Project Management that Works: Real-World Advice on Communicating, Problem Solving, and Everything Else You Need to Know to Get the Job Done

• What is the best investment that can be made for the future?

• How can I be sure that the services that are internally delivered

are comparable with those provided by external providers—are

we competitive?

• How can we deliver a robust and accurate budget?

• How can we be sure we are making the best investment deci-

sions?

• Business users don’t understand the real costs of the services

they demand. How can we give them the information they need?

• Everyone wants more services. How can we prioritize and

choose the services that are best for the company?

These are pressing questions and issues that executives must an-

swer. With the advent of SOX and other controls, executives can ill af-

ford to make poor choices. They need accurate data and solid projec-

tions to make key strategic decisions. They need to understand the

current environment better to plan for the future. They need the assis-

tance of a PM.

■ What PMs Need to Provide

PMs are the key strategic resource that can help a company and its ex-

ecutives make great decisions. The concepts presented earlier in this

book have all lent themselves to obtaining better and more accurate

data on a project-by-project basis. They have also helped establish the

resource utilization. It is now time to take all of the collected data and

begin to aggregate the data for decision making. The PM will need to

provide:

• List of active projects: Information from all current active proj-

ects will need to be combined. This includes resource utilization,

current progress, estimates for the completion of the projects,

and the goals or objectives the project supports.

• List of demand: A list of future projects with resource estimates,

cost estimates, and a forecast detailing the benefits of complet-

ing the project will need to be compiled so that decisions can be

made as to which ones to pursue.

Project Manager: The Strategic Resource 187