Service-Oriented Project Management

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Service-Oriented Project Management

Jerry Manas

January 28, 2008






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“Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” - Albert Einstein
 
Over the last decade, organizations have come to realize that poor project execution is impeding their ability to achieve strategic goals. Projects are still failing at a rate of 75 percent, and have been for years despite standards, certification and project management training. It hasn’t helped that projects are growing more complex with offshore resources, multiple vendors, global initiatives, virtual teams, conflicting stakeholders and the like.
 
But the primary reason most projects fail is because the focus of the execution and the measurement of projects is too narrow and inwardly directed. Typically, most organizations use three metrics to judge project success: 
  • On-time
  • On-budget
  • Meets requirements
There are several problems with this narrow view: 
  • It often has limited bearing on real value to the client and the organization.
  • Simply meeting requirements does not guarantee optimal performance.
  • Doing the wrong thing on-time and on-budget serves nobody, even if it does meet “requirements.”
  • It views client satisfaction and total opportunity value as lagging indicators to be measured afterward, when they actually leading indicators if the project is to be perceived as a success and be a success.
  • It directs the project manager’s focus inward toward the project’s specifications, schedule and budget--and away from the client.
Another element contributing to an overly inward focus is the emphasis on tools, policies and bureaucracy.



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