Abstract
Driven by substantial professionalisation, its complex nature and its uncertainties, project
management has become a more recognised contributing factor to organisational success. The
adaptability to project solutions is not always straightforward, which can lead to a project
experiencing unfavourable adverse events. Although projects have been executed successfully
for many years, project management is faced with increased pressures, due to its recognition
and professionalisation, to deal with unfavourable events. These increased project demands
warrant an evaluation of how to deal with and prepare for disruptions in a project environment.
Resilience in project management is identified as a proactive mechanism to deal with disruptive
events as it can aid in the preparation for adversity and inherently improve recovery. An
integrated literature review of international publications highlights a rich body of knowledge
on resilience and how it is viewed. These views extend over a range of organisational, team,
individual, social, economic and environmental resilience. Limited information, however, is
available on how these types of resilience can be integrated into managing resilience in
projects.
This research contributes to the management of projects by proposing a functional project
resilience model that identifies characteristics of being resilient, categorising them and
supporting the selection and development of project resources against these characteristics.
This model can be used by project managers to select suitable resources for a specific task or
project in general. In existing projects, the resources can be evaluated to determine their
adaptability and development against current or future adversities.
The project resilience model was applied to a casebook scenario, with the aim to explore its
functionality and to highlight the dynamic relationship between theory and practice.
Implementing practical response strategies to foster characteristics for being resilient facilitates
the process when preparing for adversity. It provides an understanding of how the skills,
perspectives and capabilities of resources contribute to the overall resilience of a project.