97 Things Every Project Manager Should Know

Chapter 18. Success Is Always Measured in Business Value

MA, PHR, PMP. Barbee Davis

AS PROJECT MANAGERS, it's easy to get caught up in meeting our time, cost, scope, and quality baselines. The project quickly becomes an end in itself, and our personal worth becomes entwined with our ability to bring this project in according to these measurable expectations.

We need to focus on the fact that the project is only as successful as the business value it adds to the organization. If we're producing a software product for market, the evaluation factors for "success" are clear. We need to use our project management skills to bring this product to market quicker so we can get it sold to a large portion of the customer base before the competition is able to produce a similar or even better product.

We need to sell to a majority of the marketplace before the demand for this item dries up. We need to design this software so that it is easy for customers to install and learn to use. It needs to be easy to maintain and update.

Many software project managers feel their job is merely to get the software completed. Without connecting the project to the business need, great software could be a failure from the organization's return on investment (ROI) point of view.

If this is an internal project, how does this software project allow the organization to save or earn money? Will we need fewer hardware resources ...