Where are my Resources?
Do you ever wonder how countless tasks are completed every day in your organization, without contributing to your strategic objectives? Did you invest in a strategic plan only to find that resources are not available to implement it? If any of this rings true for you then your organization may need an infusion of project management.
The Signal to Noise Ratio
Without disciplined project management the sense of urgency around implementing your strategic objectives can easily get lost among routine demands, deadlines, and meetings. Everyday, employees are confronted with demands for reports, status updates, meetings, and endless emails about the routine operation of the business. More of these demands, meetings, and emails should come from project managers to make sure your strategic initiatives have a fair chance of being prioritized against mundane and routine matters. Without project managers fighting for attention, strategic initiatives often do not have a chance.
The Magic Wand: Abracadabra! You are a Project Manager
Functional leaders and managers are often assigned as project managers for strategic initiatives. This approach ignores the reality that project management is a specialized discipline that requires time, training, certification, experience, and the right disposition. Functional leaders already have full-time jobs that leverage their own expertise. They are not trained as project managers and cannot dedicate the time needed away from their own specialty to do it justice. Nonetheless, assigning functional leaders as project managers is a widespread practice.
Add Flexible Resources
Adding more departmental resources to handle the day-to-day business is another widespread practice used to “free up resources for strategic initiatives”. These resources are quickly consumed by the organization’s insatiable appetite for cleaning up the backlog with more routine work. Once committed they stay in place indefinitely. Project managers are more flexible. When a marketing initiative is complete, a good project manager can move on to an operations project, and after that, to a finance or technology project. If you need to add resources, consider adding project managers to maximize your flexibility.
Contracting for project management services allows you to scale resources up and down as needed without committing to long term hiring. If your organization is new to project management, contracting allows you to test the waters to determine if you are ready for the processes, discipline, and rigors that come with project management. If a project management culture is already in place, then contracting gives you the flexibility to quickly ramp up strategic initiatives to ensure they get the attention they deserve.
Project Management Office (PMO) Services
CIO Services offers project management and business process analysis services to implement strategic initiatives and roadmaps. Let me introduce you to our certified project managers and business analysts. Schedule an exploratory call using the link below to discuss how PMO Services can benefit your organization.
- Kevin
The Case According to ChatGPT
I asked ChatCPT to write an article about the benefits of project management. I thought you might enjoy the result. I added paragraph headings for readability but the the text below from ChatCPT is otherwise unedited. The image for this post was generated by DALL-E2.
My Instructions to ChatGPT
Write a 600-word article about the benefits of using project managers to lead your strategic initiatives. Highlight key benefits including increasing the capacity of your organization, improving the predictability of your strategic outcomes, providing leadership with a line of site into progress, and increasing the speed at which your organization moves.
The Response
Project managers play a vital role in leading strategic initiatives for organizations. They are responsible for ensuring that projects are completed on time, within budget, and to the satisfaction of all stakeholders. By utilizing project managers to lead strategic initiatives, organizations can experience a range of benefits that can help them achieve their goals and objectives.
Increase Capacity
One of the key benefits of using project managers to lead strategic initiatives is the ability to increase the capacity of the organization. Project managers are experts in project management and are able to effectively plan and execute projects. They are able to identify and mitigate risks, allocate resources, and set priorities to ensure that the project is completed on time and within budget. This allows organizations to take on more projects and initiatives at once, increasing their overall capacity and ability to achieve their goals.
Improve Predictability
Another benefit of using project managers to lead strategic initiatives is the ability to improve the predictability of outcomes. Project managers use a structured approach to project management, which includes setting clear goals, identifying risks and mitigation strategies, and monitoring progress. By following this approach, project managers are able to better predict the outcome of the project and make adjustments as needed to ensure the project stays on track. This predictability allows organizations to better plan for future initiatives and make more informed decisions.
Line of Sight into Progress
A third benefit of using project managers to lead strategic initiatives is the ability to provide leadership with a line of sight into progress. Project managers are responsible for communicating project progress to leadership and stakeholders. This allows leadership to stay informed about the progress of the project, identify any potential issues, and make adjustments as needed. By providing leadership with a clear line of sight into progress, project managers help organizations stay on track and achieve their goals.
Increase Speed
Finally, using project managers to lead strategic initiatives can increase the speed at which an organization moves. Project managers are experts in project management and know how to effectively plan and execute projects. They are able to identify and mitigate risks, allocate resources, and set priorities to ensure that the project is completed on time and within budget. By utilizing project managers, organizations can move faster and achieve their goals sooner.
Efficient and Effective
In conclusion, using project managers to lead strategic initiatives can bring a host of benefits to an organization. These benefits include increasing the capacity of the organization, improving the predictability of outcomes, providing leadership with a line of sight into progress, and increasing the speed at which an organization moves. By utilizing the expertise of project managers, organizations can achieve their goals and objectives more efficiently and effectively.
- ChatGPT
You be the Judge
Use this link to let Kevin know whether you think ChatGPT is better than a human, makes us better humans, is a threat to humans, or all of the above.