This engaging Research Handbook presents a fresh look at how to improve project performance for the project sponsor, client and end user using a number of empirical research studies. Focusing on project performance concepts and methods, the Handbook provides a novel and fresh look at successful project completions, achieving project objectives, on-time or ahead of time project completion or delivering within budget. With contributions from expert scholars, each chapter highlights a new wave of research and examines how to plan and manage a project as well as handling unexpected changes alongside project risks, unknowns or uncertainties. Key factors enhancing project success are highlighted such as the critical role of the project manager and their effective leadership, the importance of knowledge sharing, effective communication and lessons learnt from past projects. Furthermore, the Handbook reviews new and emerging trends that can have a major impact on project performance. Combining new insights with original research, the Research Handbook on Project Performance will be an invigorating read for research scholars and graduate students studying project management as well as professional managers engaged in project management.

Projects are at the core of all management activities because they directly will contribute to the operational and financial success of the organization. Further, projects are of strategic importance; they are integral to strategic plan and its operationalization. Since sophistication in project management will positively impact the operational profit margin, the desire for sophistication, and the motivation for excellence in project management is almost universal. Independent of the source of the underlying noble motivation, the pace at which an organization achieves that desired sophistication will directly depend on how much time, effort, and support, is dedicated to the enhancement of project management processes, procedures, and tools. A high level of project management sophistication can be an exceptionally advantageous credential for the enterprise, because this credential can be used as a competitive edge for advancing one contractor among the other members of the bidder pool. If an organization has reached a high level of project management maturity, the organization should regard that as a reason for extreme pride among competitors. Even in sophisticated organizations, the transition to virtual projects should be after verifying that there is extensive formality in managing projects, because formalization of project management processes is far more important in virtual teams than it is in traditional teams. Proposals are preludes to externally-funded projects, and portfolios are either collections of projects or collections of proposals. This book describes the attributes, procedures, and policies that reflect sophisticated organizations.

Many things in the world are changing more rapidly than ever and levels of global competition have increased dramatically. Clients do not always know what they want in a new system or product and younger workers chafe at old command and control restrictions. These pressures and many others have challenges traditional project management methods. What has emerged is an understanding that for some projects, a new approach is needed. Many people have worked hard and imaginatively developing new approaches. Many of these fall under a broad umbrella called Agile. One difficulty with Agile is that various approaches have been developed and are in use today, both in "pure" form as suggested by their approach and in hybrid form attempting to gain advantages of more than a single approach. Not only that, but the very language of some of the approaches describe the same things differently and sometimes describe not so similar things in a similar manner. Add to that, many successful, experienced project practitioners do not fully understand nor value Agile. We recognize that to capitalize fully on the benefits of Agile, one must first understand the concepts that underpin it. Only then will using the mechanics of Agile yield the sweeping benefits some organizations enjoy. In this book, we first identify the many concepts that various approaches advocate for Agile and group them into a simple, but not dumbed-down system. Then we identify the most common and most useful Agile methods regardless of the approach that promotes them, grouping them logically, and showing how to use them. The result is we have an agnostic Agile model that can be useful to anyone who is either using or considering Agile. Further, the concepts and tools of this book can also be useful to anyone who is in an organization that is using a hybrid project management approach (part Agile and part traditional). Many, if not most, of the mindset concepts can also be of great value for people performing projects in a traditional manner as they attempt to unleash the energy and creativity of their project team members. Both concepts for being Agile and tools for doing Agile are summarized into an easy to follow system.

Project management sophistication is the state of enterprise practices in which success of projects is predictable and that the definitive measure of project management success continually improves with time. Sophistication in project management will lead to efficiency in operations and better profits. Enlightened enterprises are sensitive to project management sophistication and the definitive way of measuring it and improving it. As full assessment of the organizational project management sophistication is relatively time consuming and costly, enterprises have a need and desire for instruments that would provide an estimate of the project management maturity of the organization with less effort. This book includes such instruments and attributes of a successful enterprise. Attributes of Project-Friendly Enterprises creates a structured approach and presents attributes of a healthy project environment that include key indicators of success for projects, proposals, portfolios, project teams, Project Management Office (PMO), and the enterprise.

Projects generally require skills and effort from multiple disciplines to develop project deliverables. Projects are executed in teams, as project tasks require multiple skills, judgment, and experience. Project teams roles should be assigned based on strengths of individuals. Project team process is a mediating mechanism linking variables such as members, team, and organizational characteristics that include structure, culture, supporting systems, performance and incentive systems, employee morality, and top management support. Team performance or teamwork is impacted by the structure of a team. Team structural characteristics include the number of team members, the status hierarchy, roles and responsibilities, and accepted norms for behaviors of individuals within the team. Further, understanding characteristics of virtual teams and their key attributes for improving global project performance are of critical importance. Social and behavioral skills that each person brings are important influencing factors in interactions with other team members and in forming a cohesive and productive team. Also, organization and national cultures influence their behaviors. Project Teams is an attempt to address all these topics in detail and offer a practical approach to managing projects successfully in the current business environment by including concepts, processes, techniques, and tools to manage and enhance performance of project teams and projects. This book would be meaningful for project management professionals and project managers in any organization and can be a useful resource for academic institutions in teaching management and project management disciplines.