Organizational Project Management: Aligning Project Management with Organizational Strategy

In some traditional project management approaches, projects are seen as independent entities under the watchful eye of the project manager. In general, while this can allow a great deal of flexibility of vision for the project manager to take a project wherever he/she wishes it to go, it also risks diverging too far from the overall goals and aims of the organization as a whole. Many project managers are now seeing the benefits of aligning projects with organizational strategy through the Organizational Project Management (OPM) framework.

When project management is aligned with organizational strategy, what is lost in absolute flexibility is gained in a sense of purpose and clear contribution to the welfare of the organization. For modern organizations, unaligned projects are seen as excess weight that can hinder a company’s overall performance. By aligning project management goals with broader organizational goals, project managers help ensure that resources are well spent and clearly affect company welfare.

Benefits of Organizational Project Management

Research suggests that organizational project management produces significant benefits for the organization. Where previously project managers might lead expensive projects that may or may not have been compatible with greater business aims, alignment casts spending in a new light. Funds are spent to directly impact a company’s overall performance, thereby increasing profitability and reducing unnecessary expenses.

Alignment can also help improve project success rates and, therefore, the ability for the organization to address customer needs and expectations. Research has shown a significant increase in organizational financial performance and project success rates when projects were aligned with business strategies. When each project directly contributes to the welfare of the company, the organization as a whole improves, improving customer experiences and retention rates.

How to Align Project Management with Organizational Strategy

For many organizations, alignment results from transitioning traditional project management offices (PMOs) to enterprise project management offices (EPMOs). An EPMO, as a centralized, organization-level entity, that is designed to specifically plan new projects with greater organizational strategy in mind. EPMOs participate in both executive-level planning sessions and overall strategic planning sessions to better understand how individual projects can meet the needs of the organization and establish a unified company vision. Here, it is crucial that both project managers and senior leaders recognize the value of full EPMO integration and view the entity as having executive-level access to better align project management strategy with overall goals.

For each project, the EPMO is designed to serve as a liaison between team members, project managers and senior executives. EPMO managers and executive leaders should work together throughout a project’s implementation to establish a continuing dialogue and ensure alignment.

When projects are completed, EPMOs have the added responsibility of reporting success in the context of overall business aims. Managers must be prepared to report to senior executives and illustrate how the projects fit with strategic considerations. Unlike in traditional project management, EPMO projects are generally not viewed as successes in and of themselves. Rather, success is defined by the degree to which a project helps the organization achieve business goals.

The Importance of Organizational Project Management

As businesses continue to compete with each other and define themselves in their industries, project alignment can be used to ensure that everything a business does is for a specific purpose. Facing the near-constant scrutiny enabled by digital technology, businesses wishing to be seen as having a clear mission should analyze the extent to which their various departments are aligned with organizational strategy. EPMOs can help organizations ensure alignment between project management and organizational strategy and, therefore, improve their financial performance and company image.