The evolution of Project metrics

As the evolution of digital continues to impact so much of our lives, organisations are seeking to adapt and innovate quickly.

The world has changed and the way we engage, transact and build relationships has moved with it. Customers have access to more products from more geographies – they have a wealth of information, opinion, and comparison at their fingertips, and more choice than ever before. Buying behaviours have transitioned to the digital world, and there is no sign of the evolution slowing down.

For business; keeping up with the change in consumer behaviour is only the beginning. Digital engagement also opens the door to a constant flow of new market entrants, new disruptors and cross-sector competitors rapidly releasing new digital offerings that they may not have considered before.

…applying it broadly to enterprise environments and expecting it to just work is not going to end well.

This accelerated landscape is driving a wave of transformation as organisations try to shore up their market position and remain relevant. Whole of business transformations and new business models are enabling organisations to move faster, increase speed to market and keep customers engaged.

With competitive forces necessitating a transition to speed, traditional project management methods struggle to keep up and rapid iteration methodologies like Agile are quickly becoming the norm.

Agile methodologies tick most of the delivery boxes – rapid iterations keep customers interested, customer-driven features maintain relevance, integrated testing increases quality and stream-orientated development provisions flexibility in teams.

The challenge is scaling up and out at an enterprise level. With roots in software development, Agile has always been about small teams, and applying it broadly to enterprise environments and expecting it to just work is not going to end well.

Organisations are used to tight program controls, fully-documented projects, clearly defined schedules, approved budgets, and a structured chain of command to hold accountable. Agile doesn’t work that way.

To overcome these shortfalls, organisations are traversing two paths – some are introducing enterprise-scaled incarnations of Agile like SAFe, while others are investing in new project management office capability to accommodate Agile frameworks.

This evolution however, is changing more than just frameworks and methodologies.

…now factoring lost opportunity costs incurred through delivery delays, not just the resourcing costs.

The transition from predetermined feature sets and structured schedules to a rapid iteration digital environment is also proffering new business metrics. Innovative organisations are now factoring lost opportunity costs incurred through delivery delays, not just the resourcing costs. The focus on relevance, engagement, and loyalty is sponsoring extending success metrics to brand impact, stickiness, social conversations and page engagements – not just value.

As organisations extend the traditional metric of customer value (or sales if your organisation is stuck in the 1990’s) to incorporate digital measures like engagement, you need to ensure these receive the focus they warrant in your project planning.

Our world is changing and the reach is impacting everything we do. The premise of understanding what we’re delivering hasn’t changed, but the way we do it and the weight we give the different elements has, and it will continue to evolve.