Dear PM Advisor. February 11, 2013

Dear PM Advisor,

I'm reading my PMBOK and it seems that every process has the same two inputs added to each: Enterprise Environmental Factors and Organizational Process Assets. As far as I can tell, these equate to Miscellaneous. What am I supposed to do with these? And how am I supposed to place these in my memory while I study for my PMP exam?

PMP Student in Manhattan, New York.

Dear PMP,

These two inputs are how PMI categorizes a lot of tools used within the organization and outside that are used on projects. The way you can think about them are that the Organizational Process Assets are tools that are stored within the Project Management Office (PMO) and  Enterprise Environmental Factors are stored outside this group. (My nemonic is Organizational = O = PMO and Enterpise = E = External)

What does this mean to you? Whenever there is a tool that should be stored by the PMO (assuming your company has such an entity or by some knowledgeable person if no PMO exists) this is an Organizational Process Asset. Examples of these would be templates for a Charter or Risk Register, WBS and Gantt charts from previous projects, lessons learned.

When the tool comes from outside the company, it's an Enterprise Environmental Factor. So government regulations, industry groups, etc. are clearly from this group. It gets confusing when it's a tool from within the company but outside the PMO, especially when you don't have a PMO. So picture yourself as a hoarder of project data, templates and processes. Would you keep this tool? If so, its an Organizational Process Asset. If not, it's an Enterprise Environmental Factor.

Another question that may come up on your PMP test regarding these may ask you if either of these is a tool in some process, an input in another or an output in a third. Remember that it is always an input. An output might be an update to one or more of these tools.
Good luck,

PM Advisor.

Send your questions to bfieggen@gmail.com