Intermediate Level Course
Managing Project and Program Outcomes for Business Impact
Overview
The project management discipline has spent decades getting the business comfortable with “projectizing” initiatives for stronger, better, and more efficient business processes. More and more, we hear from the industry the need for more project leadership, more critical thinking, and more identification of the project’s impact on the bottom line. Economic pressures and the ever-increasing complexity of projects that drive real business impact are what every business sponsor is focused on. In response to environmental challenges, project managers are increasingly asked to build new organizational capabilities through the projects they manage every day. Projects become the change agents for the organization to continually move forward. Projects can no longer be done in isolation with a singular focus; they are part of the organization’s overall integrated business strategy.
It is no longer good enough to be a stellar project manager across all aspects of the triple constraint. Project managers are now being asked to:
- Ensure their projects are strategically aligned with strong expectations for very specific business outcomes
- Act as an expert consultant on the project and push back when issues arise that are counterproductive to the organization’s strategy
- Understand the direct business impact of their projects on other departments and the overall organization
- Demonstrate to the business partners how the project strategically moves the company forward and creates real business impact
- Manage up, down, and across the organization to ensure that the business impact of the project is fully realized, and positive business outcomes are realized.
- Move away from a strict discipline of project “deliverables” and move toward project outcomes that have real business impact on the bottom line to maintain an organization’s competitive advantage.
“Those involved with project management are now recognizing that the future of project management needs more than stellar technical proficiency; it needs project leadership within a business context.” - Deborah Bigelow Crawford, PMP, President of PM College
- Course Length: 2 days
- Professional Development Units (PDUs): 14 (14 Business Acumen)
- Program Knowledge Level: Intermediate
- Field of Study: Business Management & Organization
- Prerequisites: None
- Advance Preparation: None
- Benefits: Move the organization forward by building the project manager’s organizational capability
Key Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:
Identify how project management is evolving in organizations
Hear best practices from an award-winning organization
Identify new drivers of project management
List the four steps for becoming a business-driven project manager
Seek project clarity through stakeholders
Understand the importance of project portfolio management on business impact
Describe how to link your project to organizational goals
Define the performance areas and drivers for today’s high-performing project leader
Describe the role you play in change management
Define the attributes of a strong project leader
Use the business case template to gain clarity around project alignment to organizational goals and true business impact
Course Outline
Project Management and the Business Environment – Delivering Project Business Value
- Develop an awareness of recent research on project management
- Recognize best practices from an award-winning organization on achieving business impact
- Realize the importance of Project Portfolio Management
- Identify new drivers of project management in organizations
- Distinguish between traditional and business-driven project management
Moving Your Company to Business-Driven Practices
- Identify the four steps to move your organization to business-driven practices
- Seek project clarity through stakeholders and how a project fits into the overall portfolio
- Learn how to link your projects to organizational goals
- Understand the importance of communicating value
- Develop a business case for a project
Characteristics of a Business-Driven Project Leader
- Define the performance areas and drivers for today’s High-Performing Project Leader
- Become a trusted advisor in your organization
- Identify your role as a change agent
Course Closeout
- Define the course concepts the team found valuable
- Define how you can apply