Doing Projects A Nordic Flavour to Managing Projects

165 Pages·033.306 MB·English

by  Joana Geraldi, Christian Thuesen, Josef Oehmen, & Verena Stingl

JoanaGeraldi, ChristianThuesen, JosefOehmen, &Verena Stingl
Doing Projects
A NordicFlayvour to Managing Projects
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Doing Projects
ANordic Flavour to Managing Projects
Joana Geraldi
Christian Thuesen
JosefOchmen
VerenaSting]
Engineering SystemsDivision
ManagementEngineering Department
Technical University ofDenmark
DANISH STANDARDS
Doingprojects.ANordicFlavourtoManagingProjects
©Copyright:DanishStandards Foundation2017
Reproductionnotpermittedwithoutspecialpermission.
DsHandbook185:2017
ProjectnumberM321778
Editor:JenniBoerithsSondergaard
Layout:JenniBoerithsSondergaard
ISBN: 978-87-7193-076-4
ISBN: 978-87-7193-077-1 (PDF)
ISSN0903-0484
Publishedby
DanishStandards Foundation
GéteborgPlads1
2150Nordhavn
Denmark
Phone:[phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:www.ds.dk
ThisisaPOD-publication
PrintedinDenmark.
TheaimofthisbookistoprovidegeneralinformationabouttheuseofISO21500.
Althoughtheauthorandpublisherhave madeeveryefforttoensurethatthe informa-
tioninthisbookwas correctatpresstime,theauthorandpublisherdonotassumeand
herebydisclaimanyliabilitytoanypartyforanyloss,damage,ordisruptioncausedby
errorsoromissions, whethersuch errorsoromissions result from negligence,accident,
oranyothercause.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements.
Preface.
Why shouldyoureadthis book?...
Overviewofthe book...
Introductiontothe threemainelementsofthe book.
1.1 TheISO 21500standard
1.2. TheNordicflavourofmanagingprojects.
1.3 Perspectivesandconcept box...
14 Summary.
Defininga project...
2.1 Projecthistory.
2.2. Therelevanceandomnipresence ofprojects...
2.3. Knowledge aboutprojects.
2.4 Whatdefines a project?..
2.5. Thenominalistview: A projectiswhatwe calla project.
2.6. Therealistview:Theclassicdefinitionofaproject...
2.7. Seminaldefinitionsofprojectandprojectmanagement
froma task perspective.
2.8 Commoncharacteristics.
2.9 Projectlifecycle.
2.10Projects,programmes,andportfolios....
2.11 Summary.
Context forprojects.
3.1. Importance ofcontext.....
3.2 Definingandactingonthecontext.
3.3. Temporalcontext
Doing Projects
3.4 Organisationalcontext.
3.5 Externalcontext.
3.6 RelationshiptoISO 21501
3.8 The Nordicflavour ofcontext...
Purpose
4.1 Illustratio
4.2 Introduction
4.3. Key challenges andcommonmistakes
4.4 Howtodoit?.
4.5 TheRelationshipto ISO 21500...
4.6 The Nordicflavour ofpurpose...
4.7 Summary: Purposeperspectiveinshort...
People
5.1 Ilustration
5.2 Introduction
5.3. Key challenges andcommonmistakes...
5.4 Howtodoit?.
5.5. Relationshiptothe ISO 21500 Standard.
5.6 The Nordicflavour ofpeople...
5.7 Summary: Thepeople perspectivein short...
Complexity.
6.1 Ilustration....
6.2 Introduction
6.3. Key challenges andcommonmistakes...
6.4 Howtodoit?.
6.5. Therelationshipto ISO21500...
6.6 The Nordicflavour ofcomplexity...
6.7 Summary: Thecomplexityperspective in short.
Uncertainty...
7.1 Mlustration 129

