Why are we doing this project again? Simple reminders for evaluating your project portfolio

Companies are often loaded with projects.  In the larger companies, executive leadership often finds itself constantly looking for reasons not to do projects.

There’s a great article over on Anticlue here related to this.  Elyse muses on comparing the six prime reasons for performing a project, according to PMI’s book of knowledge:

* Market Demand
* Business Need
* Customer Request
* Technological Advance
* Legal Requirement
* Social Need

to the company’s core values:  in this case, the five pillars of healthcare.  I think this is a great way to evaluate when to do or not do a project:  Is the project fulfilling one or more of the six reasons to do a project?  How does the way that the project fulfills those reasons address your company’s core values and goals?  How does those reasons fit into the company’s vision?

Notice that I said “how the project fulfills those reasons”.  There is usually some way that any project can peripherally be connected to the company’s vision and core values.   How the project addresses one or more of the six basic reasons to do a project are the real reason why you’re doing the project.  If that core reason does not align with your company’s core vision and values, then it’s possible that you simply should not do it.

Have you evaluated what you are doing today in accordance with this?  If not, do it now.  Today.  For one, if the project does not fit, you should question its value to the company.  More importantly, though, you must know why you are doing what you are doing.  You must know how it fits into the big picture.  You must know it, and you should be sharing it.  Anything worth doing is worth understanding why you’re doing it.

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