Are you doing the right projects?

Blog post series
Do the right thing - Blog #1

The future of successful project management involves doing the right projects - not just doing projects right. But how can we tell if we’re working on the right projects? And how do we ensure the right people have the right information to make the right decisions about projects?

Project management challenges cost businesses $109 million for every $1 billion invested in a project - PMI's Pulse of the Profession 

Effective project management 

An effective project organization focuses their limited resources on the ‘right’ projects, declining to work on projects that are poorly aligned with their strategic goals.

Sounds easy, but for complex organizations, choosing the ‘right’ projects can be a hidden challenge. How do you ensure that your next project supports your broader goals and pushes your organization forward? How do you prioritize your efforts to achieve the greatest impact?

“High-performing organizations successfully complete 89% of projects, while low performers only complete 36% successfully. Low performers waste nearly 12 times more resources than high-performing organizations.”

Portfolio alignment 

The goal of any high performing organization is to align their Capital Investment Portfolio to strategy (doing the right projects) and have the people, processes, and tools to execute efficiently and effectively (doing projects right).

Increase productivity and reduce costs, right?

However, it’s not uncommon to hear of successful projects being delivered that add little or no value to the business - they may produce the required outcomes but are still considered a failure because the outcomes are not aligned with the organization’s strategy.

44% of projects fail due to a lack of alignment between business and project objectives.

So, to summarize, there are:

1. Successful projects that add no value – projects done right but not the right projects,
2. Unsuccessful projects that add no value - the right projects but not done right, wasting time and money,
3. Successful projects that add value, increase productivity and ROI, and align with strategic goals – the right projects done right.

No 3. sounds good – how do I do that every time?!

Project management solutions

In today’s fast paced world, technology has made it possible so that virtually nothing has to happen manually. What once may have been considered an “either-or”—doing the right projects vs. doing projects right—isn’t. With the right solutions in place, it is possible to do the right projects right.

Without the right solution however, it’s impossible to get the real-time insight needed to be agile and adjust course accordingly. Managing portfolios, projects, and programs involves a lot of moving parts in an ever-changing world.

Even with some technology, it’s hard to keep up and keep control of everything, making it difficult for executives to define corporate strategy, and for teams to execute according to that strategy. But with the right tools and technology in place, it can be managed.

Next blog: Why 'front end decisions' are leading to the wrong projects being picked.