Being Outcome-Centric: Ensuring End of Project Success
By Peter Taylor, international keynote speaker, author of “The Lazy Project Manager.”
This is the final part in a three-part blog series on the journey of a successful project. Read the first part on building a great project foundation here and the second part on harnessing the power of your project team here.
Successful project management is about delivering business value, as opposed to delivering just on-time, on-budget, on-scope.
I have certainly delivered projects to the classic triple constraint, or iron triangle, depending on your allegiance, but I can’t say they have always been a “success” in the eyes of the client.
Equally, I have failed in some, or all, of those constraints and yet have somehow delighted my stakeholders.
The difference? I delivered business value.
How? My approach to project management was “outcome-centric.”
What Does It Mean to be Outcome-Centric in Project Management?
An outcome-centric organisation is one which is designed around maximising customer outcomes through innovation, through strategy, through operations, through projects – these organisations are built from the ground up to deliver against relevant customer outcomes. They’re characterized by a systematic drive to value. A drive to business value for their clients and their employees.
Outcome-centric project and resource management is all about continuously engaging your business stakeholders to continuously assess what “success” looks like, and that might change if there is a better outcome scenario.
That ‘end-goal’ might well change as the business needs change, and you and your team need to be ready for this.
Putting your client at the heart of this can significantly improve the chances of final project success through continual dialogue, an open mind to taking opportunities and advantages that might be presented during the project lifecycle, and always keeping the business value of your clients in mind.
Finding Success During the Talent War
It is always about the people. The human resources. Their skills, their time, their focus, and their passion for success.
And it is about the true “owners” of the project – those clients who have engaged your services, your products, your knowledge, and have a business need to change.
But beware the talent war!
Right now, there is a talent war happening all around you that can challenge your organisation in a number of ways:
- Recruitment
- Retention
- Inspiration
- Coping With Change
- Remote Working
- Knowledge
- Technology
- Compliance and Regulation
- Client Demands
And this talent war, amongst other things, can disrupt your teams.
One of the most significant factors is that the ties that bind teams and employees are likely to have been loosened by remote working. Simon Keller, professor of philosophy from the University of Wellington, and an expert in loyalty, described this: Usually, people’s loyalty is stronger when it’s to particular people and embedded within a structure or way of life. So as more people are separated from their colleagues and have work routines that are more solitary and self-driven, they may be more prepared to take their talents elsewhere.
Therefore, despite all your best endeavours at building a great foundation to your project, optimizing the skills and strengths that your company already has, leading your project team in a collaborative and inspiring way, and being outcome focused, there is a new risk in town. You have been warned.
“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.” – Michael Jordan
Keep Every Stage of Your Project Strong
If you haven’t checked out the first two blogs in this series, then make sure to read about the start and the middle of the project and what you need to be successful.
You can also hear more about this by watching my recent webinar with Kantata, “A Look at the Current Impact of the Talent War on PMOs.”