Benefits of Project Management Survey

As project management professionals we are often asked what is the return on investment (ROI) for improving project management at our company. Our normal reply is that in order to measure ROI we have to start by establishing a baseline of current practices and outcomes. This baseline can be used, not only as the roadmap for change but periodic measurement could then be taken against that baseline as improvements are made. This was one of the reasons Fissure developed its on- line Project Management Capability Assessment for our consulting practice.

 

The fact is even though metrics can be benchmarked, implemented and measured for almost anything, most companies are hesitant to expend the time needed to measure their ROI. To many of us this is reminiscent of the early days of Project Management when the idea of taking time to document requirements and plan the project were thought unnecessary.

 

Perhaps with the recent PMI OPM3 initiative organizations will start to see the benefit of establishing a baseline and measuring ROI. Once the baseline is in place it should be easier for companies to measure their processes, enabling them to start measuring the ROI of project management improvements. Until that time we have to look to surveys for some measure of project management ROI.

 

The existing surveys we have looked at are outdated, so we are asking you to help us with your input. Results will be published in the next newsletter.