End-to-end
by jed simms on April 27, 2011
Totally Optimized Projects (TOP) - TOP is truly end-to-end; from idea to final benefit realization.
Projects start and finish in the business – but most methodologies don’t. They start sometime later when the ‘project’ is officially sanctioned and finish when the project is officially closed down – before most of the benefits have been realized. They start too late and finish too early and focus on cost control.
Too many projects go off the rails at the initiation stage. Before they’ve even officially become ‘projects’ they are doomed to massive sub-optimization. Project management then manages the doomed project through to completion and delivers to the business’s dissatisfaction.
Closing off the processes before many of the benefits have been identified is an exercise in value destruction. Benefits realization still needs to be planned, managed and measured – otherwise you’re relying on ‘hope’!
And, you can’t control your way to success.
So, TOP begins when the idea is formed; often in the corporate planning process where it can be assessed to see if it will ever qualify as a priority.
TOP optimizes the project as it progresses. It provides processes to optimize the scope and the business case so that the resultant project delivers the best value results efficiently and enables the delivery of the desired business outcomes, benefits and value in full.
TOP ends when the benefits have been fully realized, measured and reported.
TOP is truly end-to-end; from idea to final benefit realization.
TOP ensures the benefits are optimized and then totally realized, not just aimed at.
TOP is about ‘total optimization’ not total cost control.
Leave your comment