In July of this year, PMI’s Research and Education Conference was held in Limerick, Ireland where both academics and practitioners assembled to hear about the recent research and current trends in the industry. Dr. Barbara Edington was a collaborator on a paper with lead author Dr. Thomas Lechler entitled, “Exploring Contextual Conditions of Project Uncertainties and Project Value Opportunities.

One of the practical takeaways from the research on uncertainties and opportunities include a new perspective on the definition of risk. Risk and uncertainty are often used interchangeably when they actually represent quite different circumstances which require different responses. Uncertainty is an unknown-unknown that is impossible to predict and therefore impossible to plan for in regards to contingencies. You can’t develop a Plan B when you are unaware of the existence of an event.

Dr. Lechler, Keynote presenter at the Center’s Inaugural Practical Research Forum, authored another paper entitled “Explaining Project Success with Client Expectation Alignment: An Empirical Study,” which he presented with Ting Gao. This presentation drew a large audience interested in the importance of maintaining communication with clients and stakeholders to assure that expectations are met particularly under dynamic environment conditions which may impact the outcomes of the project.