ISO 21502: Project Management — The International Standard

Name: ISO 21502: Project Management — The International Standard
Rating: 4.7 (72 reviews)

Learn project management with ISO 21502 — planning, scope, schedule, cost, risk and stakeholders, no PMP required

Created byCristian Vlad Lupa, rigcert.education

Last updated 7/2026

English

What you'll learn

The key concepts of project management
The integrated project management practices and how they relate to the roles and levels in the project organizatioin
The roles in a project organization and their their responsibilities and authorities
The other standards published by ISO on subjects related to project management
The practices to be considered when managing a project

Course content

5 sections • 41 lectures • 3h 28m total length

Introduction4:21
Discover ISO 21502:2020 project management, including the standard’s five sections, governance and life cycle, project roles, prerequisites, integrated practices, and key areas like scope, schedule, costs, quality, and lessons learned.
About project management5:41
Why are projects different from the current operations of an organizationi. What represents project management and about the key milestones in the history of project management
The ISO 21500 series of standards5:57
About the standards in the ISO 21500 series on project, programme and portfolio management. What is each standard about and where to find up to date information on the standards published by ISO
About ISO 215024:50
The structure and purpose of ISO 21502:2020 and the relationship between ISO 21502:2020 and ISO 21500:2012

Project management concepts3:19
About the relationship between projects, programmes and portfolios and the subjects of clause 4 in ISO 21502:2020
A project's context6:49
About the factors inside and outside the organization that form the project's context. The customer and supplier perspectives when looking at a project. Examples of project constraints
Project organization roles and competencies part 16:19
About the project organization as a temporary structure and about the different roles in the project organization including the sponsoring organization, the project board, the project sponsor or the project assurance structure
Project organization roles and competencies part 26:46
Continuation of the discussion about the roles in a project organization including the project manager, the work package leader and team members. Competencies needed for those who are part of the project organization
Project governance and life cycle4:57
About the project governance and the difference between governance and management. The definition of the project's life cycle and about decision points (or gates) in the project life cycle
Recapitulation - Project management concepts3:30
A recapitulation of the subjects discussed including the project context, governance, the project's life cycle or the different roles in the project organization

Integrated project management practices3:33
Generic information about the integrated project management practices including their relationship with the practices for a project
Pre-project activities3:22
What are the pre-project activities, who is responsible for their application and what is the purpose of pre-project activities
Overseeing a project2:25
The purpose of project oversight and how is the sponsoring organization expected to oversee a project
Directing a project2:25
About the project sponsor and the responsibility to direct the project. What is the purpose of directing a project and how is this achieved
Initiating a project8:06
About the responsibilities of the project manager for initiating a project. The purpose of project initiation and about the project management plan
Controlling a project4:19
About controlling a project as a practice. The purpose of controlling a project and how is the project manager responsible to monitor and measure the performance of the project against the agreed plan
Managing delivery2:23
About the work package leaders and their responsibility for managing delivery. What is the purpose of managing delivery and how this practice is to be undertaken
Closing or terminating a project. Post-project activities7:20
About contract closure and termination and how they are to be undertaken by the project manager. About the post-project activities as a responsibility for the sponsoring organization
Recapitulation - Integrated project management practices4:18
A recapitulation of the integrated project management practices detailed in clause 6 of ISO 21502:2020 and their relationship with the different roles in the project organization

