Prior to the beginning of each fiscal year, are you:
- Developing strategy for the projects you’ll undertake for that year?
- Setting aside some budget research for potential new opportunities?
And does that strategy ensure that:
- Projects selected are mapped to the organization’s long term strategy?
- There are parameters around new opportunities to ensure that time is invested in researching further the right opportunities? (for example, meets current client demands, enables for moving into a new market, expands company operations)
Too often, even when there is a Project Management Office (PMO), we don’t spend sufficient time upfront ensuring that there is a plan in place for the projects we’ll work on for the upcoming year. If you have ever managed projects, you know they come at you fast and furious. There is always an idea for another project – and sometimes they are great ideas! But we can’t work on every single one. If we try, we don’t get done the ones we should be doing and we utilize our budget monies poorly.
Take these best practice steps to be sure that you are working on the right projects each year and utilizing your limited budget monies to get the most out of what is allocated.
- Prior to each fiscal year, meet with the executives to be sure you understand the long term strategy for the organization. Understand their goals and objectives for the organization. Where do they want to be in the future – Are they expanding globally? Do they want to increase revenue? Do they want to reduce costs? Do they want to expand their foothold in the marketplace?
- Use this data to build your project strategy. What projects – in the works or being considered – will enable the organization to meet its goals? What projects would you recommend that would enable the organization to meet its goals?
- Be sure to work with other departments – sales, operations, marketing, etc. – to understand what they have planned. This information will enable you to understand what potential opportunities exist that you will want to set aside budget monies for either research or start of a project.
- Prioritize the projects based on any or all of the following criteria:
- Link to organizations goals
- Impact within the organization
- Amount of investment required
- Resource requirements
- Technology requirements
- Ability to undertake the project given what else is going on within the organization
Consider what other criteria makes sense for your business.
- Determine budget necessary for each project (or apply the budget you have been allocated to the projects).
- Share this plan with the executives and other within the organization to get commitment and buy-in
This helps develop your strategy for your projects for the fiscal year. When you have a plan in place, it is much easier to stick to it when you are sidelined with a request for a project. It takes time, but folks in the organization begin to realize that they need to think more strategically about what they want to accomplish in the upcoming year in order to get a potential project on the schedule. It doesn’t mean that some potential opportunity will arise that should be undertaken given its potential impact on the organization; but with a plan in place, you can actually include “unforeseen opportunities” within your overall project plan and find a way to fit them into the schedule (albeit not as quickly as some would like of course!). They shouldn’t overshadow or derail other projects in the works.
Through review of past history at the company, you can make a fairly good guess at the type of “surprise projects” that come up each year. Use this information in your planning.
