As PMP certification holders know, the Guide for the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) is a largely a very dry read. It’s getting really technical at times, uses plenty of Project Management jargon and it’s overly structured.
As all the deserts have their pockets of freshwater, fertile land, PMBOK has also its oasis, a passage that it’s written with the reader in mind.
Making an analogy between a project manager and the conductor of an orchestra, the guide also finds similarities between the project team and the orchestra. The musicians playing various instruments are compared with the various roles a project team could comprise, such as analysts, designers, developers, testers and the major sections of the orchestra are mirrored in the different business units and departments involved in a project. The project manager and the conductor are responsible for the outcomes of their teams and while they are not supposed to know how to play the various instruments or to execute the array of tasks in the project, their leadership is essential in order to guide and coordinate the team in fulfilling meaningful work that contributes to the project objectives.
I consider that this analogy it’s useful for someone who wants to understand more of project management, creating a visual representation of the Project Manager’s role, that contrasts positively with the rest of mostly abstract concepts in the PMBOK.
