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What makes a project succeed? Emanuel Camilleri has attempted to answer this question in his book Project Success: Critical Factors and Behaviours. This book by Gower covers everything, from the history of project management to managing organisational diagnostics and information flow.
A book about project success can be confusing because success can mean different things to different people. Camilleri writes that success is determined by the perceptions of stakeholders. Camilleri also points out the differences between project success (is it a good thing?) and project management success. This is when the project was executed in accordance with best practice. He has included bits from both to address these issues in the book.
Camilleri’s literature research is the basis of Project Success. Camilleri has analyzed academic papers from 1971 to examine all studies that have been done on project success criteria. He then categorizes them and ranks them according to how often they appear in research results. This gives us a list with the top things we should do to increase our chances of success. He writes:
“[T]he most important aspect for ensuring the successful execution of projects, in priority order, include:
Control and Planning for Projects
Strategic Fit
Project Scope
Employee Participation and Commitment
These are the top 4 of a 11-point list. The rest of the book will look at each one individually.
The section on strategic fit is very interesting. Camilleri has managed 12 pages to condense portfolio management into 12 pages. Three of these are diagrams.
Although the book is filled with flow charts, diagrams, and even a template for defining scope, it doesn’t feel like a practitioner book. There are pages that help you assess the environment in which your project team works and determine if it is conducive to high-performance. These five measures are the basis of this guideline:
The project team is subject to high levels of role conflict and ambiguity
A clear definition of roles and responsibilities
A proper level of processes and procedures
Team collaboration
Collaboration between project team members and external stakeholders.
A flow diagram shows each of these measures. The flow diagrams can be used to rank your project team. This is a great tool for consultants, new employees in roles that can influence the outcome of a company, and new project managers who want to know their responsibilities. But what practical, everyday use? I don’t need score the team environment. It’s something I know because I live it.
The book is extremely detailed in some areas. There is a section on knowledge management and information flow that is very useful. A working example of a project that has start and end times constraints is provided to explain float and resource levelling. The lessons learned can be summarized in five lines.
This book is not intended to be used as a guide for practitioners. It draws heavily on management theory and often addresses the organisational layer. For example, it discusses how to put in place policies that allow employees to relocate or terminate. Although you may have some influence at the individual level, most project managers are unable to do this.
Camilleri is right to say that it’s not meant to be a reference book for struggling project managers. This book is essential reading for anyone who is interested in project management or works as a consultant on failing projects. Project Success will be a great resource for anyone who is starting a project management department in their company. For the project manager who is looking for a guide for doing day-today tasks right, Project Success is a better choice.
