The new operating model for project teams: Balancing flexibility and standardization
June 25, 2025 | Live Webinar
What to Expect: Anticipating and Adapting to Dynamic Economic Trends
Categories:
Project Leadership,
Continuous Learning,
Collaboration,
Servant Leadership,
Priorities,
Value,
Cultural Awareness,
project management office,
Project Failure,
Best Practices,
Project Delivery,
Metrics,
project management,
critical success factors,
Managing for Stakeholders,
execution,
Project Success,
Culture,
Project Dependencies,
Business Transformation,
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Disruption,
Design Thinking,
Project Management,
Cost,
Risk,
Career Development,
Stakeholder,
Change Management,
Leadership,
Program Management,
Benefits Realization,
Complexity,
Consulting,
Decision Making,
Business Analysis,
IT Strategy,
Business Case
Categories: Project Leadership, Continuous Learning, Collaboration, Servant Leadership, Priorities, Value, Cultural Awareness, project management office, Project Failure, Best Practices, Project Delivery, Metrics, project management, critical success factors, Managing for Stakeholders, execution, Project Success, Culture, Project Dependencies, Business Transformation, Transformation, Disruption, Design Thinking, Project Management, Cost, Risk, Career Development, Stakeholder, Change Management, Leadership, Program Management, Benefits Realization, Complexity, Consulting, Decision Making, Business Analysis, IT Strategy, Business Case
| By Peter Tarhanidis, Ph.D.
In the ever-evolving landscape of corporate strategic planning, organizations face the perpetual dilemma of choosing between capital spending for growth—and optimizing operations for efficiency. Striking the right balance amidst economic trends and leveraging organizational strengths becomes paramount when navigating through strategic projects. Meeting shareholder and stakeholder needs, while aligning with the organization's mission, presents a constant challenge. To anticipate potential initiatives, project managers must consider global macroeconomic conditions and CEO outlooks. A preliminary assessment based on the United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects and OECD Economic Outlook reports for 2024 reveals a projected global economic growth slowdown from 2.7% to 2.4%. This trend suggests a delicate balance between slow growth and regional divergences. Key considerations include:
Examining the corporate landscape, a survey of 167 CEOs in December 2023 indicated a confidence index of 6.3 out of 10 for the 2024 economy—the highest of the year. The CEO upsurge assumes inflation is under control, the Fed may not raise interest rates and instead reverse rates, setting up a new cycle of growth. Furthering the CEO agenda, McKinsey & Co. identified eight CEO 2024 priorities:
As project managers, navigating the uncertainty of economic shifts necessitates staying vigilant. The year may bring variables and predictions that impact the execution probability of strategic projects. Shifting between growth plans and efficiency drivers demands different preparation. To stay prepared, consider the following:
In an environment of perpetual change, proactive monitoring, adaptability and strategic collaboration will be key to successfully steering projects through the dynamic economic landscape. How else can you stay prepared as the demands shift on you and your team? References |
5 Steps to Manage Project Dependencies
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By Marian Haus, PMP Projects are rarely conducted in a vacuum. Whether the project you’re managing is small or large, simple or complex, you will most likely encounter dependencies tied to assets outside your project organization. Here five simple steps to help you manage project dependencies that are spread across teams, departments and assets. 1. Assess and document potential project dependencies: Determine each dependency’s type, profile, specifications, timeline and owner. For example, you might have to rely on the QA or legal department to check your work, end-users to validate your product or other teams that will have to adapt their products because of your project’s outcome. You could document HR dependencies in your project’s HR plan. Non-HR resources could be documented in a hierarchical resource breakdown structure (RBS). Or you could just use a simple spreadsheet, where you store all your dependencies organized by types, ownership, etc. 2. Align and interlock scope: Define a clear and determined purpose/scope for each dependency and align with the team providing or fulfilling it. Interlock your dependencies with the related teams or organizations. For instance, if your project will need a certain setup from your company’s infrastructure team, ensure that you define the requirements (how many servers you need, what the technical specs are, what software needs to be installed, etc.). Finally, confirm that this setup can be delivered as requested. 3. Align dependency timelines: Specify exactly when your dependency is required and for how long. Interlock the timeline to secure its on-time delivery or availability. To continue the previous example, you might request your company’s infrastructure team to deliver the servers no later than July 31 so you can use the setup during a testing period that would stretch from August 1 to September 30. 4. Monitor and control dependencies throughout the project: It will probably be impossible to precisely plan for all of your project’s dependencies from the very beginning—and then stick to that plan until project closure. Therefore, you should maintain and review your dependencies list, HR plan or RBS throughout the project. New dependencies might show up while others might become dispensable. 5. Collect sign-offs: Sign-offs are as important as interlocks. You have to secure and collect them from your counterparts. Interlocks enforce commitment, responsibility and accountability, whereas sign-offs confirm the delivery or the fulfillment within the agreed boundaries. For instance, an end-user outside of your project team will sign-off on the product change your project generated, confirming that it conforms with his or her requirements or expectations. Or an interface project team will sign-off on your revamped software component, confirming that your project’s outcome did not break their related components or business processes. How do you identify all of a project’s related dependencies? How do you manage them as the project progresses? |