Many Happy Returns

  ProjectsAtWork  

Corporate belt-tightening means project managers need ROI-focused tools to show and deliver value on project investments.

The pop culture catch phrase "Show me the money!" may have worn out its welcome years ago, but it's as fresh as ever among senior executives charged with guiding their companies through a murky economic climate. Internal and external projects are under a magnifying glass, and facing tough questions about their overall value. Soft, intangible benefits are well and good, but projects these days need to show payback in hard, tangible numbers.

 "When money is tight, people tend to sharpen their pencils," says Ray Trotta, a consultant and co-founder of iValue in Barrington, Ill. "Shareholders now want answers."

And project managers are now expected to provide some of those value-based answers. They are being held accountable for how wisely they manage resources, budgets and schedules. Projects and business strategies must align.

"Organizations are looking to maximize investment potential by prioritizing investment opportunities, analyzing and investing in the right work, approving opportunities based on investments, and adjusting priorities based on performance," says Greg Gilmore, chief operating officer of PlanView in Austin, Texas.

To do so, companies need tools to justify, forecast, track and measure project spending-all in the name of …

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