All Projects Are Investments! Why Don’t We Manage Them as Such?

Every project involves spending time and money to create a product or result that will ultimately have more value than it cost. This is the essence of all investments.

Every other investment is undertaken guided by that expected value metric—but not projects! Yet how can a team ever make a good decision—trim or add scope, accelerate schedule, add or subtract resources—unless it knows the impact on the expected value and return-on-investment?

In this presentation, we will outline six specific tools—value breakdown structure (VBS), critical path drag, drag cost, true cost of work (TCW), net value added and DIPP Performance Index (DPI)—that will translate the variables of the traditional Triple Constraint Triangle into a guiding metric that lets the team measure the investment impact of any changes in those variables.

Additionally, these tools will help the project team to identify actions that recover schedule, add resources, or change scope in a way that will produce the best possible investment result.