Roberts Paul - Guide to project management: getting it right and achieving lasting benefit

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Copyright 2007, 2013 by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. All rights reserved.

Text Copyright 2007, 2013 by Paul Roberts. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

Published in Great Britain and the rest of the world by Profile Books Ltd

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

ISBN 978-1-118-38370-4 (Hardcover); ISBN 978-1-118-42171-0 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-60783-1 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-41742-3 (ebk)

To Sarah, Matthew and Ruby, with love

Acknowledgements

I WOULD LIKE TO THANK my Fifthday business partner, Roger Middleton, who directed and developed our organisation during the time I devoted to writing this book. Thanks also to Stephen Brough at Profile Books for offering sound advice and for editing the text, and to Penny Williams for identifying and making essential changes as the book neared completion. Lastly, I would like to convey my thanks to the many clients of Fifthday who have shown their enthusiasm for this book and helped me better understand the practical challenges which must be overcome in order to implement an effective project management environment.

Introduction to second edition

WHEN I COMPLETED the first edition of this book in 2007, I did not anticipate either the popularity of the subject, or that at some time in the future a second edition might be necessary. Surely, I thought, the way in which we govern and manage change would remain relatively stable for many years to come. But change is inevitable, and as I said in the first edition:

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 .

In the intervening years, the world has been transformed by a serious and challenging economic crisis, resulting in the failure of many businesses that did not change when they needed to or had to. The success of those that remain depends on their being able to identify and fund opportunities, beat the competition and manage their own ability to change themselves accordingly.

The principles of project management contained in this book remain as sure a foundation for change as ever. However, in this rapidly changing world, most organisations have discovered that some areas of management have become significantly more relevant, and these are developed in this second edition:

• Project prioritisation because demand for resources will always outstrip supply.
• Creating, refining and agreeing the vision because without one, project plans may fail to deliver our expectations.
• Controlling change because there remains huge pressure to adapt businesses and projects to meet quickly changing conditions both inside and outside organisations.

Thus certain tools in the box have become more important.

I regularly receive messages from readers around the world who have found this book helpful and supportive. I hope that they, and you, will discover in this second edition sufficient to achieve lasting benefit through the effective management of change in these difficult times.

Paul Roberts

November 2012

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.