A fundamental question asked very often is what is Project Success? When do you say that a project is really successful. Many a times, you complete a project and realize that it did not add any value to the business and was shelved. Would it be still termed as a successful project? The team would have spent a lot of effort in completing the project. Definitely, the leadership needs to give kudos and a pat on the back of the project team and see how they can be re-aligned to a more meaningful project that directly adds value to the overall business objective. But this cannot be termed as a successful project.
So, coming to think of it, project success is not just about project completion on time, budget and scope. It goes beyond these three key criteria when it meets the most important objective of adding value to the overall business success.
So, project success is more to do with the business success.
So, how does the PMO or a project manager ensure that this is happening?
One of the answer lies in effective portfolio management. This is where the PMO should be involved to understand what is the company road map and what are the business objectives. Where exactly does the company want to make investments.
Once this is clear, the Program Management team ensures that only those projects that are strategically aligned to the business are picked up. These can then be logically grouped in terms of programs.
Next, once the project kicks off, the measurement of time, scope and budget to track the project are various tools of measurement to ensure that we measure up to the business goal objectives.
Therefore, the PMO or a project manager has to be play a multi-faceted role. It becomes important for the PMO to get into the shoes of a leader. That means, the PMO should be motivating the team by connecting them with the business goals by studying the strategic objectives. Then, look at the overall progress of the project and ensure that the timelines, scope, budget, risk mitigation, procurement etc. are all met to help the project get successful that ultimately would help in the success of the business.