The Essence of Project Management

Have you ever been involved in a failing project? If so then you are not alone. Most people have. Projects fail all the time. There are several well-known failures from ancient and modern history which illustrate this point. Firstly the Roman Empire collapsed, in part, due to its vast and rapid expansion which led to communication lines breaking down. Secondly the Sochi Olympics, which was supposed to cost $12 billion to host ended up costing $51 billion dollars — a staggering four times what was budgeted. Thirdly the Danish Air Force controversially bought a fighter jet that was tested only using simulators and never actually in the sky. This debacle is still being contested to this day.

I have been meaning to write it for a long time. A couple of years ago I was to take over and improve upon a Portfolio Management Office across a complex holding company structure. This was on top of the demands of my full-time job of running and speeding up the performance of the Sourcing Department at the same organization. It was both a daunting, yet exciting undertaking. To make matters more challenging I was promised two full-time people to help me. When I accepted the new role I was only allocated one person as a resource. This was a challenging task, almost overwhelming, and now I was panicking. At the time my wife and I were recently married and we went on week-long honeymoon to Egypt. I decided to spend a second week by myself in Egypt to read as many books on Portfolio Management Office (PMO) that I possibly could. I came back to the office with a solid theoretical foundation and over the next couple of years I gained a lot of practical knowledge about PMO. What I have gained from this, alongside over ten years’ experience in Project Management and a few Project Management Certificates is the foundation of this book.

Project Management can be quite a serious subject with somewhat complicated theory. With this book I wanted to provide a thorough overview of Project Management yet mix it with some storytelling and fun. I feel I have a very important and valuable story to tell. Having been involved in projects both in Business and IT, I am all too aware that things inevitably go wrong and projects fail. These failures can be valuable learning experiences. According to a Gartner study from 2010, 75% of projects either fail entirely or do not live up to expectations. This is a staggering number. When taking on projects we are, of course, dealing with the unknown and challenges can arise. Yet in order to reduce time, money loss and wastage we need to improve project delivery and adjust our expectations from the start. This book focuses on how this can be achieved and is intended for those entering in to the world of Project Management, those looking to set up a Portfolio Management Office, more experienced Project Managers and those are simply interested in the subject. I intend to “cut through the muck” of endless Project Management books and I have carefully picked “Golden Nuggets” of information from what I’ve learned and present what I believe to be the Essence of Project Management. Using a funnel approach, I will introduce you to some over-arching concepts and important contexts, such as the connections with Business Strategy, Stage Gate Project Models and Portfolio Management Office and then focus on the key Project Management tools.

I have found that the Pareto Rule applies to Project Management. It states that 20% of the input provides 80% of the output. For example 20% of the customers or 20% of the suppliers in a company typically provide 80% of the value. Likewise 20% of the students in a classroom will ask 80% of the questions. This rule applies both to Project Management failure and to the Project Management Tools that provide the most value when running projects.

You can find the book “The Essence of Project Management” on Amazon.