You may have heard this before: “I know how to use Microsoft Project; I must be able to be a project manager.” It is a scary thought, but for some would-be project managers, this is their concept of project management.

If you are an experienced project practitioner you may be asked at some point, ”What are the key things that a project manager should do in order to be successful?” There is no one-line, simple answer to this question. Success depends on many factors, including the organisation for which you work, the power granted or bestowed on the project manager, the responsibilities they are given on their project, and other influencing criteria. Having said that, we have found over the years that there do exist certain factors which, when done well, usually influence success. Let us elaborate.

There are many aspects involved in successful project and program management: Hard work, experience, good teamwork, solid processes and work practices, having good tools with which to work, adopting and displaying the right behaviours… the list could go on. This article focuses on two aspects of project/program management – the processes and the tools we use as program and project managers –- and asks: What comes first –- the process or the tool?