Don Sutherland

Don Sutherland is a veteran project manager with over 30 years of experience leading large-scale projects in the industrial, energy, and oil sectors. His career includes a decade of service at NASA, where he managed complex, high-stakes engineering initiatives with cross-disciplinary teams. Don brings deep expertise in risk management, systems integration, and project execution under extreme conditions. His practical, no-nonsense approach to project management is grounded in decades of real-world experience. Don is also a regular contributor to forpm.net, where he shares hard-earned lessons and insights for professionals managing mission-critical projects.

Killing the Zombie Projects

Killing the Zombie Projects – How PMOs Can Identify and Stop Work That Delivers No Value

PMO / /

Every PMO I’ve ever run has had to deal with them. They don’t moan, they don’t bite, but they will quietly eat your budget alive. I’m talking about zombie projects—initiatives that shuffle along, never really dying, never really delivering, but consuming resources as if they were headed for glory. They show up on portfolio reports […]

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Why Stakeholder Trust Is the PMO’s Real KPI

Why Stakeholder Trust Is the PMO’s Real KPI – And How to Build It When It’s Already Been Lost

PMO / /

I’ve delivered PMOs in high-pressure environments—mergers, government programs, billion-dollar infrastructure builds—and I can tell you this: you can have the slickest reporting dashboards, the tightest processes, and the most polished templates in the world, but if your stakeholders don’t trust you, none of it matters. Trust isn’t a “soft” KPI. It’s the KPI. Without it, the PMO

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Sustainability and ESG Integration in Projects

Integration / /

Building Future-Proof Projects that Deliver Value Beyond the Bottom Line Sustainability isn’t just a buzzword anymore. It’s a business imperative. From regulatory pressure and investor expectations to brand reputation and customer demand, organizations today are being held to a higher standard—not just in what they deliver, but in how they deliver it. That’s why integrating sustainability and ESG (Environmental, Social,

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Lessons from the Field: Applying PDCA in Project Quality Control

Lessons from the Field: Applying PDCA in Project Quality Control

Quality / /

I’ve lost count of how many projects I’ve seen where quality control was treated as a final gate—something you “do” once deliverables are complete. That mindset is a recipe for rework, budget bleed, and unhappy stakeholders. In the trenches, quality control works best when it’s continuous—and that’s where the PDCA cycle (Plan–Do–Check–Act) earns its keep. While PDCA is

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The Best Practices of Managing a Project Management Office

The Best Practices of Managing a Project Management Office

PMO / /

A well-managed Project Management Office (PMO) is the backbone of successful project execution, portfolio alignment, and strategic delivery. Yet, many PMOs struggle with unclear roles, insufficient executive support, or low adoption. To achieve tangible value, a PMO must be strategically positioned, operationally efficient, and culturally integrated. This article outlines the best practices of managing a PMO,

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Seven Common Pitfalls in Quality Assurance—and How to Avoid Them

Seven Common Pitfalls in Quality Assurance—and How to Avoid Them

Quality / /

Quality Assurance (QA) is one of those areas where theory and practice often part ways. On paper, QA is clean, procedural, and predictable. In the field, it’s messy—full of shortcuts, misunderstandings, and the occasional “we’ll fix it later” that never gets fixed. Over my years running PMOs and watching projects stumble, I’ve seen the same

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10 Mistakes to Avoid When Implementing a PMIS

10 Mistakes to Avoid When Implementing a PMIS

PMIS / /

Implementing a Project Management Information System (PMIS) is a major investment that can transform project delivery and strategic execution. But poor implementation can lead to frustration, wasted resources, and even project failure. Below are the 10 most common mistakes organizations make when implementing a PMIS — along with their causes, consequences, fixes, and prevention strategies. 1. Lack of Clear Objectives

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Drum-Buffer-Rope Scheduling in Hybrid Agile-Waterfall Projects

Drum-Buffer-Rope Scheduling in Hybrid Agile-Waterfall Projects

Schedule / /

A Tale of Two Speeds Back in 2019, I was managing a data integration initiative for our upstream systems. The field hardware team ran on waterfall — rigid specs, fixed milestones. Meanwhile, the software team back in Houston was using Agile — sprints, demos, and standups. Between them? Weeks of misalignment, idle time, and a

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