One of the most popular posts on one of the most popular Linked-In groups consists of the following exhortation: “Describe Project Management in three words!”

It seems to trivialize the profession, and yet … sometimes I feel like I do in fact have to describe project management in three words. When I do, those words are “Agree, Align, Advance.”

1. Agree with key decision makers on the objectives of the project and how you’ll be able to tell when those objectives have been met.
2. Align everyone with how you’re going to achieve the objectives.
3. Advance the project forward, while maintaining Agreement and Alignment.

I can’t tell you how many projects – including improvement initiatives – I’ve seen fail to achieve what they should due to lack of ongoing agreement and alignment. That’s why these three steps are a cornerstone to our ProChain Operating System and to our associated critical chain implementation processes.

In order to help describe our operating system, we’ve made the as-yet-unpublished ProChain Video Series available to you on our Manifesto Resources page, along with a summary document that contains links to each of the videos. The videos are my attempt to explain how the Agree, Align, and Advance steps work and why they’re important. Have I succeeded? I’d be interested in your feedback; please feel free to post comments here, or on YouTube with the videos.

Please stay tuned for more on this important topic.