Mark Mullaly is president of Interthink Consulting Incorporated, an organizational development and change firm specializing in the creation of effective organizational project management solutions. Since 1990, it has worked with companies throughout North America to develop, enhance and implement effective project management tools, processes, structures and capabilities. Mark was most recently co-lead investigator of the Value of Project Management research project sponsored by PMI. You can read more of his writing at markmullaly.com.
To those who are already project managers, or who as customers have benefited from a well-managed project, talking about the value of project management often seems to be an unnecessary restatement of the obvious. Project management value is understood and innate. The idea of trying to understand it, demonstrate it or prove that it exists, therefore, is regarded by many as a consummate waste of time.
But what about those who are not project managers today? What about those managers who are unsure if “project management” is the best way to get something done? What about those executives who question whether investing in project management is a worthwhile endeavor? When we’re faced with actually having to answer this question--especially to someone that hasn’t embraced what project management provides--the answer of what value it delivers can become much more difficult to articulate.
Trying to demonstrate the value of something isn’t a necessarily new idea. Different functions and disciplines have been trying to demonstrate their value and worth--whether it is information technology, quality management, human resources or accounting--for many decades. Each of these efforts has suffered from perceptions that vary from “the value is obvious” to “I don’t understand it”. When challenged to provide clear,