This section helps you to develop a better understanding of the generic practices and provides information for interpreting and applying the generic practices in your organization.

Generic practices are components that are common to all process areas. Think of generic practices as reminders. They serve the purpose of reminding you to do things right, and are expected model components.

For example, when you are achieving the specific goals of the Project Planning process area, you are establishing and maintaining a plan that defines project activities. One of the generic practices that applies to the Project Planning process area is “Establish and maintain the plan for performing the project planning process” (GP 2.2). When applied to this process area, this generic practice reminds you to plan the activities involved in creating the plan for the project.

When you are satisfying the specific goals of the Organizational Training process area, you are developing the skills and knowledge of people in your project and organization so that they can perform their roles effectively and efficiently. When applying the same generic practice (GP 2.2) to the Organizational Training process area, this generic practice reminds you to plan the activities involved in developing the skills and knowledge of people in the organization.