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Be Your Own Hero
Many project managers understand how to be effective, but the real value is taking that effectiveness to the bottom line. After all, isn’t that where everyone in your organization is looking?
The journey from Chief Project Officer to Chief Profit Officer isn’t a daunting one. Let’s look at a couple of key steps:
- Determine what bottom-line improvements mean to your business.
- Decide what to measure.
QUESTIONS TO ASK
Here are a few questions to ask your team when looking at what will impact your bottom line.
- How do we get new products to market faster?
- How do we get internal projects done faster and at lower cost?
- How do we work more effectively together so we have a more productive working environment?
- How do I anticipate and manage risks that arise?
- How do we stay on track to meet strategic objectives?
- How do I manage changes that happen as I pursue my goals?
- Do we understand the needs of our customers so that we’re delivering the right projects to the marketplace?
WHAT GETS MEASURED GETS DONE
In my company, we have a philosophy: What gets measured gets done. Every member of the company is responsible for doing on major project per quarter that is tied to the overall company strategic goals. The distance between a project and the bottom line is much shorter when that project is supporting a strategic initiative.
At the end of the quarter, each staff member has a Project Management Scorecard completed by all the parties involved with their project. They use the results of their PM Scorecard report to identify where they need to improve their Project Management skills for their next quarter’s project. This approach lets us see where we need to get more Project Management training overall as a company, and how to adjust our business systems so people can be more successful.
It also lets us see who does good Project Management, and who has the drive to bring our company to the next level. The results of people’s projects and their Project Management Scorecards are the guideposts we use to upgrade the company, and to promote and reward the staff.
HOW HAS THIS APPROACH IMPACTED OUR BUSINESS?
We won several large contracts over the past year because we were able to deliver on a new training product the customer wanted in less time than our competitors.
We dropped the development time for our e-business system upgrades by over two-thirds from a year ago.
Our staff now clearly understand how their day-to-day actions impact the long-term growth of the business. They can see how they are connected to the bottom line through their Project Management performance.
PEOPLE WITH PURPOSE
Look at the bottom-line boosters in your organization. Ask yourself which ones support your company’s strategic initiatives. Focus on what you can measure, and finally look at how you can connect your team to the bottom line in a meaningful way. People like purpose. When they see how they can impact the big picture, all they need is a paintbrush.
OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD
Are there projects in your life that are dragging you down? The downer projects might be impacting your bottom line more than you realize. Figure out if they’re really worth it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
This article contains excerpts from my book Cheetah Know How: How to Apply Project Management Skills Fast by Michelle LaBrosse, PMP, and Carey Earle.
Read my monthly column here in ISE magazine at https://isemag.com/author/michellelabrosse/.
To read my business-oriented blogs, please visit Cheetah Learning Blog at http://www.michellelabrosseblogs.com, and https://www.facebook.com/MichelleChiefCheetah/posts/956956998493883.
