Project Management in Emergency Management | A Playbook
As an emergency manager, you already have a lot on your plate—planning initiatives underway, exercises in development, after-action reports to write, and improvement plans to complete. Learning how to manage projects well isn’t about adding another task—it’s about ensuring the work you’re already doing gets done.
When your preparedness projects are managed effectively, your team can respond faster, recover more quickly, and protect your community more effectively when disaster strikes.
Our step-by-step project management playbook is designed specifically for emergency managers, providing the structure and tools to keep preparedness projects on track and drive meaningful progress. With a clear roadmap tailored to your unique challenges, you can move from planning to execution with confidence—ensuring your efforts make the impact your community and organization need.
Take control of your projects. Better projects lead to better preparedness.
This Playbook is available to Academy subscribers (unless noted as a public article). Consider upgrading to a monthly or yearly subscription.
Table of Contents
Section 1 | Laying the Foundation
Chapter 1: Let’s Get One Thing Clear (Public Article)
Chapter 2: Why PM in EM Matters | Part 1
Chapter 3: Why PM in EM Matters | Part 2
Chapter 4: The Project Manager | Defined
Chapter 5: The Project Executive is Not the PM
Chapter 6: How to Use This Playbook
Bonus Chapter: PM in EM | A Career Accelerator (Public Article)
Prequel Section | Project Selection
Chapter 1: Strategic Capabilities and Scenario Planning
Chapter 2: How a “Project Management Office” Structure Can Improve How You Prepare
Chapter 3: Five Steps to Assess Your Capabilities and Programs (Public Article)
Chapter 4: Choosing the “Right” Type of Exercise
Chapter 5: Comprehensive Planning for Active Threat Incidents
Chapter 6: When to Build and When to Buy Your Capability Development
Section 2 | Project Kickoff
Chapter 1: So It Begins | Project Kickoff (Public Article)
Chapter 2: The Project Management Plan
Chapter 3: Defining “Done” | Setting Your Project Goals
Chapter 4: Designing the Project | Phases and Schedules
Chapter 5: Stakeholder Identification and Mapping
Chapter 6: Should I learn agile or waterfall approaches? Both
Chapter 7: Project reporting, check-ins, and progress
Chapter 8: Setting a budget
Chapter 9: The Project Kickoff Meeting
Project Kickoff Extras
Selecting a Tech Platform (or not)
Forming (and Briefing) the Project Team
Debriefing the Kickoff Phase
Section 3 | Managing the Project
Chapter 1: Getting The Job Done (Public Article)
Chapter 2: Learning, Discovery, and Analysis
Chapter 3: Standing on the Shoulders of Giants | The Document Review
Chapter 4: From “On Paper” to “In Practice” | Initial Stakeholder Interviews
Stakeholder Engagement: Product Examples
Additional topics and chapters to come
Bonus Chapter | How the Shape of Your Preparedness Cycle Impacts Your Readiness (Public Article)
Section 4 | Closing out the Project
Topics and chapters to come
Section 5 | In Closing
Topics and chapters to come