Issues with PMBOK 8 Processes

Isabel Diaz Pereira PM Specialist| Tecnofor Iberica Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Looking at the processes, their inputs and outputs, in PMBOK 8, which I welcome, I would like an explanation for the following aspects:

- No process is shown whose output is the Quality Plan, yet it is an input to several processes and is also updated in others. I understand that its production would be located in the Plan Scope Management process, since quality is considered within the scope.

-The same is true of the Procurement Management Plan, which I understand should be created in the Plan Procurement Strategy process.

-Similarly, the output of the process Plan Sourcing Strategy is not used by any process.

An ETC is specified in all processes, and they are not prescriptive, but I believe they are relevant documents that should not be kept on hold.

Posted: Dec 17, 2025 7:26 AM

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Kiron Bondale Retired | Mentor| Retired Welland, Ontario, Canada

Isabel -

The project's quality management plan (notice the artifact is not capitalized) is referenced as an output of the Define Scope process on page 41. The accompanying ITTO diagram does not explicitly reference it as an output, but does have "Etc." so I guess it falls under that as it is no longer considered a "key" artifact.
Because the PMBOK Guide, Eight Edition no longer treats procurement management as core but rather as a complementary practice, this is why I'd assume that the product of a procurement management plan is not listed as an output of any PMBOK process.
Ditto - while Plan Sourcing Strategy is a PMBOK process, its outputs are utilized by various procurement processes and hence it is not covered

Please note that I'm not necessarily in favor of these changes, but I believe this to be the rationale supporting them.

Kiron

Posted: Dec 17, 2025 11:07 AM

Rami Kaibni

Community Champion

Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten Associates New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada

Isabel, I do agree with Kiron's perspective and rationale. I am also not necessarily in favor of this specific change but in general do find the 8th edition much more structured and inclusive than the 7th edition.

Posted: Dec 17, 2025 2:16 PM

Fabian Crosa

Community Champion

PMO Leader | Speaker & Mentor | Content Leader – PMOGA Latin America Hub| Catholic University of Uruguay Montevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay

PMBOK® 8 does not eliminate key plans or artifacts (Quality, Procurement, ETC).
It changes how and why they exist.

Plans are no longer "born" from a specific process:
they emerge within the Project Management Plan and evolve according to context.

Quality and procurement are integrated into project thinking, not isolated in mandatory documents.

The sourcing strategy guides decisions, even if it does not appear as formal input.

ETCs remain relevant, but are not prescriptive: what matters is estimation and anticipation, not format.

👉 In summary:
PMBOK 8 moves from documents and processes to professional judgment, systems, and value.
Fewer checklists. More thinking. More responsibility.

Posted: Dec 17, 2025 2:43 PM

Isabel Diaz Pereira PM Specialist| Tecnofor Iberica Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Hello, Fabian, Rami, and Kiron:
I agree with you and understand what you are saying. However, for the sake of consistency, one would expect that if there is a plan that is part of a process because it is shown as an input to that process and is considered “part” of the project management plan (e.g., in the process of planning the procurement strategy, estimating costs, planning resource management, etc.), it would have been created somewhere. Although, as Kiron mentions, the explanation of the “define scope” process specifies its development, I find it lacking that it does not appear as a result of that process in the ITTO diagram.

Thank you for your answers.

Posted: Dec 18, 2025 10:19 AM

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Issues with PMBOK 8 Processes

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