How Business Strategy Should Influence Your Project Management

While the connection between business strategy and project management might not be considered around every meeting table, combining the two can offer great benefits in strengthening your business’ performance.

Executives in any business are tasked with the big picture, making plans for months and years into the future, while project managers are tasked with the here and now. Senior management might not be on the same page as your business’ everyday operations, but bringing the company’s strategists into the fold, and vice versa, throughout the process can have a resoundingly positive influence on overall success. The easiest analogy to use as comparison might be found in the construction of a building. The architects and engineers plan the design and structure requirements for a project that could take years, while the crews, overseen by project managers, build components of the physical structure day to day. The two groups need to be in contact and collaborating throughout the project to ensure it follows both the design and regulation requirements and will meet the projected needs following completion. Why should you treat your business any differently?

Make Sure Every Piece Has A Place

It’s not uncommon for decisions at the highest levels in a company to be made behind closed doors. Many executives might not thing that lower-level employees should operate on a need to know basis. However, this type of dynamic between executives and employees can be both detrimental for morale as well as efficiency. If the people actually carrying out the work have no idea where a strategy is eventually taking them, it can lead to a breakdown along the way. That’s why every aspect of a company’s strategy, from this week’s goals to this year’s goals should be considered “need-to-know”.

When quarterly and yearly goals are set, make sure everyone in the lower echelons of the company knows the plan. Having a clear path to traverse puts projects in perspective and everyone works more effectively when goals are clearly defined. Essentially, make it so that every employee knows and feels like they are an integral part of the company’s success. Because, whether executives want to acknowledge it or not, they are.

The Role Of Project Management Software

If the stated goal of your company is to make $1,000,000 before the end of the fiscal year, the company now has a target in sight. Great. Now, how does the company reach that goal? Say you are a software as a service provider, you’ll probably want to commence projects to update capabilities to the platform, launch a new marketing campaign, and improving your sale team’s capabilities.

All of these efforts can be initiated, tracked, and streamlined in real-time with the appropriate task management software. This ensures each project meets the stated targets and follows through in its role to help reach the company’s goal. Workflow reaches maximum efficiency with no wasted effort, dialogue between employees and departments remains open 24/7, and updates can be delivered in real-time right through to execution.

Minimize your risk of breakdown along the chain of command and keep everyone on the same page with their roles and goals clearly stated. Implementing project management software is the easiest way to help accomplish and maintain this connection between executives, project managers, and department employees for a healthy and effective dynamic in the workplace.