In 2014, the pace of change accelerated yet again,
with global mergers and acquisitions hitting a seven-year high, IPO activity around the world soaring and
R&D spending by the world’s largest organizations
reaching record levels. New players are upending old
markets as tech advances create new opportunities.
In most sectors, the cost of complacency is rising.
To survive in this rapidly changing environment,
organizations must gain the competitive edge. That
means developing a smart strategy—and executing
the projects that will bring it to life.
Yet even at high-performing organizations—those
that achieve 80 percent or more of projects on
time, on budget and meeting original goals—only
57 percent of projects are highly aligned to strategy,
according to PMI’s 2015 Pulse of the Profession®:
Capturing the Value of Project Management report.
Almost one-third of practitioners surveyed for the
same report said inadequate or poor communication
is a primary cause of project failure.
Liaising between executives and project teams,
portfolio and program managers play a vital role
in translating the strategy into action. Below,
three global project professionals discuss their
approaches to strategic alignment and communication. Mohannad Amr is a project management officer at the data storage and security firm
STME, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Jennifer
Buchanan, PMP, is product director (PM/PMO)
at consultancy Vantage Business Group Inc. in
Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and Amany Nuseibeh,
The ancient Greek dictum
seems wiser each year:
Change is the only
constant in life.
