Introducing the Active Project Management Methodology.

Active Project Management is a project management methodology based on decades of experience of getting large complex projects delivered on-time on budget.

Although the methodology has its roots in the IT and construction industries, the principles will be the same, wherever the Project Triangle is a priority. The Project Triangle refers to the three key parameters that project managers need to manage. They are:

The Scope
The Budget
The Schedule

The general principle is that if one of these three parameters changes, then at least one of the other parameters will also need to change. In large complex projects, managing these changes in an orderly fashion can be very challenging and the project manager needs to come equipped with knowledge tools and routines to help ensure change is managed smoothly.

For example, if the client wants more things added to the project scope, this will likely mean that the budget and the schedule may need to be adjusted. On the other hand, if the client wants the schedule completed faster, then the PM needs to provide good advice on how this might be achieved by reducing the scope or by hiring more resources to work on the project, which would increase the budget.

There are many stories of projects that have gone wrong - IT implementations that ran years over schedule or development projects where completely the wrong thing was delivered. A conscious and structured approach --or methodology — to project management helps to assure that the right deliverables can be achieved on-time on-budget.

In Relation to Other Methodologies

There are a number of other well established project management methodologies available. Which one is best for you will depend on the specifics of your situation and the kinds of projects you expect to work on. The Priorities of the Active Project Management methodology are summarised in the following table:

ACTIVE PROJECT MANAGEMENT	Yes	No
Simplicity	Prepare to manage complex projects while keeping things as simple as possible	Avoid jargon, complex ideas and processes that are only understood by the PM and that confuse everyone else.
Billable Delivery Services	Focus on projects delivered using billable services where there is a very high level of focus on the right things being delivered, on-time on-budget.	Internal projects that are not formally defined and contracted are far less demanding from a project management point of view.
Cost and Convenience	Make it straightforward to get a project management qualification	Years of experience and endless courses are not necessary to grasp the key fundamentals of project management.
Pragmatism	Keep things practical, on a "what do I need to do next?" level.	Avoid a complex theoretical approach to the mostly pragmatic challenges faced by PMs.
Be Prescriptive	Typically, one generic, proven best practice is described. This may not be ideal for every project situation, but provides a solid foundation that can be adapted to suit your situation.	Avoid describing too many alternative approaches that may only confuse. It is better to know one method thoroughly rather than half-understand a dozen alternatives.

ACTIVE PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Yes

Simplicity

Prepare to manage complex projects while keeping things as simple as possible

Avoid jargon, complex ideas and processes that are only understood by the PM and that confuse everyone else.

Billable Delivery Services

Focus on projects delivered using billable services where there is a very high level of focus on the right things being delivered, on-time on-budget.

Internal projects that are not formally defined and contracted are far less demanding from a project management point of view.

Cost and Convenience

Make it straightforward to get a project management qualification

Years of experience and endless courses are not necessary to grasp the key fundamentals of project management.

Pragmatism

Keep things practical, on a "what do I need to do next?" level.

Avoid a complex theoretical approach to the mostly pragmatic challenges faced by PMs.

Be Prescriptive

Typically, one generic, proven best practice is described. This may not be ideal for every project situation, but provides a solid foundation that can be adapted to suit your situation.

Avoid describing too many alternative approaches that may only confuse. It is better to know one method thoroughly rather than half-understand a dozen alternatives.

The Method

There are three elements to Active Project Management:

Concepts and Practices: a number of key concepts and practices are fundamental to being a PM. If you understand these, project management is as easy as riding a bicycle — if you are able to do that. Like when riding a bicycle, if you do not have the basic abilities and follow the basic practices, it will be an extremely difficult and possibly painful experience.
Artefacts: The PM is usually responsible for some key documents and project plans. These are key to seeing that project expectations are managed and responsibilities are clear. Without good artefacts in place, a project is at serious risk of failure. What are these key artefacts and what needs to go in them?
Checklists: Checklists are provided to make the life of the PM easier, suggesting what needs to be done at each stage of the process. Checklists clarify the practices and processes and help ensure that nothing is missed.

The above three elements are then considered for six key stage in the overall project lifecycle:

A Sales
B Initiation
C Kick-off
D Scoping
E Execution
F Completion.

The Certification

Certification demonstrates to potential clients and employers that you are prepared to manage complex projects. To get certified, you need to do the following:

Register and pay the certification fee
Read the Active Project Management Book
Watch the recommended videos.
Take a series of online assessments. These are multiple choice / fill-in-the blank type tests to verify that you have understood the material. If you are successful you will be able to say that you Are Active Project Management Certified.

Full details of certification can be found at TheActivePM.com/certificate.

The Book

Full details of methodology are described in detail in the Active project Management Book. The book includes:

The Project Challenge: why are project often difficult?
Alternative Project Methodologies: Agile vs. Waterfall.
The Methodology: For each of the following stages, what are the key concepts and practices:

Full details of the book can be found here.