Understanding project management

Before diving into the first pillar, let’s take a quick look at how the pillars support each other, as illustrated in Figure 2.1:

Figure 2.1: The pillars of a TPM role

Project management is the foundation of our functional toolbox. Certifications like Project Management Professional (PMP) from the Project Management Institute (PMI) exemplify the components of this space. Though the definitions have changed over time, I like the visualization of the 7th edition of the Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBoK) guide, which uses management areas to describe and categorize the type of work that we do in project management. This is what I pull from when describing the key management areas that I cover in this book: project management, stakeholder management, and risk management. The skills learned at the project level are built upon as you manage multiple related projects in a program.

There is also a certification for program...