Lesson 4 – What Is PRiSM in Project Management?

Green Project Management put in place must still be sound project management. For organizations that have environmental sustainability embedded into their philosophy and mission, the so called PRiSM project management methodology might also be a useful tool.  PRiSM is an abbreviation of PRoject Integrating Sustainability Measures.

The PRiSM project management methodology was developed in 2013 by GPM Global and is based on GPM’s P5 Standards for Sustainability in Project Management. It stands for “Projects integrating Sustainable Methods”. It is a project management framework that integrates sustainability throughout the entire project lifecycle — and even well into the post-project stage. For that reason, you might also hear it referred to as “green project management.” Truly sustainable projects will prioritise all of those areas — from the efficiency of the project processes to the fairness of employment practices to the recycling of materials — and PRiSM is a methodology to make it happen.

What are the phases of PRiSM?

With those principles in place, project managers can use PRiSM to manage process change and embrace eco-friendly practices throughout all the phases of a project, including: Pre-project, Discovery, Design, Delivery, Closure. By working through each of those phases (and even the post-project phase), the PRiSM project methodology goes way beyond throwing in a random improvement and integrates sustainability across the entire organisation and the whole project management strategy.

Synergies between PRiSM and SDGs

This methodology is built upon Green Project Management and the so called P5 Standards for Sustainability in Project Management. The P5 standards are based on the triple bottom line, also known as the 3Ps (people, planet, profits/prosperity), and adds another two elements – Project and Process. These standards also intend to find synergies between green project management goals and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Fig. 5  The alignment with the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals,  where the SDGs got organized into six thematic categories while they belong under one of the 3Ps.  Available at: https://www.responsiblepm.com/our-purpose

Lesson 4, Inspired by: Green Project Management: Are You Ready to Think Sustainably? (onlinepmcourses.com)