From the course: Project Management Foundations

Principle-based project management

From the course: Project Management Foundations

Principle-based project management

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- [Presenter] The standard for project management for PMBOK 7 includes 12 principles that act as guidelines for effective project management. People working on projects can use these principles to guide their decision making, problem solving, strategy development, and more. Let's take a quick tour of these principles. Caring stewards don't just manage the schedule and make sure success criteria are met, they manage projects as if they are business owners and care deeply about the outcomes produced. Stewards also pay attention to the financial, social, technical, and environmental impacts of their projects. For example, determining the best way to use funds to support the business goals. Projects are delivered by teams of people. The best results come from teams that work well together. Project managers lead their teams, and one of the first leadership steps is to establish a supportive and collaborative environment. Stakeholders affect or are affected by projects so they can influence project performance and outcomes positively or negatively. Project managers need to be proactive about working with stakeholders to deliver value. Along with the value delivery system described in another movie, PMBOK 7 emphasizes the importance of project delivery while focusing on value. Over the life of a project, the project manager and their team evaluate the project outcomes and progress and adapt the project plan to maximize the value delivered. A project is a system with a lot of moving and interacting parts. Everyone on the team needs to look holistically at the project and other external systems. That way the team can respond to changing circumstances to deliver positive outcomes. Anyone on the project team can act as a leader. Leadership is about supporting the team and individuals showing by example how team members should behave and promoting a supportive project environment. PMBOK 7 emphasizes that there isn't a one-size-fits-all project methodology. It's important to choose the right methodology or approach based on your unique project requirements. Instead of following rote processes because "that's the way it's done," the team should use only the processes needed to deliver outcomes and maximize value, all while managing cost and maintaining an efficient schedule. Quality means that deliverables meet stakeholders expectations and acceptance criteria. Project teams, for instance, can build in quality processes by including testing and reviews, or they might perform activities to identify errors and adjust their approach to prevent errors in the future. Project complexity can arise from many factors such as human behavior, systems, and uncertainty. Complexity can't necessarily be eliminated, but project teams can watch for it and then identify ways to reduce the level of complexity or decrease its impact on the project. Risk represents uncertainty, so risk can be positive or negative. Project teams need to look for ways to make the most of positive risks. That is, opportunities. At the same time, they seek to decrease the likelihood and impact of negative risks, called threats. In the project world, challenges and change come with the territory, so it makes sense to build adaptability and resiliency into your approach. Adaptability means the ability to respond to changes. Resiliency represents two things, the ability to absorb impacts as well as the ability to recover quickly from setbacks. Projects by their nature deliver some kind of change. Whether it's a new product, improved processes, or something else. Project teams need to perform organizational change management. That is, an approach for getting stakeholders from the current state to the future where value and benefits are realized. Everyone involved in a project can apply these principles to help deliver project outcomes successfully.

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