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Five compelling reasons to plug your Project Management skills gap

plug your pm skills gapIn the ever changing, lightning speed IT world, effective Project Management delivers operational excellence. As every company is now, in some way, an IT operation IT Project management is something that every company needs.

It is, however, something that many companies do not have. Not completely. Do you find IT Project Delivery a challenge?

A Project Management Office Assessment can help identify any gaps that you have and thanks to the booming Project Management as a Service market you can access flexible and scalable resources on demand? Project Management as a Service offers an innovative approach to plugging any gaps.

Here are 5 compelling reasons why you should.

1 – BETTER STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT

When Janice Thomas and Mark Mullaly published their study “Researching the Value of Project Management” among the statistics that really stood out was that 64% of the firms surveyed identified project management delivered better alignment of projects with their business strategy.

Better alignment means elimination of projects that don’t support your organisational goals, drives down waste and drives up productivity. Yet, 58% of organisations report poor alignment of projects with their organisation strategy (Source: Project Management Institute).

2 – INCREASED ROI AND PROFIT

Effective Project Management can help you maximise your return on investment (ROI) on expensive resources, reduce margins and increase profits.

The Center for Business Practices (CBP) recently put this into numbers. Organisations reported a 27% increase in ROI, budget performance improvement of 30% and 50% more projects completed.

3 – INCREASED CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

In the same study, 38% of organisations report increased customer satisfaction when IT projects are properly managed. Customers enjoy better quality service and value when you have a fully functioning Project Management outfit.

4 – COMPLEX PROBLEM SOLVING

IT Projects today are more complicated than they ever have been. Throw into this increasingly complex landscape the traditional mix of satisfying stakeholders, managing resources and budgets and you really get a picture of why IT Project professionals can make a huge difference.

They are natural problem solvers and have their finger on the pulse as far as changes to tech and best practice are concerned.

If you have some spare time read the CSIRO’s ‘Tomorrow’s Digitally Enabled Workforce’ report which, although focussed on Australia, spells out the increasingly complicated, multifaceted nature of business and the workplace. I believe that anyone navigating this future without an effective IT Project Management function will struggle at best.

5 – TEAM SUCCESS AND SATISFACTION

Everyone likes to be on the winning team. With better, repeatable processes, measurable value and increased productivity your Project Management team can help achieve this. That CBP study suggests good project management practices lead to a 40% hike in employee satisfaction.

Confidence breeds success. Effective Project Management breeds confidence.

As things get more complex the need for IT Project Management teams to bring their A game will increase. Fortunately, thanks to a range of Project Management services, including full Programme Management Office(PMO) providing assessments, governance, tools and people to improve your delivery capability and performance, you can get the benefits of effective Project Management, even if you don’t yet have the team.

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