Planning and managing procurement means deciding what needs to be obtained from outside the project team and how those goods or services will be acquired, contracted, managed, and accepted. Procurement includes planning, selecting contract types, negotiating, managing suppliers, evaluating performance, and verifying that procurement objectives are met.
The project manager may not always be the contract expert, but they need to understand how procurement decisions affect delivery, risk, cost, schedule, quality, and stakeholder expectations.
Why This Task Matters for PMP® Preparation
PMP® exam questions often describe vendor delays, contract uncertainty, procurement disputes, supplier performance problems, or unclear procurement responsibilities. The best response usually follows the procurement plan, contract terms, and appropriate governance process.
You should be ready to distinguish between project management actions and formal procurement or legal actions. This task often connects with risk, schedule, cost, quality, negotiation, and change control.
Enablers of This Task
- Plan procurement.
- Execute a procurement management plan.
- Select preferred contract types.
- Evaluate vendor performance.
- Verify objectives of the procurement agreement are met.
- Participate in agreement negotiations.
- Determine a negotiation strategy.
- Manage suppliers and contracts.
- Plan and manage the procurement strategy.
- Develop a delivery solution.
To learn the Plan and Manage Procurement task, you need:
- In the PMBOK Guide 8th Edition, read Appendix X4, and chapters 2.1.5.4, 2.1.6.3, 2.4.3, 2.5.1, 2.6.1 (part ‘PMBOK’), Section 4 (Procurement documentation, Procurement management plan, Sourcing strategy plan), Section 5 (Audits, Make-or-buy analysis and decisions, Market research, Negotiation).
- Read chapter 6.3 in the Agile Practice Guide.
- Watch the videos:
5. Test your knowledge to complete the study of the task.