Projects fail at an astounding rate. In a study that reviewed 10,640 projects in various industries from among 200 companies in 30 countries, PricewaterhouseCoopers found that only 2.5% of the firms successfully completed 100% of their projects.
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| Alexander Laufer |
How do you get into this elite group of project leaders and how can we boost this less-than-great rate of success?
We’ve interviewed the most competent project managers in some of the most demanding roles in business to figure out some practice-based principles for managing projects—and we’ve found there are四个绝对关键的成功因素！
Three focus on facing and managing change—the one constant you can expect as projects move along their path. The fourth is the most important tool leaders should use to insure projects reach the finish line in the way they were intended.
Plan—But Not Too Much!
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| 特里小 |
In today’s dynamic environment, characterized by frequent unexpected events and volatile information, it’s difficult to anticipate all the potential challenges we’ll face with our projects. How, then, can we plan ahead? And how far in advance of our projects should we plan? Successful project managers employ a “rolling wave” approach toplanning。也就是说，随着项目的展开，他们会在波浪中制定计划，并且信息变得更加可靠。
过度详细的计划可能会迅速过时，因为在最早的项目阶段，没有足够的可靠数据。但是，我们也无法延迟计划，直到所有信息都完成和稳定为止。“滚动波”方法是这两个无效极端之间的最佳中间立场 - 它允许计划evolve.
保持松动！
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| Jeffrey S. Russell |
在项目管理中，agilitymeans taking quick actionduringthe execution phase, and it requires constant engagement in both receiving and sending information. When you're engaged, you can identify early those unexpected events.
但是敏捷性也需要快速回应这些惊喜。为什么？
在项目管理中，tasks are tightly interconnected. When unexpected events affect one task, many other相互依存的任务may also be quickly affected. If a jobsite problem prompts one contractor to move its workforce to other projects until there's a resolution, it may be too late by then. Recognizing and resolving problems as soon as they emerge is vital to maintain work progress.
Think Ahead
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| Bruce Maas |
积极主动的resilience是关于启动变更，而不是简单地响应事件。因为解决威胁更容易前it reaches a full-blown state, a successful project manager acts as early as possible—as soon as he or she is convinced that a disruption is unavoidable.
“The 10X companies [companies beating their industry indexes by a minimum of 10 times over 15 years] differ from their less successful companies in how they maintain hyper-vigilance in good times as well as in bad,” writes renowned business guru Jim Collins. "Even in calm, clear, positive conditions, 10Xers constantly consider the possibility that events could turn against them at any moment."
Collins calls this mindset “productive paranoia” because the continuous fear of future disruptions is channeled into readiness to take productive action.
换句话说，成功的项目经理不仅仅是出于担心可能出了什么问题而运作。他们不断寻找异常迹象的能力和愿意采取行动，并以通常与现状相抗衡的方式行事。
我们谁都跑不了！
Since project progress depends on the contribution of individuals who represent different disciplines and affiliations,collaborationis particularly important in proiject management. In fact, it can make or break the project!
The three Mars exploration missions—Pathfinder, Climate Orbiter, and Polar Lander—all were initiated by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory under the same guiding principles. But their performances varied markedly, according to an agency analysis. Pathfinder was the only success of the three. NASA researcher Tim Flores expected to discover that it differed from the other projects due to a number of factors—resources, constraints, personnel.
But the primary differentiator was the level of collaboration. The Pathfinder team developed trusting relationships within a culture of openness. Successful project managers know how to cultivate such an environment by finding suitable team members and by focusing on collaboration and outcomes.
All Tied Up
The four attributes of the successful project manager are interdependent: they need each other for the whole thing to work! As a project manager, you will face deviations from the plans, unexpected events, and major threats to reaching the finish line.
But leaders who recognize these challenges and tap the talents of their team members to find solutions can build that reservoir of planning, agility, and resilience necessary to complete 100% of your projects and be among the leadership elite.
Alexander Laufer,联盟主任项目领导at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a chaired professor of civil engineering at the Technion–Israel Institute of Technology, can be reached at laufer2@wisc.edu;特里小，可以通过keboostman@aol.com与美国国防部的资深国防部主要计划经理和荣誉教授；Jeffrey S. Russell,vice provost for lifelong learning and dean of continuing studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, can be reached atjeffrey.russell@wisc.edu;威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校的Bruce Maas，名誉CIO和副教务长可以通过Bruce.maas@wisc.edu与您联系。
这篇文章是从即将出版的书中改编的成为项目负责人：融合计划，敏捷性，韧性和协作以交付成功的项目18luck官网, set for publication this year by Palgrave Macmillan.
