Transportation Project Management

1 Project Management 101

“Leaders think and talk about the solutions. Followers think and talk about the problems.”

– Brian Tracy

1.1 Introduction

“Expect the best, plan for the worst, and prepare to be surprised.”

– Denis Waitley

What is a Project Manager?

• Someone convinced they can successfully leverage nine women to deliver a baby in one month.
• An organizational leader dedicated to the imposition of order upon chaos, even if chaos is perfectly happy with the status quo.
• The person assigned by the performing organization to achieve the project objectives.

While there may be some truth in each of these options, the sixth edition of the Project Management Institute (PMI) Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) defines a Project Manager (PM) as choice C. After twenty-five years of transportation project, program, and portfolio management, I like choice B.

The mental image of boldly facing the raging tempest and taming the chaos seems especially relevant to transportation projects. Most other engineering disciplines operate in closed systems where you can quantitatively define, and directly control, most project risks. Transportation projects are decidedly different.

Project boundaries and scopes can be expanded with citizen input. Project objectives and success criteria can unpredictably change with the political tide. Legislative action and agency promulgation can dramatically change the rules of engagement mid-project by modifying processes, procedures, ...