Project Management Pays, Says Report

The question whether project management can be measured in actual terms has been answered now. A report, released by PMI recently, has documented what project management professionals have always said – project management pays.

To discuss the findings of the report, Researching the value of project management, Steve Fahrenkrog, vice president, regional development, PMI held a three-city seminar in India in October. The report is the result of a three-year global research conducted to evaluate the real value of project management. The seminar was conducted in Mumbai, Pune and Chennai. Chennai saw the highest participation with over 90 delegates.

Mayank Gandhi, Secretary of Rebuilding Mumbai Federation, also spoke at the Mumbai seminar. The other speaker at the Chennai seminar was Pamela Ranganathan, COO Thales Software India Pvt Ltd.

The report, titled Researching the value of project management, has been written by Janice Thomas and Mark Mullaly. The research, costing US$ 2.5 million, is based on data collected from over 60 organizations and 500 interviews. The report identifies factors linked to aspects like project success, organizational performance and stakeholder satisfaction.

Some of the key findings of Researching the value of project management are: PM must fit the organization and its context (strategic orientation, organizational culture and broader culture, and economic environment); PM maturity correlates strongly with project success, repeatable performance and customer/stakeholder satisfaction; and PM delivers most value when supported by top leadership and reinforced by continuous training.

The other significant revelation was that 95 percent of the 60 companies reported achieving value in terms of revenue increases, cost savings, increased customer retention, increased customer share, attainment of strategic objectives, more efficient human resources, improved overall management, improved corporate culture and improved reputation.

It emerged from the report that projects are goal-focused. They are temporary endeavors; have with a distinct beginning and end, produce a unique product, service, or result; develop in steps, and continue by increments.