What’s the Real Value of Project Management?

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Project management has real value, but don’t take our word for it. Jennifer Bridges, PMP, shows you why and explains how you can convince naysayers who question the value of project management and project managers.

Here’s a screenshot of the whiteboard for your reference!

why project management is valuable to an organization

In Review – What’s the Real Value of Project Management?

Jennifer began by looking at the word value. It can be used as a noun or a verb.

When value is a noun it means the importance, worth or usefulness of something. When it’s a verb, value is to estimate the monetary worth of something. The verb form can be especially helpful for the actual practice of project management, like when a project manager is estimating the value of a process or pain point, but we’ll explore that topic later.

The Practice of Project Management

Next, Jennifer outlined some positive benefits of the practice of project management. Project management can provide value in the following ways:

The Role of the Project Manager

Then, she went on to explore the value of the role of the project manager. Among other things, a project manager performs the following beneficial activities:

  • Plans and directs the work of a group or organization
  • Monitors that work and its progress, taking corrective action when necessary

Therefore, investing in project management and implementing a process creates a benefit for the project manager. It provides them with clear expectations, faster execution, fewer issues, better decisions and higher customer satisfaction. All of which help fulfill the requirements of their job, thereby benefiting the organization overall.

The Process to “Value” in Project Management

Jennifer said that when she’s dealing with an executive, she applies this simple process to help them get real value from project management:

  1. Discuss their pain points: Have the CEO or leader of the organization list where the issues are, so you can get a big-picture view.
  2. Qualify the cost of time, money and effort: Now take those pain points and connect a dollar sign to them: how much are they costing the organization in terms of not only money but time and effort?
  3. Propose solutions: Suggest ways they could increase revenues, decrease costs or improve some aspect of the organization, and watch them open up. Now they’re starting to understand the value of project management!
  4. Include them in the process: Once you’ve gotten their attention, bring them into the process, so it can be made simple, easy and fast.

Lastly, Jennifer gave these two tips to facilitate the process of project management:

  1. Identify a quick win for your client or boss: That way they can get something tangible under their belt, motivating them to continue with the project management process.
  2. Use their language when referencing their pain points: Let them know that you understand their industry and their situation. You don’t want to lose them in jargon or abstract examples.

Pro-Tip: Don’t forget to everyone synchronized by using a project management tool. That’s tool, singular. They will only need one PM tool, if that tool gives them real-time data, integrates with other software and has all the features they need in one place.

Thanks for watching!

Transcription

Today, we’re talking about, “What’s the real value of project management?” Well, in today’s whiteboard session, I want to talk about not only the value of the practice of project management, but also the role of the project manager, and I also want to provide a simple process you can use in case you find yourself in a discussion with someone questioning the value of project management.

Well, first of all, let’s take a look at the word ‘value.’ So, ‘value’ can mean… It can be a noun or a verb. So, in the noun form, it’s the importance, worth, usefulness of something. And the verb is to estimate the value, the monetary worth of something.

So, I like to seize the moment and I like to use the verb because I want to be the one to estimate the value of something for someone I may be in dealings with.

So, first of all, let’s look at the practice of project management. So, the value of project management is that it delivers consistent results, reduces the cost, increases efficiencies in the process, improves customer service and satisfaction, and provides a competitive advantage to your company.

Well, as the role of project manager, the project manager plans and directs work of a group or an organization, and they monitor the work or progress of the project, and they take corrective actions.

So, as you can see from this, by investing in project management and implementing a process, it provides these benefits to the project managers: clear expectations, faster execution, fewer issues, better decisions, and higher customer satisfaction.

So, here’s a simple process that I use to help value project management if I’m dealing with someone.

First of all, if I’m working with the CEO, maybe an owner of a company, or a leader of an organization, and we’re talking about this, first of all, they’ve usually called me in to talk with them for some purpose, and it’s generally about some pain points that they’re having.

So, first of all, I get them to discuss those pain points. I want them to talk about them as much as I can. I want to know how much…

I want them to qualify the cost that those pain points are costing. What is the cost in time? It may be money, or even effort to their company, organization, or project.

So then, after I do that, I take that, those numbers, the qualification and the quantification, and I propose, how would it be if we could either, maybe, increase revenues, decrease, maybe, some of the costs, or improve something that’s causing them problems.

Well, they generally perk up because, again, they’re looking to get rid of these pain points, and they’re looking to try to prevent all these costs. So, I let them have input into the process, and make it simple, easy, and fast for them to get there.

And then, one of the tips, or two tips I find very helpful is, number one, identify a first quick win, so therefore, everybody involved can see the value quickly, and then everybody gets excited, and therefore, they start getting buy-in and building a sense of trust.

And then, number two, I think it’s very important to use their language and reference their pain points through the process in helping them get there.

So, as you can see, there is value to project management, and if you need a tool that can help you, then sign up for our software now at ProjectManager.