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This book provides a 360-degree view of principles and shows how they are fundamental to an organization. It includes governing the organization (organizational governance) and setting the foundations for portfolio, program, and project management.
It explains how principles relate to codes of behavior, culture, values, bias, and consequences and provides the reader with knowledge of cause and effect. A detailed methodology, evolved over five years, is provided on selecting the principle types to increase the likelihood of a portfolio, program, and project achieving their objectives while reducing the impact of PPM challenges and systemic issues in the organization.
With this knowledge, the reader can follow the reasoning and insights into the international standards, methodologies, and stated principles regarding structure, scope, and applicability. They can apply the concepts in the book on how to increase the impact of the principles of international standards and then adopt the relevant principles.
The appendices contain a catalog of principles with descriptions, which will help the reader select the most impactful principles for their environment.
Rating: 7.7 – Organizational, Portfolio, Program, and Project Principles by Dr. Robert Joslin and Prof. Ralf Müller offers practical insights into organizational, portfolio, program, and project management principles, making it especially beneficial for organizations establishing such practices from scratch. The challenge lies in integrating the book’s guidance for those already using established frameworks. While it compares principles across methodologies and provides a ten-step process for principle selection, the descriptions remain high-level. Expanding these steps with actionable templates would significantly enhance their usability. The innovative principle-selection model, shared with its companion book on PMO principles, is another standout feature.
The book emphasizes the importance of aligning principles across organizational layers, including governance, portfolio, program, and project management. Its exploration of shared principles highlights the need for consistency when selecting project, program, and portfolio management methodologies, ensuring harmony and avoiding conflicts.
Although the book provides comprehensive case studies and examples backed by robust research, it occasionally underrepresents specific perspectives or situations. The inclusion of a broader range of scenarios would deepen its insights. Agile methodologies receive limited treatment, and frameworks such as AgilePfM, AgilePgM, SAFe, and LeSS could have enriched the discussion on agility. Despite this, the book advocates a hybrid approach, blending frameworks and principles to suit specific project needs.
Authors Dr. Robert Joslin and Prof. Ralf Müller, renowned for their contributions to PMO and project management, deliver academically rigorous and practically oriented work. Their expertise, supported by extensive publications and active community engagement, enhances the book’s credibility. The four-page references section attests to the thorough research underpinning this work.
The book’s visuals—charts, tables, and graphs—are aesthetically pleasing and effectively illustrate the content. Tips, definitions, and insights are thoughtfully highlighted, aiding reader comprehension. While Appendix A could benefit from more engaging content, the book provides an invaluable resource for understanding and applying principles in modern management.
The book is visually engaging and professionally designed, with its layout and cover art reflecting the essence of its content. The cover’s “puzzle” motif, composed of icons representing the principles explored within, highlights the interconnectedness of these concepts, culminating in an alignment icon that underscores its significance. A balanced use of purple, yellow, and pink shades enhances section headings, page numbers, and tables, though yellow table titles can be challenging to read. Lightweight and easy to carry, the book maintains consistent formatting across platforms, including Kindle, ensuring a seamless reading experience.
The book is professionally published with a visually appealing layout. The cover design captures the book’s essence well, focusing on the “puzzle” made of icons representing some of the principles tackled in the book. The puzzle representation shows that all the principles work together. The last icon is added to the ‘puzzle’ representing alignment, showing how essential this principle is. The balanced use of shades of purple, yellow, and pink to highlight section headings, page numbers, and table borders and the proper use of white spaces on each page facilitate swift and effortless engagement with the text. Only the yellow table titles are difficult to read. The paper quality is good, and the book is lightweight and easy to carry. Formatted consistently and optimized for Kindle, the book facilitates a smooth and captivating reading journey across various platforms.
Using principles in Portfolio, Program, or Project management frameworks or methodologies isn’t new. Many are based on principles. This book helps to understand and increase the usage of these principles in those known frameworks and methodologies. It also shows that organizational, portfolio, program, and project principles must be aligned and in sync. This book does not currently include principles related to the impact of AI on PPM but these principles should be considered for inclusion in the next edition.
The book is well structured and follows a logical sequence to deliver the message of how to apply principles at the levels of organizational governance, shared principles across portfolio, program, and project, and specific principles for portfolio, program, and project management.
