Convincing Senior Management to invest in Project Management Training
Senior executives often see Project Management as an operational or tactical activity. If you are in a position where you have to convince senior executives to use Project Management, below are a few pointers that can help:
- Executive Framing – identify the following benefits of utilizing a globally recognized, industry standard framework (PMBoK) for managing the project to the organization:
- Reducing stress - horizontally and vertically across the organizationLess internal and external conflict
- Increased understanding of the project and its purpose
- Clarification and alignment with Comprehensive Community Development Plan (CCDP)
- Ability to define and control project scope
- Prioritization of functional and project activities
- Ability to identify, monitor and track milestones
- Accurate projection of resource requirements
- Capability and mechanisms to measure performance
- Improved assessment and mitigation of project risks
- Improved communication amongst project participants
- Better communication throughout the organization
- Identification and communication of problem areas
- Alignment - Lining up Project Management with:
- The organization's strategic plan and associated corporate goals
- Senior executive expectations
- Meeting stakeholder expectations
- Wealth/Wellbeing Value Statements - defines the wealth/wellbeing value to the organization of the project. A wealth/wellbeing value statement considers both tangible and intangible outcomes of the project
- Tangible - Financial, Vocational
- Intangible - Family, Social, Physical, Spiritual and Mental
- Managing scope, quality, time and budget – includes:
- In the Planning Process Group - the development of a performance measurement baseline for the project. See Appendix A, Figure 1
- In the Implementation Process Group – using earned value analysis for monitoring and controlling performance See Appendix A, Figure 2
Appendix A | Earned Value Management - Definition & Terms
Definition
A methodology that assesses both schedule and cost performance through the concept of earned value, the monetary value of work actually completed
Terms
- Earned Value - Budgeted cost of completed work to the reference point
- Planned Value - Authorized budget for scheduled work
- Actual Cost - Amount of money spent
Figure 1
Figure 2
