7 Frameworks for Project Management Success

By Stephen Alfano, CSM

Successful project management starts with organization. More than just a set of lists and timelines, though, a strategic framework is critical. Consisting of a thoughtful collection of tasks, processes, tools, and templates, the right framework can help kickoff, plan, execute, control, monitor, and close project activities throughout the management life-cycle. A framework most often breaks down into phases on both a micro and macro scale, and can include templates and checklists, activities, roles and responsibilities, training material, and work guidelines. The pertinent project management information follows a systematic structure which offers project stakeholders, managers, and planners an organized view of the path to success. 

Experienced project managers and planners will use different frameworks to facilitate, forecast, and finalize a project. Perhaps more important, project managers and planners will also deploy different versions or views of their frameworks depending on the audience or stakeholder conducting a review. For example, a project sponsor may only wish to see high-level tables filled with milestones and key deliverables, whereas the project manager will need to see all of the dependent variables and activities that lead up to and proceed beyond those milestones and deliverables.

So, which project management frameworks work best? Simply put, it’s those frameworks that help guide and govern a project most efficiently and effectively throughout the management life-cycle. Below you’ll find links to seven examples that should give you the insight and inspiration you’ll need to craft the right framework for your next project.

1. Project Management Templates via via ProjectManagement.com
2. What is a Project Management Framework? via Parallel Project Training
3. Ethical Decision-Making Framework via Project Management Institute
4. Identifying and Structuring Problems  via Skills You Need
5. Decision-Making Frameworks via University of Washington, Seattle
6. A Leader’s Framework for Decision Making via Harvard Business Review
7. Business Process Improvement Framework and Representational Support via Univ. of Magdeburg, Germany

About the Author: Stephen Alfano is Certified ScrumMaster® (CSM), Organizational Change Management Consultant and Communications Expert. He has 30 years of experience leading and managing internal and external program initiatives for both private and public-sector clients. His résumé includes providing both new business and business process improvement services to Apple, American Express, AT&T, California Department of Transportation, Chevron, Entergy, Levi Strauss & Co., Louisiana Office of Tourism, Mattel, Microsoft, Novell, SONY, Sutter Health, and Wells Fargo. Stephen currently works as Marketing and Communications Manager for KAI Partners, Inc., spearheading business development and leading the firm’s marketing and communications practice and line of business.