APPENDIX X1
DEVELOPMENT OF THE STANDARD FOR RISK MANAGEMENT IN PORTFOLIOS, PROGRAMS, AND PROJECTS

The Practice Standard for Project Risk Management was published in 2009. Its purpose was to (a) provide a standard for project management practitioners and other project stakeholders that defined the aspects of project risk management recognized as good practice on most projects most of the time and (b) provide a standard that is globally applicable and consistently applied.

The Practice Standard for Project Risk Management covered risk management for a single project. Section 11 of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK^® Guide) – Fourth Edition formed the basis for the Practice Standard for Project Risk Management. Like the PMBOK^® Guide, the practice standard did not cover risk in portfolios or programs.

In 2017, recognizing that risk management is a major consideration in portfolios and programs as well as projects, the PMI standards program team (SPT), which includes the PMI Standards Manager and the Standards Member Advisory Group, chartered the development of the principle-based Standard for Risk Management in Portfolios, Programs, and Projects. In addition to addressing risk in the purview of three of PMI's foundational standards (PMBOK^® Guide – Sixth Edition, The Standard for Program Management – Fourth Edition, and The Standard for Portfolio Management – Fourth Edition), the charter directed the project team to identify the core principles and practices for risk management, describe the fundamentals of risk management, and write the standard to reflect current, accepted risk management good practices.

The project team formed in the fall of 2017. It consisted of eight PMI volunteers led by Gary Sikma, committee chair, and David Ross, vice chair. In addition to expanding the scope of risk management to cover portfolios, programs, and projects as directed by the charter, the project team submitted recommendations to PMI's Lexicon Team to enhance risk-related definitions to include all three domains. The first draft of the standard was completed on 12 March 2018 and distributed to subject matter experts (SMEs) for review and comment. Based on the SMEs’ comments, the document was revised and released to the practitioner community on 2 July 2018 as a public exposure draft. The committee revised the draft and submitted the final draft and summary report of the public exposure draft actions to the PMI Standards Consensus Body for approval, leading to its subsequent publication.