Saturday, September 29, 2012

The Value of a Delivered Project

Recently, someone told me that a project must have value, or as I interpreted it, value that is understood and communicated to management.  In saying that, I can also say that what is missing in many projects is the understood and communicated value of a project.  The Project Manager (PM) MUST communicate the value of the project to the team. If this does not occur, then the direction of the project team will be all over the place, unfocused, and unmotivated.
What is “Value?”
I could be smart and say that value is in the eyes of the beholder. The question really is: What is the strategic value of the project? If the project team cannot understand this or communicate it as well as the PM, there is trouble on that team and the delivery of the project may be in jeopardy. It is critical that the value of the project comes from a strategic vision and that vision must be delivered by the project team. If that occurs, no matter how “small” the project may be the value of the project and the team delivering the project will be appreciated by the organization’s strategic team.
Value is determined not only by the project team, but most importantly, senior management. The PM’s job, as well as that of the project team, is to deliver what is expected. No less and no more (ie, no scope creep). Remember this statement, “no surprises.” If the project team delivers exactly what is expected, then the value of the project is delivered.
Communicate the success
Now, just because the project team delivered the strategic project on time, within budget, and within scope, it does not mean that senior management will notice or even say thank you. In my past blog posts, I have stated that the PM must communicate with all parties: the project team, the sponsor, and senior management. In the past, most would suggest that this would ensure that all news, especially bad news, is known and not a surprise. Well, this holds true for the good news of a delivered strategic project, especially the value of it. The PM must be the key person in delivering this message of success.

I am open to discussion at any time on these blogs or anything else related to project management you would like to explore. If you would like to comment about this blog, please do so by posting on this blog or by responding in an email at Benny A. Recine.You may inspire a blog article. I look forward to your comments.


Posted by Benny A. Recine at 12:23 PM

2 comments:

  1. The value of a project, e.g. the benefits, can be a very difficult thing to quantify. In my organization we hold business sponsors accountable for benefits, but often it becomes the IT PM who is responsible for articulating them before the project is funded, and business sponsors a;most always seem to dropthe ball after the project delivered. All in all, this is a difficult subject.

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  2. It comes down to this; the project was "sold" on some promise it would deliver a benefit to the business. Unless you can demonstrate that what was promised was delivered, whether increased speed or incremental sales, you cannot prove the value was delivered. Merely competing the project on time, as the author suggest, does not deliver value.

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