Project Management

A sustainable view of project success

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Freshly returned from the keynote address at the PMSA (Project Management South Africa) conference, "The Good in Green", we found that South Africa's project managers have a mature and considered view of project management.

One example is this article, from the PMSA magazine "The Project Manager", which questions the very definition of project success. Does it have to do only with scope, schedule, and budget?  Or - as we have been saying - should success include the success of the steady-state, ongoing use of the product of the project?

Although not strictly about sustainability, the article does correctly point out that a project is part of an endeavor of an organization, and success should be viewed in this larger context.

So- consider a highway project which goes over budget because it chose to use a paving material which (although more expensive) provides drivers with a 15% increase in gas mileage.  Is this project a failure? 

We think not. 

Have a look at the article and think about it.  We think you'll agree that it's at least worth considering this longer-term view.

Here's the full link to the article.

http://www.theprojectmanager.co.za/index.php/Other/the-elusive-concept-of-project-success.html

We're interested in your views on project success.  How much should project managers consider long-term operations as they seek to deliver the product on-time, under budget, and within scope?

But don't answer until you've read Terry Deacon's article.


Posted by Richard Maltzman on: September 10, 2011 10:08 PM | Permalink

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