12 PMBOK Principles in Action

Let’s dive into the world of project management and explore how the 12 principles can help you achieve success in a real-life scenario.

Imagine ABC, a globally recognized company that sells products and services. They’re customer-centric and want to provide the best possible experience for their customers. To do this, they need a strong IT infrastructure.

Now, ABC wants to improve their product offerings by gathering consumer data. They sell this data to make a profit, and they recently hired Bev as a project manager to streamline the data collection process, enhance security, and improve storage capabilities.

Bev’s mission is clear: she needs to achieve the following objectives:

1. Increase data storage capacity by 30% by acquiring more hard disk drives with extra storage.
2. Reduce the risk of data loss by upgrading existing data backup systems.
3. Strengthen the security system to prevent data breaches.
4. Increase data access speed by 20%.

Bev sets out to research and implement the 12 principles of project management. And guess what? She pulls it off! All the objectives are achieved, and the project delivers on time, within budget, and with the desired results.

Now, you’re curious to know how Bev’s project management principles led to such success. Let’s explore each principle and see how she applied them in action.

1. Stewardship: Being a diligent, respectful, and caring steward. Bev starts by creating a stakeholder register to identify all internal and external stakeholders involved in the project. She clearly communicates the importance of the project, the major milestones, and the project goals to win the trust and support of her stakeholders. Bev is inclusive in her communication, ensuring that everyone feels heard and valued.

At the initiating stage, Bev outlines the project’s main financial, social, and technological dimensions. This helps stakeholders understand the project’s scope and expectations.

2. Collaboration: Working together to achieve a common goal. Bev fosters a collaborative team environment where everyone works together to achieve a common goal. She encourages open communication, active listening, and mutual respect. Bev ensures that everyone has a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities.

3. Communication: Sharing information and ideas effectively. Bev communicates effectively with all stakeholders, sharing information and ideas clearly and concisely. She uses various communication channels, such as meetings, emails, and presentations, to ensure that everyone is on the same page. Bev also actively listens to feedback and uses it to improve the project.

4. Flexibility: Being adaptable to changing circumstances. Bev is flexible and adaptable to changing circumstances. She recognizes that projects can face challenges and setbacks, and she works with stakeholders to find solutions. Bev is open to feedback and suggestions, and she is willing to make changes as needed.

5. Accountability: Holding oneself and others accountable for their actions. Bev holds herself and others accountable for their actions. She ensures that everyone understands their roles and responsibilities, and she regularly checks in with stakeholders to ensure that they are on track. Bev also encourages open communication and feedback, so that everyone can work together to achieve the project’s goals.

6. Time Management: Managing time effectively to meet deadlines. Bev manages time effectively to meet deadlines. She creates a schedule and ensures that everyone is aware of their deadlines. Bev also prioritizes tasks and focuses on the most important tasks first. Bev also ensures that everyone has the resources they need to complete their tasks.

7. Risk Management: Identifying and managing potential risks. Bev identifies and manages potential risks. She creates a risk management plan and ensures that everyone understands their roles and responsibilities in managing risks. Bev also regularly checks in with stakeholders to ensure that they are aware of any potential risks. Bev also encourages open communication and feedback, so that everyone can work together to identify and manage potential risks.

8. Quality Assurance: Ensuring that the project meets high-quality standards. Bev ensures that the The second principle is „creating a collaborative project team environment.” Bev did this by:

• Defining goals, assets, and obstacles, Bev created a team charter that helped the project team set standards for working together.

• Assessing the skills needed for the team and including early training in the project strategy.

• Clearly defining each team member’s roles and responsibilities and getting support from stakeholders. She also built professional relationships whenever possible.

• Engaging stakeholders effectively.

The third principle is „effectively engaging with stakeholders.” To apply this principle, Bev did:

• Analyzing the current and desired levels of commitment from all key stakeholders and developing strategies to get what was needed.

• Engaging stakeholders differently depending on the situation. She put in the effort to learn about each person’s goals and adapted her communication accordingly.

• Focusing on value creation.

The fourth principle is „focusing on value.” To apply this principle, Bev did:

• Clearly describing the value and advantages of the project in the project charter and management plan.

• Clarifying the project’s benefits.

• Tailoring „value” to individual and organizational needs, indicating different value propositions for different target groups.

• Thinking about systems.

The fifth principle is „recognizing, evaluating, and responding to system interactions.” Here’s how Bev applied this principle:

• Analyzing the project to identify strong connections with other projects, programs, and the ABC portfolio.

• Creating an influence diagram that showed external factors that could help or hinder the project’s progress.

• Asking SMEs for help and asking them to let her know if things change.

• Demonstrating leadership behaviors. Here are the steps Bev took to apply this principle:

Bev was a true role model, always leading by example and never expecting her team to do anything she wouldn’t do herself.

She was a master of situational leadership, adapting her management style to each unique situation or task. This allowed her team members to meet their individual needs and thrive.

Bev was always honest, took responsibility for her actions, and treated everyone with respect and fairness.

Now, let’s talk about how Bev applied the principle of „tailoring based on the context.”

Bev compared the project to others, looking for similarities and differences. She realized that the company didn’t need regular deliveries. She knew that the project would change rapidly due to its nature and the technical challenges involved. So, she decided that the iterative process would be the best way to go.

Bev also made sure that the project was built with quality in mind. She created a quality management plan that included quality planning, quality control, and quality assurance processes. All the stages of the project followed these processes, ensuring that the final product was top-notch.

And let’s not forget about navigating complexity. Bev was no stranger to challenges. She identified and addressed every potential area of uncertainty that could negatively affect the project. She worked closely with her team to identify problems and create a well-defined decision-making system.

Finally, Bev optimized risk responses. She was aware of the risk appetite and thresholds of her stakeholders and made sure to accommodate them accordingly. She collaborated with her team to identify risks and opportunities, ensuring that risk owners were assigned and prepared with appropriate remedies.

In conclusion, Bev was a true project management superstar. She led by example, adapted to challenges, and ensured that the project was built with quality and resilience in mind. Bev was a real go-getter when it came to adapting and bouncing back from challenges. She was all about the eleventh important principle of project management: adaptability and resiliency. Here’s how she did it:

First, she got together with the key people involved in the project to figure out how things were changing and come up with solutions.

Next, she proactively reached out to everyone involved to help them deal with any shocks and get back on track quickly.

Bev really focused on the results of the project, not just the outputs.

Finally, she made sure that change was happening in a way that would help them achieve the future they wanted. Here’s how she did that:

She created a plan for managing change that everyone involved could follow.

She set up a Change Control Board (CCB) that reviewed and approved changes. The CCB met every week to discuss changes.

She got the support of her managers, who encouraged everyone to work together to make the change happen.

She made sure that her team members were held accountable for their results.

In conclusion, if you want to make sure that your projects are successful, you need to use project management principles. When you apply these principles, you can deliver projects on time, within budget, and to a high standard. In this article, you learned how to apply each project management principle to achieve project success.