Projects Must Deliver Benefits
Rosemary Hossenlopp, founder of Project Management Perspectives is the facilitator of an audio series by key project management professionals on what Business Leaders must understand about accelerating execution of strategy through project work.
She interviews Jim Sloane, a Silicon Valley based OPM3 Certified consultant and PMP, and owner of his consulting and training company, Project Management Explorations.
The project management industry is facing challenges. One of them is showing that we actually deliver benefits to the business
Click here to listen to the interview. Approx 6 minutes.
What’s the story behind your interest in Projects Must Deliver Benefits.
Jim explains that there is a gap between what executives expect and what project managers deliver. So a conversation needs to start between these organization roles, that identifies the common and not so common ground. Mostly the ‘not so common ground’.
Improvement needed in alignment between projects and operations.
- Getting alignment between projects and organizational strategy is a must, and can be accomplished by implementing processes that assure the project supports the organization strategy for business improvements.
- People management and change management are also important to achieve this important goal.
- Technology plays an important role too.
- The fly in the ointment is the changing nature of organizations and projects. Sometimes the business benefits are a moving target.
Understanding the benefits that projects produce is difficult. Any suggestions?
- I think the business case for the project must be clear about the intended benefits. This information must be in the charter for the project so the project lead is aware and understands the importance of the project.
- There must also be periodic reviews of the described benefit with operational people, to assure continued alignment between the project and the business benefit.
- Research I am doing indicates this focus is new to the project manager, and its importance is new to executives!
- So it looks like some information exchange between PMs and executives is in order. This will require some training of both roles, but I expect more for the PM, who has to learn the ‘language’ of business and effective ways to relate to the business.
How To improve information exchange between projects and executives
- Improving formalization of organizational benefits is required.
- Program management processes take into account governance and operations:
Corporate strategy
Delivery mechanisms for change (projects)
Business operations
Benefits management
- Formal portfolio management would achieve the same goal.
Senior leaders must work with project teams to create a more formal way of ensuring that projects deliver benefits.
Tags: Benefit Research, Business Benefit, Business Benefits, Business Case, Business Improvements, Common Ground, Fly In The Ointment, Ground Improvement, Key Project, Management Perspectives, Moving Target, Organization Roles, Organization Strategy, Organizational Strategy, Pmp, Project Management Industry, Project Management Professionals, Project Managers, Silicon Valley, Sloane
