Process: Manage Project Knowledge
Process Group: Executing
Knowledge Area: Project Integration Management
Purpose
The Manage Project Knowledge process focuses on using existing organizational knowledge and creating new knowledge to achieve project objectives and support organizational learning. It ensures that lessons learned, insights, and experiences are captured and shared throughout the project lifecycle.
Inputs
- Project Management Plan – Provides guidance on how knowledge is captured, documented, and reused.
- Project Documents – Includes lessons learned register, team assignments, and stakeholder registers.
- Deliverables – May contain embedded knowledge or be used to evaluate what was learned during their creation.
- Enterprise Environmental Factors (EEFs) – Such as organizational culture, technology infrastructure, and knowledge-sharing platforms.
- Organizational Process Assets (OPAs) – Historical project data, databases, and lessons learned repositories.
Tools and Techniques
- Expert Judgment – Draws on specialized knowledge to evaluate what information is valuable and how it should be shared.
- Knowledge Management – Techniques like communities of practice, knowledge bases, storytelling, shadowing, and mentoring.
- Information Management – Methods for collecting, storing, and organizing information (e.g., document repositories, version control).
- Interpersonal and Team Skills – Active listening, networking, and facilitation to encourage knowledge sharing.
Outputs
- Lessons Learned Register – A living document that captures insights gained throughout the project to benefit current and future efforts.
- Project Management Plan Updates – Includes refinements to knowledge management strategies or procedures.
- Organizational Process Assets Updates – Captured knowledge becomes part of the broader organizational knowledge base.
Role in the Process Group and Knowledge Area
- As part of the Executing Process Group, this process ensures knowledge is actively applied and shared while work is being done.
- Within Project Integration Management, it supports continuous learning and fosters innovation, collaboration, and informed decision-making across all phases.
Why It Matters
- Reduces Rework – Reuses proven approaches and avoids repeating past mistakes.
- Increases Efficiency – Taps into institutional knowledge to solve problems faster.
- Builds Organizational Capability – Contributes to the long-term maturity and effectiveness of the organization.
- Supports Team Development – Encourages growth through shared experiences and lessons.