Managing Projects in Turbulent Times By Ed Barrows and Andy Neely
Project
Management
common
misconceptions
Excruciating milestone reviews
Detailed project plans
Budget overruns
PM is be er le! far from the influences of the boardroom (this a$tude prevents many
organizations from becoming e’ective project executors)
Execution is everything– absence of planning only creates chaos and haphazard
advancement on execution
State of the Practice
in need of an
overhaul
Organizations spend tens of billions of dollars on high-level projects intended to transform
their enterprises
Classic operational improvement initiatives – ex. Lean Six Sigma applied in manufacturing
Transformational projects – ex. redesigning the new-product development process
Many of these initiatives are victims of poor project management
Poorly designed
Misaligned from important organizational objectives
Badly managed by senior executives
A study of more than 10,000 projects within 200 companies and across 30 industries found
that only 2.5% were completed on time, within scope, and with the intended business
benefit.
60% of organizations said they wanted to improve their project management maturity
Seven Factors for
Project Success
1. Focus on business value, not technical detail
2. Establish clear accountability for measured results
3. Have a consistent process for managing unambiguous checkpoints
4. Have a consistent methodology for planning and executing projects
