Project management discipline:

A good project management discipline will not eliminate all risks, issues and surprises, other than will give standard processes and procedures to deal with them and help prevent the following:

1.   projects finishing late, exceeding budget or not meeting customer expectations;

2.   Inconsistency between the processes and procedures used by projects managers, leading to a few being favored more than others;

3.   Successful projects, despite lack of planning, achieved by high stress levels, goodwill and important amounts of overtime;

4.   Project management seen as not adding value and as a waste of time and money;

5.   Unforeseen internal or external events impacting the project.

In sum, project management is about creating an environment and conditions in which a defined goal or objective can be achieved in a controlled manner by a team of people.