DrLouis Taborda

As project-based work becomes increasingly common, both within organisations and across society more generally, traditional top-down managerial control is giving way to collaborative execution by smaller, self-organising teams. That can be liberating for project teams but it comes with a new set of governance challenges.

Dr Louis Taborda's research primarily examines the scalability and effectiveness of strategic portfolio management practices in dynamic, multi-project environments characterised by conflicting stakeholder priorities. With 25+ years of global industry experience, he has worked across the project lifecycle, championing the adoption of best practices and supporting technologies.

"Everyone is working on one or more projects these days. We're all so busy with meetings and hitting deadlines that we have difficulty seeing the 'bigger picture' we're working towards. In many cases, even our 'bosses' lose sight of the broader strategic perspective, and instead find themselves managing reactively.

"My research looks at strategic execution, or how we can maintain 'strategic coherence' while delivering a project portfolio from definition through to delivery - in spite of the changes that can be expected along the way. We tend to think that maintaining such coherence requires management control and governance, but adopting appropriate project support technologies together with lean and agile approaches that encourage self-organisation can sometimes be just as effective.

"Certainly, we know that implementing top-down changes often faces resistance. I've seen major, well-intentioned 'best practice' programs stall, while smaller, collaborative initiatives find success without any formal management sanction. Knowing where and when to apply the differing management approaches is key to success, because there's no one-size-fits-all answer to delivering change.

"The ultimate aim of my research is to help organisations achieve their business outcomes through highly motivated and empowered individuals guided by 'just enough' governance to ensure their work aligns with strategy."