Upon reviewing the chapter on international principle-based methodologies, it seems that agile methodologies are somewhat underrated. With over 100 different agile frameworks and approaches available, the initial explanation of the Agile Manifesto and its twelve underlying principles appears somewhat cursory. This is called Agile 1, noting a revised version, Agile 2. However, Agile 2 is not widely recognized internationally. It’s curious why the chapter does not consider the frameworks from the Agile Business Consortium, which include AgilePfM (with five principles), AgilePgM (with five principles), and AgilePM (with five principles), or other well-established frameworks like SAFe or LeSS with their principles.
On the flip side, it’s acknowledged that agile methodologies, much like prescriptive methods, are not a one-size-fits-all solution. A more hybrid approach, favoring a blend of frameworks and techniques tailored to the project’s specific needs, is often more advantageous. This adaptability underscores the benefits of adopting a principles-based approach, allowing for flexibility and customization in project management practices.
The book provides clear definitions of key terms such as principle, value, ethics, culture, and more before delving into the details of each topic. This approach enhances reader comprehension and facilitates better understanding. The book maintains reader engagement through its appropriate language and compelling content, ensuring consistent interest as readers eagerly progress through its pages. Overall, the book captures the reader’s interest, although occasional dull moments occur (e.g., Appendix A is very monotonous and may lose the reader as he goes through it.).
The book provides valuable insights into principles relevant to organizational, portfolio, program, and project management, making it particularly beneficial for those starting from scratch to establish these practices. However, many organizations already use established frameworks or methodologies, raising the key question of integrating the book’s guidance with existing approaches.
While a chapter compares principles across methodologies, it lacks the specific guidance necessary for practical integration. Although Chapter 10 outlines ten steps for selecting and applying principles, the descriptions remain high-level. There is significant potential to break down these steps further and include actionable templates or tools in an appendix, enhancing their usability and ensuring practical application.
The model to select principles based on the entity challenges and systematic issues is revolutionary but also part of the sister book PMO Principles and PMO Services Principles. The usage of principles in portfolio, program, and project management isn’t new, but this book could be used to challenge the principles used by those frameworks or methodologies. The shared principles make it clear that if you select a project management methodology, you could better select the related program and portfolio management methodology, too; otherwise, you could have conflicting or unaligned principles.
The book highlights relevant case studies and examples, underpinned by robust research, across the different chapters to support the theoretical part. These help enrich the reader’s understanding and engagement.
However, certain perspectives or situations could have been more thoroughly represented, which would have helped provide even deeper insight into the concepts. With a well-balanced selection of current references, the book demonstrates thorough research and a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter.
Authors Dr. Robert Joslin and Prof. Ralf Müller are well-known internationally and highly credible. They are leading authorities in the fields of PMO and project management, having developed and designed enterprise PMOs using various frameworks, including AIPMO’s Strategic Framework for PMOs and Portfolios, Programs, and Projects.
On the academic front, both have published several books, book chapters, and research papers on PMOs, leadership, projects, programs, and portfolio management. Furthermore, they are extremely influential in the educational field, providing training courses and postgraduate teaching, including doctorate supervision.
They actively engage with the community and readers, demonstrating influence and visibility. Additionally, their presence on social media platforms contributes to field discussions, further showcasing their impact and influence.
This book is highly useful in several aspects, offering valuable perspectives on foundational topics, practical tips, and actionable insights. However, despite addressing important and discussion-worthy educational topics, the book sometimes exhibits gaps in coverage, which may limit its effectiveness in providing a robust discourse and a comprehensive learning experience. Nonetheless, readers can still foster meaningful personal growth by engaging with its varied perspectives and implementing its practical advice.
The book is well-researched, drawing from various academic journals and other sources for reference. It includes a comprehensive four-page references section at the end, listing all sources utilized throughout the writing process. With a well-balanced selection of current references, the book demonstrates thorough research and a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter.
The visuals are highly relevant and effectively represent the content. Furthermore, they are engaging and aesthetically pleasing, enhancing the overall presentation. There is a well-balanced use of tables and graphs, and they are all well-integrated into the contents of each chapter. The consistent use of shades of purple, yellow, and pink in the charts, tables, and graphs provides an engaging reading experience. Each chapter also includes dedicated sections for important tips, definitions, and insights, surrounded by white spaces. These are distributed nicely across all chapters to highlight critical information that the reader should be aware of, which helps improve the reader’s comprehension and engagement with the material.