A successful project manager knows how the organization approaches the planning process

A successful project is often determined by how an organization approaches the planning process and how it obtains its fundamental view of planning in general. This chapter excerpt from The Art of Project Management, by Scott Berkun explains how an organization can figure out what its view of planning should be.

Before you can decide how to do something you first have to figure out what it is you want to do. For many organizations, figuring out how the actual planning will be accomplished at the enterprise level should be established before the various pieces of the organization start to formulate plans that involve the actual building of products or systems. This is a step that too many organizations fail to implement, which results in failed or marginally successful projects and general frustration. This is the argument made in this download chapter excerpt from The Art of Project Management, by Scott Berkun. The fundamental planning process must integrate the contributions offered from these three perspectives:

• The business perspective
• The technology perspective
• The customer perspective

Title: The Art of Project Management
Author: By Scott Berkun
Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Chapter 3: How to figure out what to do
ISBN: 0-596-00786-8; First Edition April 2005; Copyright 2005
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In your experience, what is the most important determining factor in a successful project?