Managing the Project Environment

Abstract

Today’s technological disciplines responsible for new facility and infrastructural projets are now becoming seriously attuned to the idea of concern for the physical environment. Certainly, the projects managers of such projects need to be similarly aware or these concerns and manage their projects accordingly. This applies to both the project’s long term impacts arising out of the project’s conceptual formulation, as well as its shorter term construction impacts arising during execution.

However, today’s project manager also needs to be attuned to the cultural, organizational and social environments surrounding the project. Understanding this environment includes identifying the project stakeholders and their ability to affect its succesful outcome. This leads to the possibility of influencing this environment in a positive way, for the better reception of the change with the project is designed to intoduce.

Thus, the influencable risks involved may be significantly reduced, and failure to take such an approach will inevitably lead to a less than satisfactory outcome. This chapter discusses various aspects of the project environment, and suggests ways in which it may be influenced in order to increase the probability of a succesful outcome.