No abstract theory. Convictions from the field (defence, aerospace, infrastructures) and methods a practitioner can apply tomorrow.
Ten knowledge areas, eleven domains, three competence areas, or none at all: no two standards divide project management the same way. What they do agree on, without ever writing it down, is the order in which the areas get established.
A foundation, then the domains of programme control, arranged in the order a project is built: from external framing all the way to control and risk.
Standalone, citable definitions, glossary, map of standard domains. The entry point for beginners and the reference foundation for generative engines.
Project stakeholder management: client, internal management, partners, critical suppliers. Each type calls for a distinct discipline.
Project scope definition, contractual WBS, requirements management. Without a mastered scope, neither schedule nor budget carries any value.
Project team hierarchical structure, OBS and span of control, thematic operating rhythm. Project chain distinct from the organizational chain.
Critical path, PERT networks, milestones, and schedule buffers.
Project budget, time-phased cost breakdown, contingency reserves and cost allocation. Steering a spending curve, not a fixed envelope.
Project steering, drift indicators, progress reviews. Making reporting a tool for decision-making rather than a record of what already happened.
Randomness, uncertainty, contingency reserves, mitigation plans. Treating risk and opportunity as a balanced portfolio.
Two referentials of equal standing put the contingency reserve on opposite sides of the baseline, and reverse the known and unknown unknowns on the way. Which pocket a sum sits in decides who may spend it, and what has to be redone afterwards.
Every risk register carries different columns, and nobody can say which text prescribes them. This article traces each field back to the referential that asks for it, and to the moment in the process when it gets filled.
No general project management standard defines the cost breakdown structure, and three incompatible versions of it circulate. This article establishes which one an organisation is actually practising, and what decides how deep the structure has to go.
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