PM ADVISORY:

Positive Leadership in Project Management – Value, Success and Twelve Factors for Effective Project Leadership

By By Frank P. Saladis, PMP

New York, USA

Success is something that all project managers and teams strive for. The question is “How do you define success?” I have heard quite a few definitions and some that would not likely be found in a dictionary. A quick check on the definition of success resulted in the following:

1.The favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors.
2.The attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like.
3.The successful performance or achievement: The project was an overwhelming success!

The definition of project success depends largely upon on whom you are asking. Another way to say it would be that project success is in the eye of the beholder. Regardless of personal opinion and view point, the project manager and the client MUST work together, collaborate and agree on the definition of success at the onset of the project. In the book “Value Driven Project Management,” Dr. Harold Kerzner Ph.D and Frank P. Saladis PMP, John Wiley and Sons and IIL co-publishers, (yes, I am a co-author and I am very proud of this book) project success is achieved when planned business values are met. These values include Internal Value, Financial Value, Future Value, and Customer Related Value.

Many project managers and organization executives start the discussion about success with the triple constraint – the balancing of Time, Cost, and Performance Specifications (or quality in some literature) and the need to complete projects on time, within budget and according to scope but success is generally determined by how the intended end user or client sees the outcome and whether or not the project’s product or service is actually used or fulfills its intended purpose.

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About the Author Frank Saladis, PMP Author Frank P. Saladis, PMP is President of Project Imaginers Inc. A Consultant and Instructor within the project management profession with over 30 years experience in the telecom and project management training environment, Frank is also a senior consultant and trainer for the International Institute For Learning Inc. He has held the position of National Project Manager for AT&T Solutions Information Technology Services and was a member of Cisco Systems Professional Services Project Management Advocacy organization. He is a Project Management Professional and has been a featured presenter at the Project Management Institute Annual Symposiums, Project World, and PMI World Congress. He is president of the PMI New York City Chapter and a Past-President of the PMI Assembly of Chapter Presidents. Mr. Saladis is a Co-Publisher of ALLPM newsletter and a contributor to the ALLPM project management website. He has a monthly e-column entitled “ Positive Leadership in Project Management. He has written numerous project management related articles and was an author of the AT&T Corporate ITS Project Management Guidelines. He is a member of the International Executive Guild and the NRCC Business Advisory Council. He has also held the position of Vice President of Education for the Global Communications Technology Specific Interest Group of PMI and holds a Masters Certificate in Commercial Project Management from the George Washington University. Frank can be contacted at