How PMI Streamlined Standards Development

The Project Management Institute (PMI), a globally recognized authority in project management standards, faced a complex challenge in aligning its standards development process with ANSI’s (American National Standards Institute) rigorous public commenting requirements. PMI needed a modern, secure, and efficient platform to collect, anonymize, and manage public feedback on documents exceeding 180 pages, all while meeting ANSI’s procedural benchmarks. Konveio proved to be a pivotal solution, helping PMI simplify workflows, increase transparency, and drastically improve comment quality and volume.

Problem

Developing ANSI-accredited standards requires transparency and community input. PMI needed a way to:

• Conduct open, international public comment periods lasting 45+ days according to the Board of Standards Review Form 8 (BSR-8), the official form used to announce a draft standard for public review.
  
  
• Accept and anonymize comments in alignment with ANSI’s openness and confidentiality requirements.
  
  
• Avoid manual collation of potentially hundreds of Excel submissions from global participants.
  
  
• Maintain comment integrity and ensure required fields (e.g., rationale, line number) were always completed.
  
  
• Provide data to internal volunteer teams without compromising confidentiality.
  

In prior cycles, PMI had to manage hundreds of disconnected Excel files which is a labor-intensive process prone to error and inconsistency.

Solution

PMI leveraged Konveio’s document engagement platform as a centralized commenting system tailored to ANSI standards development. Key features included:

• Anonymous Commenting: Konveio’s system hid identities from the public and internal volunteers, using internal Unique IDs to ensure confidentiality.
  
  
• Form-Based Comment Collection:  Making certain fields required such as line number, rationale, and proposed change ensured consistency and quality.
  
  
• Consent & Licensing Integration: Konveio’s splash forms provided users with a code of conduct and captured intellectual property agreements  and optional participant acknowledgments before allowing document access.
  
  
• Flexible Downloading & Review: Staff exported anonymized comments in a standardized Excel format, ready for adjudication and ANSI submission.
  
  
• Customization Support: Konveio tailored functionality for PMI’s needs, including implementing their brand standards, layered forms, and global name field entries for accurate publication credits.
  

Impact

• Efficiency Gains: PMI handled nearly 3,000 comments in one cycle without manual aggregation. Volunteers could review inputs contextually or via structured spreadsheets.
  
  
• 50% Increase in Comment Volume: Compared to previous public commenting periods, PMI saw over a 50% increase in comments—from 1,300 to 2,943—showing both broader engagement and improved accessibility.
  
  
• Compliance with ANSI Requirements: Konveio helped PMI meet BSR-8 standards for openness, transparency, and procedural rigor.
  
  
• Improved User Experience: Users found the platform intuitive, allowing them to engage without downloading documents or coordinating with staff.
  
  
• Enhanced Global Participation: Forms collected name spellings from global participants, ensuring accurate international acknowledgments in the final publications.
  
  
• Post-Processing with SmartSheet: PMI used Konveio's export files for downstream analysis and adjudication workflows in SmartSheet, enabling easy team coordination without backend platform access.
  

Konveio enabled PMI to modernize a traditionally manual and compliance-heavy process into a streamlined, scalable, and accessible experience. By supporting anonymous, structured public input and reducing administrative burden, PMI met ANSI’s standards while delivering greater transparency and engagement. The collaboration exemplifies how flexible digital tools can empower standards developers to meet rigorous requirements with greater efficiency and broader reach.

“This is the first time PMI has received BSR-8 comments during a public comment period, and Konveio made that possible. The ability to collect structured, anonymous feedback at scale, without manual aggregation, has completely transformed our process.”
— Leah Huf, PMI Standards Team