Making Value-Based Decisions
There are many opportunities to make decisions throughout a project's lifecycle. Which are the best projects? What resources should we put on a project? Which task should I work on next? Often, these decisions are made for the wrong reasons - they are knee jerk reactions based on who screamed the loudest.
Really, the work we are all doing is intended to bring value to our organizations. Making value-based decisions means thinking about the consequences of our work in terms of the benefit it will bring to the entire organization, not just one individual or department. The consequences of not making value-based decisions can be substantial: losses in productivity, increased costs, and most importantly the unrealized profits from making bad decisions.
Value-based decisions need to be made throughout the life cycle of a project, by everybody involved in the project. The responsibility obviously falls on the executive team and portfolio managers. However, project leaders and team members need to ask themselves the critical question often as well: What value will my next action bring to the organization? In order to accomplish this, everybody from the executives to the project team members needs to understand the value of their work and how it relates to organizational objectives.
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Introduction
