In a typical company structure there are two levels of project management hierarchy. You have the Chief Officers - the COO, CTO, CIO, CFO, or some other senior level position - and then you have the project teams, with managers and team members.
Often these two groups never meet, rarely speak, and poorly align their objectives. The Senior-level managers define the strategies, set the objectives and goals, analyze overall business performance, and perform some high level project selection and resource management. On the other hand, project managers manage the planning and day-to-day activities of the individual projects. They manage the costs, measure performance, make sure the project is on schedule, and ensure that they have the resources needed to get the job done right.
In his book, Project Portfolio Management, Harvey Levine explained, "A problem common to many organizations is that there is no connection between the operations and project functions and no structured, consistent, and meaningful flow of information between the two groups. The organization's objectives are hardly ever communicated to the project office, and the periodic measurements made by the projects group cannot be related to these objectives."
The disconnect between the Executives and the Project Teams causes each group to work in their own little world, focusing only on their own individual roles, without ever truly meeting the objectives of the organizations. Are the projects supporting the goals of the Executives? If a project is in danger, do the Executives find out about it before it spins out of control or do they just perform damage control? Do the project managers have the knowledge and resources to balance schedules, cost, scope, and quality parameters?
Many of the challenges associated with projects could have been prevented had the Executives communicated with the project teams. Having a "structured, consistent, and meaningful flow of information" between the two groups will ensure that projects are completed on time, under budget, and within the project mix criteria set by the Senior-level Managers.
One way of creating this alignment is to use a single project management tool that can be used by both team members and executives. Executives see the big picture, while project teams focus on the details. Using project portfolio management software, Executives can see every project proposed or in process and ensure that each project meets the alignment criteria set by the organization. Executives can select the projects that provide the greatest value to the organization and then push the objectives down to the managers. Because the project is managed using the same tool the Executives use, the Executives are notified of problems as they occur and can quickly correct the problems before they become bigger.
Using the same tool, project managers are given the vision needed to successfully complete the individual projects. The PPM software provides the flexibility needed to create and edit schedules, monitor costs, and align resources to meet the goals set by the Executive team. The goals set by the Executives are the same goals by which the project managers are measured on, eliminating the confusion caused by poor communication. Project performance measurements are the same across all levels and if the goals are changed, all parties are involved in the change. The end result is that corporate objectives become a part of the project team's schedule.
Often these two groups never meet, rarely speak, and poorly align their objectives. The Senior-level managers define the strategies, set the objectives and goals, analyze overall business performance, and perform some high level project selection and resource management. On the other hand, project managers manage the planning and day-to-day activities of the individual projects. They manage the costs, measure performance, make sure the project is on schedule, and ensure that they have the resources needed to get the job done right.
In his book, Project Portfolio Management, Harvey Levine explained, "A problem common to many organizations is that there is no connection between the operations and project functions and no structured, consistent, and meaningful flow of information between the two groups. The organization's objectives are hardly ever communicated to the project office, and the periodic measurements made by the projects group cannot be related to these objectives."
The disconnect between the Executives and the Project Teams causes each group to work in their own little world, focusing only on their own individual roles, without ever truly meeting the objectives of the organizations. Are the projects supporting the goals of the Executives? If a project is in danger, do the Executives find out about it before it spins out of control or do they just perform damage control? Do the project managers have the knowledge and resources to balance schedules, cost, scope, and quality parameters?
Many of the challenges associated with projects could have been prevented had the Executives communicated with the project teams. Having a "structured, consistent, and meaningful flow of information" between the two groups will ensure that projects are completed on time, under budget, and within the project mix criteria set by the Senior-level Managers.
One way of creating this alignment is to use a single project management tool that can be used by both team members and executives. Executives see the big picture, while project teams focus on the details. Using project portfolio management software, Executives can see every project proposed or in process and ensure that each project meets the alignment criteria set by the organization. Executives can select the projects that provide the greatest value to the organization and then push the objectives down to the managers. Because the project is managed using the same tool the Executives use, the Executives are notified of problems as they occur and can quickly correct the problems before they become bigger.
Using the same tool, project managers are given the vision needed to successfully complete the individual projects. The PPM software provides the flexibility needed to create and edit schedules, monitor costs, and align resources to meet the goals set by the Executive team. The goals set by the Executives are the same goals by which the project managers are measured on, eliminating the confusion caused by poor communication. Project performance measurements are the same across all levels and if the goals are changed, all parties are involved in the change. The end result is that corporate objectives become a part of the project team's schedule.
Looking for Singapore project management tool, contact Alenu IT Today! at (65) 6884 5030.
A marketing article by Dougles Chan - Search Engine Guru - Best SEO companies in Singapore and globally. Contact Dougles Chan @ +(65) 9388 0851 or email to dc@dougleschan.com for more information on how to make your website to be the top in Google.
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