uVeronica Stopped/u People create value. Projects enable and scale that value Saving Changes...
Dakota HaeffnerCo-Owner| Instructive Edge LLCPhoenix, AZ, United States
Aaron has it exactly right, projects create the potential for value, but that potential only becomes real when people can actually use what was delivered effectively. This is where a lot of projects tend to fail. A new system goes live, but if users weren't trained well or the training didn't connect to their actual workflows, they default to old habits. The capability was delivered; the value was not. From a benefits realization perspective, training quality and capability transfer should be part of the project's definition of done, not an afterthought or the first line cut when the budget gets tight. The question isn't "did we deliver the project?" but "are people equipped and supported to extract the value from what was delivered?" The people side is what closes the gap between what a project can deliver and what it actually delivers.
Saving Changes...
Imran AfzalAuthor| The Strategic PMOCary, NC, United States
I’d frame it slightly differently:
Projects don’t deliver value. People don’t deliver value.
Systems create the conditions for value to be realized.
A project delivers an output (a product, capability, or change). People use that output. Value is only realized when that output changes behavior and produces an outcome.
So I agree with Aaron—but I’d extend it:
Projects deliver potential value
People enable value realization
Organizations determine whether value is captured or lost
Where many teams struggle is assuming delivery = value.
You can deliver on time, on scope, on budget—and still create zero value if:
adoption is low
the problem wasn’t well understood
or the outcome wasn’t clearly defined upfront
If you want a practical definition:
Project value = measurable outcome created by a change in behavior enabled by what was delivered
That’s the shift from delivery thinking to outcome thinking. Saving Changes...
Project value is the measurable benefit (financial, strategic, or operational) delivered by a project’s outputs and outcomes, typically assessed through benefits realization.
Projects enable value, but people ultimately deliver it through decisions, execution, and adoption of outcomes. Without effective people, a project’s planned value remains unrealized. Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
Take a look to PMI´s Benefit Realization standard and PMI´s Business Analysis documentation. You will find the answer there. Saving Changes...
Senior IS Project Manager| Baycare Health SystemsClearwater, Fl, United States
The PMBOK says: "projects operate within a system to produce value or enhance value production capabilities for organizations and their stakeholders."
In practice I cannot think of a project that would happen if there were no people involved. So my interpretation is that people executing projects is the combination that delivers value. Saving Changes...
Ivan BrownGIS Database Administrator| State of VermontVermont, United States
Looking back at the successful IT implementations on which I have worked, led, and/or observed over the years, I see something they tend to have in common: Project Management.
And those successes always go beyond just deliverables; the deliverables were utilized by systems and/or people (systems are produced by people) to actualize value. Saving Changes...
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