Executive Goals Meet Project Team Schedules

In a typical business structure there are two levels of project management hierarchy.  You have the Chief Officers – the COO, CTO, CIO, CFO, or some other senior level position – and then you have the project teams, with project managers
and team members.  

Often these two levels never meet, rarely speak, and poorly align their objectives.  The Senior-level managers define the strategies, set the objectives and goals, analyze overall business performance, and perform some high level project selection and resource management.  On the other hand, project managers manage the planning and day-to-day activities of the individual projects.  They manage the project budget, measure project performance, make sure the project is on schedule, and ensure that they have the resources needed to get the job done right.

Harvey Levine said it well in his book Project Portfolio Management, "A problem common to many organizations is that there is no connection between the operations and project functions and no structured, consistent, and meaningful flow of information between the two groups.  The organization's objectives are hardly ever communicated to the project office, and the periodic measurements made by the projects group cannot be related to these objectives."

The disconnect between the Executives and the Project Teams causes each group to work in their own little world, focusing only on their own individual roles, without ever truly meeting the objectives of the company.  Are the projects supporting the goals of the Executives?  If a project is in danger, do the Executives find out about it before the project spins out of control or do they just perform damage control?  Do the project managers have the knowledge and resources to balance schedules, cost, scope, and quality parameters?

Many of the challenges associated with projects could be prevented had the Executives communicated with the project teams.  Having a "structured, consistent, and meaningful flow of information" between the two groups will ensure that projects are completed on time, under budget, and within the project mix criteria set by the Senior-level Managers.

One way of creating this alignment is to use a single project management tool that can be used by both project teams and executives.  Executives see the big picture, while project teams focus on the details.   Using an online project portfolio management software, such as @task, Executives can see every project proposed or in process and make sure that each project meets the alignment criteria set by the company.   Executives are allowed to select the projects that provide the greatest value to the organization and then push the project objectives down to the project managers.  Because the project is managed using the same software the Executives use, the Executives are notified of problems as they occur and can quickly correct the problems before they become bigger.

Using the same tool, project managers are given the direction needed to successfully complete the individual projects.  The PPM tool provides the flexibility needed to create and edit project schedules, monitor costs, and align resources to meet the objectives set by the Executive team.   The goals set by the Executives are the same goals by which the project managers are measured on, eliminating the confusion caused by poor communication.  Project performance measurements are the same across all groups and if the goals are changed, all involved parties are notified of the change.  The end result is that corporate objectives become a part of the project team's schedule. 
In a typical business structure there are two levels of project management hierarchy.  You have the Chief Officers – the COO, CTO, CIO, CFO, or some other senior level position – and then you have the project teams, with project managers and team members.    Often these two levels never meet, rarely speak, and poorly align their objectives.  The Senior-level managers define the strategies, set the objectives and goals, analyze overall business performance, and perform some high level project selection and resource management.  On the other hand, project managers manage the planning and day-to-day activities of the individual projects.  They manage the project budget, measure project performance, make sure the project is on schedule, and ensure that they have the resources needed to get the job done right. Harvey Levine said it well in his book Project Portfolio Management, "A problem common to many organizations is that there is no connection between the operations and project functions and no structured, consistent, and meaningful flow of information between the two groups.  The organization's objectives are hardly ever communicated to the project office, and the periodic measurements made by the projects group cannot be related to these objectives." The disconnect between the Executives and the Project Teams causes each group to work in their own little world, focusing only on their own individual roles, without ever truly meeting the objectives of the company.  Are the projects supporting the goals of the Executives?  If a project is in danger, do the Executives find out about it before the project spins out of control or do they just perform damage control?  Do the project managers have the knowledge and resources to balance schedules, cost, scope, and quality parameters? Many of the challenges associated with projects could be prevented had the Executives communicated with the project teams.  Having a "structured, consistent, and meaningful flow of information" between the two groups will ensure that projects are completed on time, under budget, and within the project mix criteria set by the Senior-level Managers. One way of creating this alignment is to use a single project management tool that can be used by both project teams and executives.  Executives see the big picture, while project teams focus on the details.   Using an online project portfolio management software, such as @task, Executives can see every project proposed or in process and make sure that each project meets the alignment criteria set by the company.   Executives are allowed to select the projects that provide the greatest value to the organization and then push the project objectives down to the project managers.  Because the project is managed using the same software the Executives use, the Executives are notified of problems as they occur and can quickly correct the problems before they become bigger. Using the same tool, project managers are given the direction needed to successfully complete the individual projects.  The PPM tool provides the flexibility needed to create and edit project schedules, monitor costs, and align resources to meet the objectives set by the Executive team.   The goals set by the Executives are the same goals by which the project managers are measured on, eliminating the confusion caused by poor communication.  Project performance measurements are the same across all groups and if the goals are changed, all involved parties are notified of the change.  The end result is that corporate objectives become a part of the project team's schedule.