Success Is Always Measured In Business Value By: Barbee Davis
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"Success is achieved when we reach our desired goal. It may be when you do your school projects, presentation, business transactions or life aspirations. Everyone of us wants to be successful and we measure it by how high we reached a certain level in the life we desire. It may be measured by ranking just like in bitlanders - the highest ranked are on top because of the creative or intellectual capacity or just desire and perseverance. How you are able to get what you want is measured by the success you did beforehand in a collective or instant manner that you achieve it and are therefore rewarded"
-REDG
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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 it 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 a 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 because what we develop is faster, more compressed, or has a better architecture? Will we be able to make more money since we can take orders faster, and process them and ship them quicker? Will we save money by creating software that needs fewer people to maintain it, or rollout an infrastructure change that lowers the number of help desk calls?
If our software projects are for a industry specific systems integrator, will the way we sequence tasks or level resources increase the profit margin to the company or buy us customer goodwill with a reputation for reliability? Will our project prowess ensure that we complete more projects faster and, thus, move us to a category with our suppliers in which we get a larger discount for hardware?
Motivating teams and making difficult decisions on the spot become easier when we understand specifically how the completion of this project is intended to benefit the company. When choosing to fund this particular project over all of those that were in contention, why was this one more important than those that were tabled for later?
Usually the project manager is not given the answer to these critical questions, so you must learn to ask. The answer can alert you to whether time, money, or quality is the key driver on the project. When you know the answer, you can prepare workarounds, alternate solutions, and know where to spend your contingency reserves to keep your project aligned with the business reason for which it was created.
Amazon Link:
http://www.amazon.com/Things-Every-Project-Manager-Should/dp/0596804164
URL:
http://pm.97things.oreilly.com/wiki/index.php/Success_Is_Always_Measured_In_Business_Value
QUOTE:
―We need to focus on the fact that the project is only as successful as the business value it adds to the organization.‖
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REVIEW:
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Taking all the possible considerations when doing a project is to think where and how it will be used in a certain field outside of I.T. like in business there are some lines needed to cross between so that the most important aspects are still put in place and the expectations are well monitored and followed to have a successful project in the end.
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The simple characteristics of a business entity is be able to sell something (a product) in a market and as time passes by the product needs more changes and modification that will meet the needs of the customer before it will be too late that you realized that you are playing outdated and out of the market leading to a total closure of the business.
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By focusing on the essential information about a certain business and be able to maximize all the resources so that work will be divided equally to different person who are mostly expert by using less human power and use of more technology in the work process so that it will become more efficient and effective.
Making of the important software for business is not just production of something then using it right away. The reliability of a software and how will it affect the whole picture in a business situation like how fast it can perform and if it will really help the business.
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Critical questions when you are a project manager should always be used and understood because it is the key for the success of the whole project. Time, money, or quality is the key driver on the project and should always balance it and always think of the best output that can be produced to not just make it very useful but also reputable.
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WHAT I LEARNED:
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(1) I learned that the aspects of business should be followed when doing projects.
(2) You need to also focus on the essential information that will be necessary to meet the needs of the all aspects in a project.
NOTE:
(1) ARTICLE ABOVE IS FROM 97 Things Every Software Project Manager Should Know
http://pm.97things.oreilly.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
(2)THIS REVIEW IS AN EXCERPT FROM MY BOOK. THIS IS EXCLUSIVELY LICENSED UNDER CREATIVE COMMONS
