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Governance frameworks, project plans, and status dashboards often take center stage in conversations about program and project management. They create structure, enable visibility, and provide leaders with a sense of control. But anyone who has ever shepherded a complex initiative from inception through delivery knows the deeper truth: no process can compensate for unresolved human dynamics.
Projects rarely stall because a template was missing or a RACI was unclear. They stall because people feel overwhelmed, unheard, fearful, frustrated, resistant, or disconnected from purpose.
The human side of project management is not optional. It’s the engine.
When Structure Exists but Progress Doesn’t
In my work with organizations going through transformation, I’ve seen highly governed programs hit walls that no additional structure could fix. One example stays with me because it fundamentally reshaped how I approach leadership.
I inherited an HCM program that was more than a year behind schedule and had blown past key deadlines twice. The governance model was textbook perfect: steering committees, workstream leads, decision logs, risk registers – you name it, we had it. On paper, everything looked right. Yet every time the team seemed ready to turn a corner, progress stalled.
It would have been easy to
