Project Orienteering: A Field Guide for Project Leadership

EVERY PROJECT IS A JOURNEY. Many of us still approach project management as a set of best practices and processes that follow a structured and linear path to delivering a project’s intended outcome. But what often happens during the course of a project is that communication generates confusion, schedules get off track, sponsors disengage, and teams can end up far away from their intended destinations.

You’ll be well prepared to address whatever might go off course in any project if you anticipate and plan ahead by following the guiding principles outlined in this book. With Project Orienteering, author Denise Brinkmeyer takes readers through every phase of a project’s journey, with attention to a project’s most variable elements–its people. She argues that the most important skill we bring to a project is an ability to adjust, flex, and pivot in ways that remain sensitive to the delicate balance among time requirements, funding allotments, and a project’s overall value.

Brinkmeyer speaks primarily to project managers but has something to say to everyone involved: from stakeholders, sponsors, and project teams to customers and end users. She shows that successfully achieving a vision within a project’s designated budget is possible, as is creating a collaborative team environment in which everyone remains focused on the value being delivered, expectations are aligned along the way, and team members practice an adaptive, predictive approach to navigating the project’s changing terrain.