Project Management Should Remove Walls and Build Bridges
Interview with Jean-Luc FAVROT
Executive Advisor, Coach, International Speaker
Tahiti, French Polynesia
Interviewed by Spring
Journalist, Project Management Review: PMR (China)
International Correspondent, PM World Journal
Introduction to the interviewee
Jean-Luc FAVROT is an executive consultant, coach, trainer, and international speaker in the field of agility, innovation, and project management. Currently based in Tahiti, French Polynesia, South Pacific, he travels the world regularly, either virtually or physically.
His career path has allowed him to hold responsibilities in large public and private organizations, and to create companies specializing in agile and digital transformation in Europe and Oceania.
He is one of the co-authors of the PMBOK Guide 7th edition (development team), and he is currently pursuing his commitment through the contribution to the strategy and content of the PMI Standards+ digital platform.
Interview
Q1. What are the major differences between the PMBOK Guide（7th edition) and the previous editions?
Jean-Luc FAVROT: First of all, there is a fundamental shift from a process-based standard to a principle-based standard. Project are intended to deliver outcomes and value, by people and for people, in a VUCA world. The 12 project management principles focus on mindset, and they are complemented by 8 project performance domains. A project performance domain is a group of related activities that are critical for the effective delivery of project outcomes. There is also a section on Models, Methods and Artifacts, and another one on Tailoring.
I would add that the audience is not limited to project managers. Any other stakeholder of a project may be interested in the 7th edition, regardless of their role (team member, sponsor, product owner, etc.). Moreover, the 7th edition covers the entire spectrum of approaches (predictive, adaptive, hybrid).
Q2. Compared with the previous editions, the PMBOK Guide（7th edition) is a breakthrough innovation. Do you agree? What do you think are the driving factors behind the innovation?
FAVROT: I think it’s both a return to the essence of project management, and a projection into the future. The PMBOK Guide became thicker and thicker with each successive edition. The content was very rich but difficult to read. Even though it was possible to see a form of agility (for example with the practice of Rolling Wave Planning), the PMBOK Guide was historically mainly linked to the Waterfall approach, so some people tended to think wrongly that project management and Waterfall were the same thing. I still see this mistake in some people who only specialize in agile approaches. Some of these people tend to caricature and denigrate project managers as if they all were micro-managers, only focused on outputs without considering outcomes or value.
More…
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Editor’s note: This interview was first published in PMR, Project Management Review magazine, China. It is republished here with the permission of PMR. The PM World Journal maintains a cooperative relationship with PMR, periodically republishing works from each other’s publications. To see the original interview with Chinese introduction, visit PMR at http://www.pmreview.com.cn/english/
How to cite this interview: PMR (2022). Project Management Should Remove Walls and Build Bridges: Interview with Jean-Luc FAVROT; Project Management Review; republished in the PM World Journal, Vol. XI, Issue V, May. Available online at https://pmworldlibrary.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/pmwj117-May2022-Yanjuan-Interview-with-Jean-Luc-Favrot.pdf
About the Interviewer
Spring
Beijing, China
Spring (English name), Bachelor’s Degree, graduated from the English Department of Beijing International Studies University (BISU) in China. She is now an English-language journalist and editor working for Project Management Review (PMR) Magazine and website. She has interviewed over sixty top experts in the field of project management. Before joining PMR, she once worked as a journalist and editor for other media platforms in China. She has also worked part-time as an English teacher in training centers in Beijing. Beginning in January 2020, Spring also serves as an international correspondent for the PM World Journal.
For work contact, she can be reached via email yuyanjuan2005@163.com or LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/yanjuanyu-76b280151/.
To view other works by Spring, visit her author showcase in the PM World Library at https://pmworldlibrary.net/authors/yu-yanjuan/
