Guide to Project Management: Getting it right and achieving lasting benefit, 2nd Edition

Introduction

MANY BUSINESSES DO NOT CHANGE when they need to, nor do they change when they have to. If they did, many fewer would fail. But, like people, they only change when they want to.

If a change in the way an organisation achieves successful project outcomes is to be considered, it should be seen as a culture change, involving adjustments in mindset, values and behaviour; it may involve abandoning norms and sacred cows.

Managing projects cannot be separated from managing the whole business. Effective management of “business as usual” delivers evolutionary improvements. Good project management brings about step changes in performance. If projects are to deliver profitable outcomes, then it is as crucial to look outside traditional project environment as it is to look inside. Yet project management is too often considered a discipline that applies only to those called project managers. It is delegated to people who struggle against sometimes impossible odds to deliver a successful outcome. Experience demonstrates that a project requires the collaboration of many stakeholders, including those who commission and finance it, those who will use the end product and those who build it. It takes a whole organisation to make a project a success.

If an organisation is serious about improving the way it manages projects, it will have an opportunity to improve the way it manages its business.

This book explains not just the principles and techniques of project management, but also why ...