There is a key issue in the project management industry. What? Well, it is no secret that many projects can’t answer this important questions well; what value do you provide the organization?

I want to start a discussion on Organizational Project Management. What is that? There is momentum in the industry that somehow we should better align project work with the needs of the organization. Compare it to a bridge between project work and operations. Someone needs to be a toll keeper to monitor the traffic that gets to use this bridge.

And, by the way, who is responsible to be a toll keeper on this bridge? There could be a couple of answers:

- Project managers responsible for getting the work done.
- Program managers responsible for coordination among projects
- Portfolio managers responsible for intake of the projects and measurement of the health of the project work.
- Business managers responsible for the project funding decisions
- The organization that has to use project results.

Do you have any examples of great projects or great companies that have a clear definition of which of these groups should be the toll keepers for Organizational Project Management?

Oh, and by the way, do you even like the name Organizational Project Management?

Would love to hear from you