This article explains the need to measure value and not just activities It reminds me of a story that I read somewhere. A guy was walking home after dark and saw a crew of workers working on pothole repairs. They were working under a street light, and the guy curiously asked. “How come you did not work over there? The holes are much larger.” The response from the foreman: “There’s no light over there.”

But isn’t it obvious that PMOs should measure value and not just activities? My experience with PMO managers show that they are some of the smarter if not the smartest people around. After all, how many people have to operate at both strategic and tactical levels? How many people have to roll up their sleeve when needed and then meet with executive committees on portfolios? So to undermine their intelligence or understanding of their profession is rather unfair.

The truth is that defining what’s value is hard, finding the right metrics is even harder, and then measuring them can be the hardest as the numbers are likely to be subjective, changing, and political. Still, measuring value is important and here I do agree. It’s very important for the longevity of the PMO to get the measurement right.

Te Wu’s comments on the below article:

Tushar Patel for TMCNet writes:    Is your IT or PMO group delivering significant value back to your business? Technology decision makers think so, but their colleagues on the business side of the table aren’t so sure. In fact, a recent survey by Forrester Research  showed that 53% of technology stakeholders believe IT accelerates business success; yet only 31% of stakeholders on the business side agreed.

It used to be the case that “value” was measured in terms of the ability of IT and PMOs to complete projects on time and on budget. Yet that doesn’t accurately reflect whether the intended outcome of the project was achieved, delivering real value to the business. Now that it’s increasingly common for IT and PMOs to have a seat at the business strategy table, it’s critical that we challenge ourselves to measure projects to ensure value was delivered. You may be surprised to learn that a full 38% of PMOs fail to measure value delivered at all, according to recent Gartner (News – Alert) findings.

Here are three ways your organization can shift the way you’re measuring the value you add to your business (or start documenting that value) as well as close the gap between the business and technology groups in your organization.

Have the Conversation

We all know you cannot manage what you do not measure.  Start by asking yourself where IT and the PMO stands.  Have an honest assessment of the status quo. What is the realistic perception of the technology and project management functions?

SNIP, the article continues @ TMCNet click here to continue reading….