Management practices for a project2:58
About the 7th clause of ISO 21502:2020 and the management practices to be considered when undertaking a project. The relationship between the practices for a project and the integrated project management practices. About the mapping between the process groups in ISO 21500:2012 and the practices in ISO 21502:2020
Planning4:02
About the purpose of planning as a project management practice. About monitoring and reviewing the project plan
Benefit management5:06
About the identification and analysis of project benefits. About monitoring and maintaining benefits
Scope management4:58
About the purpose of scope management and why it is important to control the scope of the project. About defining the scope and confirming scope delivery
Resources management6:49
About determining the resources needed to deliver the scope of the project. About establishing and managing the project team. About planning, managing and controlling physical and material resources
Schedule management9:00
About estimating activity durations and the critical path method. About developing and controlling the project schedule. About earned value management and the indicators and predictors that can be used to evaluate a project's current performance and to estimate its future performance
https://asana.com/resources/critical-path-method
Cost management5:25
About estimating the costs of project activities, developing a budget for the project and controlling costs
Risk management6:58
About the importance of risk management. About risk identification, risk assessment and risk treatment in project management
Issues management3:43
About dealing with issues and problems. What is the purpose of issues management and how the project team should identify, record, prioritize, resolve and close issues
Change control3:41
About why it is important to control changes to the project activities and deliverables and how changes can be controlled
Quality management5:47
About quality management in the context of project management. About planning quality, assuring quality and quality control
Stakeholder engagement6:27
About the identification of a project's stakeholders and their categorization based on power and interest in the project. About how stakeholders should be engaged and why it is important for the project team to engage stakeholders
Communication management5:31
About the importance of communication for the success of a project. About planning communication, delivering information and evaluating the impact of communication
Managing organizational and societal change4:56
About the changes that a project may require in order to achieve its objectives and how changes to the organization or in society should be identified, planned and implemented
Reporting4:53
About reporting as a practice in project management. About different types of reports and what is the purpose of reporting
Information and documentation management5:11
About controlling the project documentation to ensure that it is available to those who need it and who are authorized to access it
Procurement6:46
About the importance of procurement in project management. About planning procurement and the procurement strategy. About the evaluation and selection of suppliers. About administering and closing procurement contracts
Lessons learned3:58
About the importance of capturing, recording and disseminating lessons learned and improved practices to benefit the current and future project teams
Recapitulation - Management practices for a project7:10
A recapitulation of the 17 practices that should be considered when managing a project, according to ISO 21502:2020
Certification for project management6:11
About what represents certification for an organization and for an individual. Is the certification to ISO 21502 possible for an organization? What about a person?
Thank you and good bye!4:17
Thank you for the participation in this course, I hope it was a pleasand and useful experience for you!
ISO 21502 Project management quiz

Requirements

No previous experience or knowledge required

Description

ISO 21502 is the international standard for project management — a vendor-neutral framework of concepts and practices that applies to any project, in any industry, of any size. Unlike proprietary certification frameworks such as PMP/PMBOK or PRINCE2, ISO 21502 distils project management into globally agreed good practice: how a project is initiated, planned, directed, controlled and closed to deliver its intended outcomes.

From implementing new software to running a construction project or coordinating a marketing campaign, projects need people who understand these concepts and can apply them. This course teaches project management through the lens of ISO 21502 — making it equally useful as your first structured project management training or as a standards-based complement to a PMP or PRINCE2 background.

Course structure

The course follows the structure of ISO 21502, in five sections:

Introduction — what project management is, its history, the ISO 21500 series of standards on project, programme and portfolio management, and the structure and purpose of ISO 21502
Project management concepts (Clause 4) — the project context and its impact on success, project constraints, project governance, the project life cycle, and the roles in a project organization
Prerequisites for formalizing project management — the conditions needed to put project management into practice and align it with the organization's processes and systems
Integrated project management practices — the practices at the centre of every project: project initiation, oversight, control and closure, presented in relation to the roles in the project organization
Management practices for a project — the largest section of the course, covering the 17 practices of ISO 21502, including scope management, schedule management, cost management, risk management, change control, quality management, resource management, stakeholder engagement and reporting

A final video covers project management certification paths for both individuals and organizations.

Who this course is for

Aspiring and early-career project managers who want a structured, standards-based foundation
Practising project managers who want to align their approach with the international standard
PMP, CAPM or PRINCE2 holders adding the ISO perspective to their credentials
Team members, coordinators and business professionals who work on projects and want to understand how they should be run
Consultants and auditors working with organizations that base their project methodology on ISO standards

Build or strengthen your project management knowledge with the framework the whole world agreed on — and help your projects succeed.

Who this course is for:

Project managers and members of project teams
Individuals looking to understand the basic project management concepts
Individuals looking to pursue or advance a career in project management
Project sponsors
ISO consultants and auditors
Expert advisors

ISO 21502: Project Management — The International Standard

What you'll learn

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Course content

Introductory section4 lectures • 21min

Project management concepts6 lectures • 32min

Prerequisites for formalizing project management1 lecture • 5min

Integrated project management practices9 lectures • 38min

Management practices for a project21 lectures • 1hr 54min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: