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B

rad had not been a project manager very long before he

realized that he wasn’t functioning in a vacuum. And as

we’ve continually discovered through our observations of Brad,

there are manyinterfaces between him and his surroundings

and between Project Apex and its “surroundings.” Some are

people; some aren’t. In some cases, the interfaces are obvious;

in other cases, they’re not so obvious. What Brad has quickly

come to realize, though, is that nearly every interface has the

ability to affect him and his project—some of them significantly.

You will be in exactly the same situation with your project.

One of the most important things you can do as a project man-

ager is recognize that interfaces are a big part of project life.

Your project—just like Project Apex—will not exist in a vacuum.

And, of course, just like Brad, neither will you as the project

manager.

Some interfaces you’ll encounter may be capable of exerting

more influence on your project than even you and your team

can—if you don’t handle them properly. Learning how to recog-

Managing the

Project Interfaces

10

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