Intentional Project Management

Meteorologists are better at predicting the weather than project managers are at delivering projects. About a third of projects [1] are delivered on time, on budget, and with the desired scope. By contrast, a seven-day forecast is accurate about 80% of the time [2].

So why is project success so elusive? Intentionality is lacking.

Intentionality requires thoughtful and deliberate project planning and execution. The project management body of knowledge is vast and rich in methodologies, frameworks, practices, and tools. The missing links are discipline and a willingness to adhere to principles and proven best practices faithfully.

The Vice President of Project Management Capabilities at an aerospace company urges project managers to be intentional. She shares a prescient observation, “I have never seen a project fail due to something new! You may not know the failure mode, but someone you know does.” Experienced project managers know the pitfalls, yet they fall into the same traps.

The Project Management Institute recently conducted a comprehensive survey [3] of project outcomes. They identified several factors contributing to the net project success score (a net promoter score). None of the factors were surprising, yet they are lacking in most projects.

Intentional project management is easy to describe but hard to implement. We know what to do, but project realities often hinder us. In this article, I outline some well-known practices that will enable intentionality and, I believe, will lead to better outcomes.

Intentional Project Planning

Planning sets the foundation. Intentional planning requires expending effort to fully consider the project’s what, why, and how. There is often pressure to bypass thoughtful. However, the time expended planning will pale compared to corrective action efforts later. As Ben Franklin said, “A stitch in time saves nine.”

Business Case

A sound business case should be the first project artifact. It justifies the project by describing its objectives and alignment with the organization’s strategy. Creating stakeholder and leadership support for the project confirms its value and is critical to its success [4].

The business case estimates the project’s costs and benefits. The analysis should be accurate, unbiased, and reflect reality. The case should not be overly optimistic to gain approval. Portfolio management balances overall organizational needs, not parochial interests. Inaccurate business cases may lead to project approval but have multiple adverse and unintended consequences.

Project Charter

The project charter [5] refines the business case and authorizes the project. It describes the project’s what, why, how, and when. Articulating the end-state objectives and acceptance criteria establishes a clear mission and expectations.

Simon Sinek described how great companies start with “why [6],” and Stephen Covey highlighted the value of “starting with the end in mind." The charter creates context, establishes the “north star,’ and enables thoughtful and aligned decision-making.

Project Management Plan

The project management plan [7] outlines how the project will be executed, including the approach, lifecycle, and all the processes. Importantly, it also defines governance, oversight, and management review processes. A thoughtfully developed plan establishes expectations, enhances effectiveness, and prevents misunderstandings and confusion.

The project's approach, lifecycle, and practices are critical decisions. The project type, problem complexity, organizational considerations, and compliance requirements should drive these decisions rather than inertia. Hybrid projects [8] require more intentional design because the delivery patterns are less established.

Planning Scope, Schedule, and Cost

Planning the project’s scope, schedule, and cost while balancing risk, quality, and other factors is always challenging. Project managers always face pressure to deliver faster and at lower costs. Plans frequently incorporate unrealistic assumptions that undermine the effort from the beginning. To avoid these pitfalls, respectfully resist these forces. It is better to face this heat up front rather than later.

An experienced project manager was assigned to rescue a troubled project. He was told to deliver the remaining work within the existing schedule. After researching similar projects, he explained to leadership that it was impossible to meet those expectations. The completion date was moved out to incorporate the realistic estimates.

Performance Measures

Setting and tracking performance measures impacts net project success scores. PMI’s reframing research found that this could increase satisfaction scores sevenfold. As Peter Drucker said, “What gets measured gets done.” Meaningful metrics establish clear goals and drive achievement. They also provide guardrails and early warning signals, enabling proactive corrective actions.

Intentional Project Execution

Intentional project execution should be simple: doing what we know is right. Good project managers have the knowledge, skills, and experience. Being successful requires discipline and the resolve to withstand the forces and pressures that make it difficult. All of this is easier said than done.

Stakeholder Engagement

Engaged stakeholders and leaders are the primary cause of project success, while their absence is the main reason for failure. Stakeholder management involves identifying those affected by the project, understanding their needs and concerns, determining the best ways to communicate with them, and taking appropriate actions. Effective practices [9] are straightforward. Regularly checking in with our stakeholders ensures they are engaged as intended.

Risk, Issue, and Action Item Management

Managing risks [10], issues, and action items is a core project management practice. Creating and maintaining a log in a spreadsheet or similar tool is easy. The items need to be clearly documented. All items need an owner and due date. To avoid having things fall through the cracks, project managers must:

Review the logs regularly,
Add new items as they arise,
Follow up on outstanding ones,
Hold owners accountable, and
Communicate essential updates to the relevant stakeholders.

Monitoring and Controlling Project Performance

Monitoring and controlling involves regularly assessing actual performance against the plan and proactively taking corrective actions as necessary. While scope, schedule, and cost are the primary measures, tracking quality, stakeholder engagement, communication effectiveness, and process integrity are equally important.

Scope, schedule, and cost baselines are established during project planning. A regular cadence and defined process for measuring performance against the plan is required. If variances exceed agreed-upon thresholds, a change request is initiated. The project management plan should describe the process for identifying, logging, evaluating, communicating, approving, and confirming change requests.

Tracking performance and proactively addressing challenges requires discipline and courage. Once a project is underway, maintaining process discipline becomes difficult. Analyzing changes to project performance takes time and effort, which are in limited supply. Appeasing powerful stakeholders and applying Band-Aid fixes only defers and magnifies the eventual impact.

An office building construction project was months behind schedule. An executive ordered the expedited delivery of building materials, which were stored on-site rather than waiting for on-time delivery. As expected, this did not speed up the project. Instead, it created bottlenecks in receiving and storing supplies, and some materials were damaged while waiting to be used.

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