The 12 Project Management Principles

Summary

This video offers an insightful overview of the 12 project management principles established by the Project Management Institute (PMI). Essential for PMP exam preparation, these principles guide project teams to act as diligent stewards, foster collaboration, engage stakeholders, focus on value, and navigate complexity. They also emphasize leadership, tailoring approaches to context, building quality, optimizing risk responses, embracing adaptability, and enabling change for a successful project outcome. For further study, the PMBOK Guide 7th Edition 2021 is recommended.

Takeaways

• 😀 Be a diligent, respectful, and caring steward, acting with integrity and trustworthiness while complying with guidelines.
• 🤝 Create a collaborative project team environment to leverage diverse skills and knowledge for shared objectives.
• 🤔 Engage stakeholders effectively to influence project performance and outcomes, serving them by proactive engagement.
• 🎯 Focus on value by continually evaluating and adjusting project alignment to business objectives for maximum value realization.
• 🔄 Recognize, evaluate, and respond to system interactions within and surrounding the project for positive performance impact.
• 👩‍💼 Demonstrate leadership behaviors that support individual and team needs, adapting styles to situations for project success.
• 🛠 Tailor the project approach based on context, using the right amount of process to achieve desired outcomes efficiently.
• 🏆 Build quality into processes and deliverables to meet project objectives and stakeholder expectations for acceptance.
• 🧐 Navigate complexity by evaluating and adapting to it, reducing its impact on the project life cycle through vigilance.
• 🚀 Optimize risk responses to maximize positive impacts and minimize negative ones, considering the organization's risk appetite.
• 💪 Embrace adaptability and resiliency to accommodate change and recover from setbacks, focusing on outcomes for adaptability.
• 🔄 Enable change for the envisioned future state, preparing those impacted for new behaviors and processes for transition.

Q & A

What are the 12 project management principles defined by the Project Management Institute (PMI)?

The 12 principles are: 1) Be a diligent, respectful, and caring steward; 2) Create a collaborative project team environment; 3) Effectively engage with stakeholders; 4) Focus on value; 5) Recognize, evaluate, and respond to system interactions; 6) Demonstrate leadership behaviors; 7) Tailor based on context; 8) Build quality into processes and deliverables; 9) Navigate complexity; 10) Optimize risk responses; 11) Embrace adaptability and resiliency; 12) Enable change to achieve the envisioned future.

What does it mean to be a 'diligent, respectful, and caring steward' in project management?

Being a diligent, respectful, and caring steward means acting responsibly, carrying out activities with integrity, care, and trustworthiness, while maintaining compliance with internal and external guidelines. It includes a broad commitment to the financial, social, and environmental impacts of the projects.

Why is creating a collaborative project team environment important?

Creating a collaborative project team environment is important because it facilitates alignment with other organizational cultures and guidelines, promotes individual and team learning and development, and enables the team to contribute optimally to deliver desired outcomes more effectively than individuals working alone.

How can project teams effectively engage with stakeholders?

Project teams can effectively engage with stakeholders by doing so proactively and to the degree needed to contribute to project success and customer satisfaction. Stakeholder engagement involves understanding their needs and serving them to advance value delivery.

What is the focus of principle four, 'Focus on value'?

Principle four emphasizes the importance of continually evaluating and adjusting project alignment to business objectives and intended benefits and value. Value is the ultimate indicator of project success and can be realized throughout the project, at its end, or after completion.

How does 'recognize, evaluate, and respond to system interactions' help in project management?

This principle involves taking a holistic view of how different parts of a project interact with each other and with external systems. Being responsive to these interactions allows project teams to leverage positive outcomes and manage the dynamic circumstances within and surrounding the project.

What leadership behaviors should be demonstrated in a project team?

Leadership behaviors include adapting leadership styles to support individual and team needs, promoting project success, and contributing to positive project outcomes. Effective leaders recognize differences in motivation among team members and demonstrate honesty, integrity, and ethical conduct.

Why is it important to tailor the project development approach based on context?

Tailoring the approach based on context is important because each project is unique with its own objectives, stakeholders, governance, and environment. Using just enough process to achieve the desired outcome maximizes value, manages cost, and enhances speed.

How does building quality into processes and deliverables impact a project?

Building quality into processes and deliverables ensures that the project meets its objectives and aligns with the needs, uses, and acceptance requirements set by stakeholders. It focuses on satisfying stakeholder expectations and fulfilling project and product requirements.

What does 'navigate complexity' involve in project management?

Navigating complexity involves continually evaluating and managing the various factors that contribute to project complexity, such as human behavior, system interactions, uncertainty, and ambiguity. It allows the project team to successfully navigate the project life cycle.

How can project teams optimize risk responses?

Project teams can optimize risk responses by continually evaluating exposure to both opportunities and threats, and by developing risk responses that are appropriate for the significance of the risk, cost-effective, realistic within the project context, and agreed upon by relevant stakeholders.

What is the significance of embracing adaptability and resiliency in project management?

Embracing adaptability and resiliency is significant because it enables the project team to respond to changing conditions, recover from setbacks, and advance the work of the project. Adaptability is the ability to respond to change, while resiliency is the ability to absorb impacts and recover quickly from setbacks.

How can project teams enable change to achieve the envisioned future state?

Project teams can enable change by preparing those impacted for the adoption and sustainment of new behaviors and processes required for the transition from the current state to the intended future state. A structured approach to change, along with stakeholder engagement and motivational strategies, assists in change adoption.