Adherence to Organizational Mission, Values Emerging Keys to Project Management Success
According to the expert faculty in Project Management at Metropolitan College (MET), it’s time for project managers to take the long view.
In a recent PMWorld Journal interview, BU MET Master Lecturer Richard Maltzman made a distinction between the usual parameters by which project management success has historically been measured and an emerging and increasingly important metric: strategic value.
“Traditional project managers focus on how we will get project outcomes delivered,” Maltzman explains. “A value-oriented project manager . . . also asks the fundamental why question—why we are doing this project?”
The widened consideration reflects the evolving priorities of contemporary, enterprise project management, which is why MET has recently introduced the new Graduate Certificate in Program & Project Portfolio Management as well as the MS in Project Management with concentration in Program & Project Portfolio Management.
In his course, Project Value Strategies (MET AD 782), a requirement of both new PM programs, Maltzman draws the new methodology into focus. Incorporating value-oriented strategic principles challenges project managers to address bigger picture considerations like; how does a given project factor into an organization’s overarching mission? How does a project adhere to the endeavor’s overall strategy? And, crucially, what are its sustainable benefits?
The better managers know and understand the mission, vision, and values of their organizations, the better they can judge how a project’s outcome affirms and upholds them. This, in turn, empowers project managers to make important decisions regarding organizational portfolios and priorities.
In Project Value Strategies, along with the new Program & Project Portfolio Management master’s degree concentration and graduate certificate programs, students come to understand that every project is part of a wider tapestry. “The majority of the learning is about appreciating a broader view of stakeholder engagement, project outcomes and benefits, and of course, an appreciation of the value that projects bring to their organizations and to the world,” Maltzman says.
Read more of the interview with Mr. Maltzman at PMWorld Journal.