Toward Sustainable Project Management Practices: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic Using the Most Significant Change Method

Alejandro Romero-Torres (), Marie-Pierre Leroux, Marie-Douce Primeau, Julie Delisle and Thibaut Coulon
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Alejandro Romero-Torres: Department of Management, ESG UQAM, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC H3C 3P8, Canada
Marie-Pierre Leroux: Department of Management, ESG UQAM, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC H3C 3P8, Canada
Marie-Douce Primeau: École de Santé Publique, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC H3N 1X9, Canada
Julie Delisle: Department of Management, ESG UQAM, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC H3C 3P8, Canada
Thibaut Coulon: Department of Management, ESG UQAM, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC H3C 3P8, Canada

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 13, 1-17

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic prompted a major shift in project management practices, offering a unique opportunity to assess organizational resilience and sustainability. This study explores how project professionals in Quebec adapted to the early months of the pandemic, focusing on emergent practices in communication, decision making, stakeholder engagement, resource management, and scheduling. Using the most significant change (MSC) method, we collected and analyzed 114 stories from practitioners operating at both strategic and operational levels across multiple sectors. The findings reveal how project contributors reconfigured their practices to sustain value delivery amid disruption—adopting digital tools, modifying governance structures, and redefining engagement strategies. Operational contributors showed greater adaptability, while strategic actors experienced challenges with control and oversight. These stories illustrate not only reactive adaptations but also the foundations of more resilient and sustainable governance frameworks. By surfacing lived experiences and perceptions, this research contributes methodologically through its use of MSC and conceptually by linking crisis response with long-term sustainability in project contexts. Our study invites reflection on how temporary adaptations may evolve into embedded practices, reinforcing the interconnection between adaptability, resilience, and sustainability in the governance of project-based organizations.

Keywords: resilience; project sustainability; adaptative capacity; project management practices; most significant change; COVID-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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