ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses how performance improvement professionals can use project management methods and tools to maximize benefits and minimize the disruptions that change creates. Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements. Projects move through multiple steps, moving from initial business case justification to project design, analysis, implementation, and post-project reviews. A Gantt chart is typically used as the project plan in large projects. Since the project planning involves dividing up tasks by role, it is usually necessary to include a project organization chart that clarifies roles, responsibilities, and parties involved in the process dedicated to the specific project. Risk is an uncertainty that could negatively impact project outcomes. Risks are positively correlated with the need for strong project management: the greater the risks, the greater the need for skilled facilitation, control, and management. In certain instances, management engineers have helped to create a project management office.