7.2. Introduction .. 130

7.3. Keychallenges andcommonmistakes 133

7.4 Howtodoit. 136

7.5 Therelationshipto ISO 21500... 141

7.6 TheNordicflavourofuncertainty 147

7.7 Summary:TheUncertaintyperspectivein short... 148

Conclusion: Connectingthe dots
References.
Doing Projects

Acknowledgements
Thewriting ofthis bookcouldnothavebeenrealisedwithoutthe support
andguidance ofvarious people.
Primarily, wewishtothankthe Danish Standards Foundation(DS) forthe
constructivecollaborationthroughoutthe process. Inparticular,weare grate-
fulto Niels Falk,whocraftedtheidea ofanISO 21500certification process for
our students and helpedus putitintoactionin collaborationfirstwithMarie
GradertandsubsequentlywithAnders Linde. WealsowanttothankMette Juul
Sandagerforthe supportinthe certification process and herearlyshaping of
the bookthroughtheinvolvementofthe Danish ISO 21500workgroup. Today,
morethan500studentshavepassedthe certification test.Thebook isthought
ofasa companiontothiscertification,as well asa bookaboutproject manage-
mentforthose,whoseekinspiration inregardstoalternativeprojectman-
agementpractices. Furthermore, wewouldlike toextend ourthanks toJenni
BoerithsSondergaard,who, aseditor,hassupported and shapedourideas and
writingforthebookandhasbeenextremelyflexible in managingtime.
AsidefromDS,wewouldlike toextendourthanks tothe 900+ students atThe
Technical UniversityofDenmark(DTU) whohave followedthe coursein pro-
jectmanagement(42430/42429)overthelasttwoyearsandhavebeen partof
our experimentallearningpracticesthat havedevelopedthe platformforthe
bookand provided feedbackdirectlyand indirectly.
Doing Projects
Inparticular,wewouldliketothankall ofour teachingassistantsoverthe past
twoyearswhohaveshaped,challenged, and implementedtheideas ofthe
bookinthelearningprocessesforthe students.Thisincludes Anders Systad,
Amalie SkyttPetersen, TroelsAnkjzr, Cecilie Liitken, EbouTouray, RosaElisa-
bethLindqvist, Kristine MariaClemmensen-Rotne,Vibeke HvidegaardPeter-
sen,JonasHammer, Peter EgeskovLarsen, Sarah Terp,JoachimAndersen,and
Marc Dose. Furthermore, wewouldlike tothanka specialgroupofteaching
assistantswhohavehelpedinstructuringthecentraltopics ofthe standard.
‘This includesAnna MariaGreve (stakeholder,communication), CeciliaFernan-
dez (time, costs, risk), MarinaCholakova (lifecyle, quality, risk), Rosa Elisabeth
Lindqvist(resources), CecilieLiitken(scope).
Furthermore,we wouldlike tothanktheparticipantsofthe ProjectinNet-
works(PiN) programme fortheirdeconstructionofthe personalpracticesof
managingprojectsandreflectionsonthe Scandinavian contextformanaging
projects.Thishas provided invaluableinputinthe structuringofthe per-
spectives (purpose, complexity, uncertaintyandpeople) andshapedwhatwe
termedthe Nordicflavour ofmanagingprojects.
‘Throughoutthe writingprocess, severalpeople havegivenconstructive feed-
backonvariousdrafts.Thisincludes Allan Kriiger-Jensen (BEC),JohnHolst
(Siemens), and LarsRomerdahl (Prominds)whowerepartofanindustrial
advisoryforDS.Furthermore, wewouldliketothankMartinTerp and Mikael
Elkan fromFOAfor thevaluable commentsonthe firstdraftofthis book.
special thanks goes tothe membersofthe Project,ProgrammeandPortfo-
lio IndustrialAdvisory Council,a groupofseniormanagers in project-based
organisations,who supportouractivitiesonproject, programmeandportfolio,
and the developmentofthe ProjectLab.Thisincludes: Carsten Hallund Slot
(Vestas),DavidGlazier (Ramboll), FlemmingLarsson (Novo Nordisk), Grant
Sonne-Clifford(Rambgll),John Sommer(MTHolgaard),Jonas Richelsen Bro-
ge(Radiometer), MarioArlt (ABB), PeterCarterLuke (Novo Nordisk), Teddy
Frank(Metro), andVibekeVestergaard (IBM).Throughyouractiveengage-
mentinourworkshops,youhaveprovidedus withpricelessinsightinto the
practicesofdoing projects, and havebeen the sourceofsome oftheadvicewe
expressinthisbook.
‘Theprojectofwritingthis bookhas beenstronglyconnected withotheractiv-
itiesin the developmentandspreadofproject education across DTU.These
activities,includingthisbook,havebeen supported andpartlyfundedbythe
LearningLab,anorganisationresponsible forthe developmentofeducation
practicesatDTU.Wewouldlike tothankthemfortheirsupport.
Finally,wewouldliketothankourleaders andcolleagues at DTU,allowing
us toinvest ourresources and providinga fruitfulcontextfordevelopingthis
book.
Whilemanyofthepoints in thisbookwereinspired bythe above-mentioned,
weshould clarifythatthey arenot responsible forthe contentofthebook.The
bookisthe resultofour developmentandcombination ofthevariousinputs
wehavereceivedalongtheway~ and assuch,weare responsibleforits con-
tents.
Doing Projects