Launching The Body of Knowledge 8th Edition: A writer's view

After five years, 8 April marks the launch of the APM’s Body of Knowledge (APM BoK) 8th edition. Building on the success of the 7th edition, the new APM BoK combines a fresh look and feel with essential knowledge for the modern project professional, thanks to new chapters on emerging topics such as artificial intelligence (AI), data, systems thinking and sustainability.

As one of the contributory writers, I’ve been part of the journey with the APM since late 2023, contributing to the next edition of this go-to resource for the project profession. In this article, I’ll share the process we went through as writers and give a sneak peek into what you can expect from the 8th edition.

Building from strong foundations

In November 2023, like many other volunteers, I attended the APM Volunteers’ Forum in Manchester. Here, the APM editorial team, in collaboration with Manchester Business School, shared their analysis and members’ feedback on the 7th edition.

The verdict? Pretty good, but it was time for a refresh. At the time, generational changes like artificial technology and data analytics were gaining momentum, and the style and tone of the 7th edition was beginning to feel out of date.

This gave the APM, and us writers, a strong foundation to move forward from, with clear direction that the 8th edition should be a ‘refresh and modernisation’ rather than a fundamental re-write.

Researching and drafting

As a team of writers, we were allocated different topics based on our industry experience and professional interests, with guidance on style, tone and structure provided by the APM’s editorial team.

As we wrote, there was a strong focus on making the APM BoK an essential resource for a VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity) world. This meant steering away from specific tools, techniques or frameworks and keeping more to a general guide that project professionals could turn to when navigating daily challenges.

There was also a clear brief to align the contents of each chapter to the APM’s Competency Framework, as well as a collective goal to simplify the language to make it accessible and digestible. This ensured the APM BoK 8th edition contained the knowledge that modern project professionals need to succeed, no matter their background, seniority, or industry.

The drafting phase was very iterative, with lots of back and forth between writers and the APM team to share ideas, explore different angles and refine the content.

Editing and refining

With our drafts submitted, each chapter went through a rigorous review process. After the internal review, the APM team shared our drafts with the APM community, including members of the APM Interest Networks, for peer review. This provided us with rich feedback, challenging what was included and the technical excellence of the content itself.

With the peer review completed, the editorial team, led by Professor Mike Bourne, Professor of Business Performance at Cranfield University, completed their final review. An external copywriter proofread each chapter to improve clarity by removing unnecessary jargon and tightening the language. This ensured the 8th edition met the objectives it set out to achieve before sending it off for publication.

The wait and now the launch

It’s been a long wait since we completed our final round of refinements in October, and like many APM members, I’m excited to see the finished product. Publications like the Body of Knowledge don’t come around very often, and they always generate healthy debate about what’s in and what’s out, and what’s right and what’s wrong.

All I know is, I’ve often turned to my APM BoK 7th edition when I’ve been stuck on my own deliveries, and I’m sure the 8th edition will continue to be a valuable resource for project professionals whenever they need a helping hand.