Robert Max Wideman (born 19 January 1927) is a British

project management Project management is the process of supervising the work of a Project team, team to achieve all project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project initiation documentation, project documentation, crea ...

consultant. He is the creator of the first edition of ''

A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) is a set of standard terminology and guidelines (a body of knowledge) for project management. The body of knowledge evolves over time and is presented in ''A Guide to the Project Management Body o ...

'', the

Project Management Institute The Project Management Institute (PMI, legally Project Management Institute, Inc.) is a U.S.-based not-for-profit professional organization for project management. Overview PMI serves more than five million professionals including over 680,0 ...

's foundational book on the process of project management. Wideman is also well known for his free comprehensive project management knowledge web site. that contains over 12,500 pages, 550 Issacons (issues and considerations), and 280,000 links (as of September 2010).

Early life, education, and career

Wideman was born at home in Penarth on 19 January 1927. He attended Alpha School in Harrow and later the

Bedford Modern School Bedford Modern School (often called BMS or simply Modern) is a Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference independent school in Bedford, England. The school has its origins in Bedford Charity, The Harpur Trust, born from the financial endowme ...

due to the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In 1944 Wideman obtained entrance to the City and Guilds section of the

Imperial College Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a cultural district in South Kensington that included museums ...

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

and was close to the center of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

throughout the V-1 and

V-2 The V2 (), with the technical name '' Aggregat-4'' (A4), was the world's first long-range guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was developed during the Second World War in Nazi Germany as a " ven ...

rocket attacks. In 1947 Wideman graduated with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

with Honours in

civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

. He then spent two years performing the mandatory

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

for the

British Government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

that was required of every male at that time. After initial training Wideman was sent to

Lüneburg Lüneburg, officially the Hanseatic City of Lüneburg and also known in English as Lunenburg, is a town in the German Bundesland (Germany), state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of another Hanseatic League, Hanseatic city, Hambur ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

as a

Lance Bombardier Bombardier () is a military rank that has existed since the 16th century in artillery regiments of various armies, such as in the British Army and the Prussian Army. Traditionally the bombardier tended the vents at the top of breeches, handled ...

in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

. He also spent time during this period teaching basic education subjects to enlisted soldiers in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

. Upon completion of his service in 1949, Wideman then worked for the Demolition and Construction Company. His first job was a contract for modernizing and expanding a steel mill in

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town in Lincolnshire, England, and the county's third most populous settlement after Lincoln, England, Lincoln and Grimsby, with a population of 81,286 in 2021. It is the administrative centre and largest settleme ...

North Lincolnshire North Lincolnshire is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Lincolnshire, England. At the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census, it had a population of 167,446. T ...

. Wideman was registered as a pupil

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

under agreement for two years while qualifying for his membership in the

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a Charitable organization, charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters ar ...

. To complete the qualifying requirements prior to taking the final exam for the Institution of Civil Engineers, Wideman moved to the

British colony A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony governed by England, and then Great Britain or the United Kingdom within the English and later British Empire. There was usually a governor to represent the Crown, appointed by the British monarch on ...

Northern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in Southern Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by Amalgamation (politics), amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-Western Rhodesia and North ...

in 1951 to work for the

Colonial Service The Colonial Service, also known as His/Her Majesty's Colonial Service and replaced in 1954 by Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service (HMOCS), was the British government service that administered most of Britain's overseas possessions, under the aut ...

in the Department of Water Development and Irrigation. From 1955 to 1966, Wideman resided in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

working for Sir Murdoch Macdonald & Partners, London, UK, and later for John Mowlem & Co. Ltd, London, UK. In 1961 he was promoted to the position of Construction Agent (Site Construction Manager). From 1966 to the present Wideman has resided in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, living in the cities of

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, and

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. He has held a number of professional titles including

project manager A project manager is a professional in the field of project management. Project managers have the responsibility of the Project planning, planning, procurement and execution of a project, in any undertaking that has a defined scope, defined star ...

, project director,

vice president A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

, and principal. Since 1990, Wideman has provided project management consulting through his own company, AEW Services.

Project management

Wideman has been active in the US based

(PMI) since 1974. In the mid-1980s, he led a team of 80 PMI volunteers across

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

to document the institute's project management body of knowledge, known as "The PMBoK" (''The Project Management Body of Knowledge''). It was approved and published by PMI in 1987. This document has since been upgraded seven times by the distribution of "A Guide to the PMBoK". Subsequent to this original PMBoK work, he was elected president and then Chairman of the PMI Board. He has been honored with Fellow, Project Management Institute. Wideman is author of several books on project management. These include: ''A Framework for Project and Program Management Integration'' (1991) and ''Project and Program Risk Management: A Guide to Managing Project Risks and Opportunities'' (1992) as PMI's handbooks; ''Cost Control of Capital Projects'' (Second Edition 1995) and his latest book ''A Management Framework for Project, Program and Portfolio Integration'' (2004). Over the last five years he has dedicated his spare time to researching "best" and even better practices in project management across the entire PMBoK spectrum. This includes the new and emerging discipline of

project portfolio management Project portfolio management (PPM) is the centralized management of the processes, methods, and technologies used by project managers and project management offices (PMOs) to analyze and collectively manage current or proposed projects based on n ...

. More importantly, he has made this entire information freely available to the public on his web site.

Wideman Education Foundation

In November 2004 the Canadian West Coast Chapter of PMI established an independent education foundation, later named after Wideman. This was due to Wideman's donation of the proceeds of his book, 'A Framework for Project and Program Management Integration' to the Canadian West Coast Chapter. After PMI HQ ceased selling the book in 2004 the subsequent royalties, in the amount $51,000.00, were used as the seed money to start the Wideman Education Foundation. The foundation's mission is, "To teach, develop, promote, and encourage the use of proven, successful project management skills that are needed everyday by everyone." Wideman continues to be involved with the foundation and holds a seat on the board of directors.

Awards

* Fellow, Institution of Civil Engineers, UK, 1969 * Fellow,

Engineering Institute of Canada The Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC) ( French: l'Institut canadien des ingénieurs; ICI) is a federation of fourteen engineering societies based in Canada, covering a broad range of engineering branches, and with a history going back to 1887. ...

, 1977 * Distinguished Contribution, Project Management Institute 1985 * Person of the Year, Project Management Institute 1986 * Professional Service Award, Association of Professional Engineers of BC, 1988 * Fellow, Project Management Institute, 1989 * Fellow, Canadian Society of Civil Engineers, 1994

Offices

* Engineering Institute of Canada Vice President Ontario Region, 1973–1974 * Founding President, Canadian West Coast Chapter of the Project Management Institute, 1979 * Project Management Institute Vice President Member Services, 1984–1986 * Project Management Institute President, 1987 * Project Management Institute Chairman of the Board, 1988 * Founding Sponsor & Secretary, The Wideman Education Foundation, 2007

Bibliography

* ''A Framework for Project and Program Management Integration'' (1991) () * ''Project and Program Risk Management: A Guide to Managing Project Risks and Opportunities'' (1992) () * ''Cost Control of Capital Projects'' (Second Edition 1995) () * ''A Management Framework for Project, Program and Portfolio Integration'' (2004) ()

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wideman, Max 1927 births British civil engineers Canadian civil engineers Fellows of the Engineering Institute of Canada Living people People from Penarth Project Management Institute Royal Artillery soldiers People educated at Bedford Modern School British emigrants to Canada 20th-century British Army personnel