaining and Honoring a World-Class Workforce to Serve the American People

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Introduction

This interpretive guidance addresses position classification, job evaluation, staffing, qualifications, training, and development for project manager positions based on existing criteria and guidance. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is issuing this guidance to assist agencies as they:

• Identify project manager positions;
• Clarify project manager duties;
• Address related position classification issues;
• Recruit, select, train, and develop qualified project managers to meet their needs;
• Implement training, performance, and retention programs (as noted later in this document, agencies need to ensure that courses and training adhere to established procedures and guidelines, especially as the law now authoorizes agencies to fund credentials and academic degree training. Agencies are reminded that they may pay for formal programs that lead to academic degress only if the academic institution is accredited by an organization approved by the U.S. Department of Education); and
• Conduct succession planning.

The guidance addresses the above common concerns about project management issues as raised by officials and representatives from OPM, the Office of Management and Budget, the Chief Human Capital Officers Council, the Chief Information Officers Council, the Chief Financial Officers Council, the Joint Financial Management Improvement Project, the Procurement Executives Council, the Professional Council of Federal Scientists and Engineers, and other groups.

Definition of a Project

Project

Project is defined in the Project Management Institute's Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK^®, an American National Standard ANSI/PMI 99-001-2000) as:

"A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result."

It is important to distinguish a project from a program. In contrast to a project, which has a defined beginning and end, a program is an ongoing operation. A project serves to develop, modify, or enhance a product, service, or system and is constrained by the relationships among scope, resources, and time. Programs, on the other hand, encompass the missions, functions, operations, activities, laws, rules, and regulations that an agency is authorized and funded by statute to administer and enforce. Programs normally provide products and/or services to the public. Agencies distribute available funding to carry out these continuing programs and any ongoing staff support they require.

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