Manage project artifacts
Manage project artifacts
What you will learn
- Name common types of project artifacts (plans, registers, baselines).
- Distinguish creating a document once from actually managing it on an ongoing basis.
- Explain the risk of relying on an outdated, un-updated document for a decision.
- Connect good artifact management to the quality of decisions built on it.
Project artifacts include subsidiary plans, registers (risk, issue, stakeholder), and baselines. Managing them doesn't end at creation — they need ongoing review and updates throughout the project life cycle, because an outdated, un-updated document leads to decisions built on information that's no longer accurate.
Common project artifact types
| Subsidiary Plans | Subsidiary plans (scope, schedule, cost, quality...) assembled into one consistent project management plan. |
|---|---|
| Registers | Living registers updated continuously — the risk register, the issue log, the stakeholder register — not static documents. |
| Baselines | The approved version of scope, schedule, or cost, compared against actual status, and changed only through formal change control. |
What matters on the exam
- The risk or issue register is a living document updated continuously throughout the project — not a document written once during planning and left alone.
- Relying on an outdated baseline or register for a decision can lead to a wrong decision built on information that no longer reflects the project's reality.
Management means continuous updates, not one-time creation
The difference between "writing" a document and "managing" it is fundamental in PMP: writing is a one-time activity during planning, while management is an ongoing activity involving review and updates whenever the project's reality changes — a risk register untouched for months is practically useless.
Quick check
Answer in your head first, then reveal.
Does managing project artifacts end at their creation?Reveal the answer
No, it needs ongoing review and updates.
What's the risk of relying on an outdated, un-updated register?Reveal the answer
A wrong decision built on information that no longer reflects the project's reality.
How do baselines change?Reveal the answer
Only through a formal change control process, not a direct edit.
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Sources
Used to verify the facts. The writing is original to Passuit.