ABSTRACT

The behaviour of people and their organisation are the primary drivers of a project’s pace of progress. Methodology, tools and techniques are vital but subordinate to human endeavour; if only because their selection, deployment and application entirely depend on the abilities of the project players and their organisation. Performance ultimately rests on human and organisational behaviour: expressed by the players’ experience, professional ability, resolve, dialogue and collaboration. Fresh approaches and methods help practitioners to address this reality productively. This book is written under nine headings: collaboration; able people; strength; connections; rigour; pace; persistence; adaptation; and maturity. The Single-Minded Project offers a new and convincing appreciation of project management that will harness players and their organisation. It recognises that at its heart, the management and leadership of a project regime relies on the choices, behaviours and decisions of its players and the organisation’s freedom of action. It addresses the urgency of the project (the need for swiftness), coupled with the kind and degree of diligence (the need for rigour in the choice and management of method): referring to its Pace of Progress. The success of a project very much depends on the pace at which it is conducted to then deliver value. Projects find themselves in territory where methodology, tools and techniques are of little help. The Single-Minded Project fills that gap and more.

chapter |8 pages

Introduction

part I|52 pages

Getting and Staying in Shape

chapter 1|13 pages

A Project's Collaboration

Ensuring Joint Action – Relying On the Players' Proficient Interaction

chapter 2|22 pages

A Project's Able People

Contributing as Competent, Lucid and Committed Project Players

chapter 3|14 pages

A Project's Strength

From Player's Leadership, Ensuring Astute Navigation and Progress

part II|75 pages

Conducting the Work

chapter 4|47 pages

A Project's Connections

Enabling Players to Exploit Possibilities and Bring Synergy

chapter 5|7 pages

The Project's Rigour

Sustaining Good Governance, Method, Orderliness and Discipline

chapter 6|17 pages

A Project's Pace of Progress

Maximising Both the Quality and Swiftness of Delivery

part III|46 pages

Assuring Success

chapter 7|16 pages

A Project's Persistence

Achieving Constancy, Despite Constraints and the Social/Political Mood

chapter 8|13 pages

The Project's Adaptation

Responding Effectively to Circumstances That Change

chapter 9|14 pages

The Project's Maturity

Ensuring Project Reliability and Sustaining Continuous Improvement