Aligning project objective with business objective throughout the project lifecycle

Abstract

Projects are initiated within an organization to achieve strategic business and financial goals. In today’s rapid changing business world, business leaders would assess organization’s business strategy and portfolios to deploy the right implementation to react to volatile and competitive markets. The portfolios are segregated into programs and projects across the organization to deliver a common business objective. Hence, it is critical that the business objective remains aligned with the project objectives throughout its lifecycle. During project closure, if the stakeholders realized the final product did not achieve the strategic business objective, the project closure will be delay and cost may be incurred.

The challenges experienced by the team when the project could not be closed were dissatisfied stakeholders, low morale, confusion and stress. Additionally, there would be reworks due to modifications to product/equipment, additional scope and documentation updates etc.

The aim of the dissertation is to identify the factors causing projects to deviate from its project initial objective which was set based on its business objective.

To understand how the project team relates their projects to the business objective, a survey was conducted across different project teams. Interviews were also arranged to gain insights from team members who experienced dissatisfied stakeholders or scope creep due to projects not achieving business objective. Issue logs and project meeting minutes would also be reviewed.

The purpose of this dissertation is to develop a framework to ensure the project and business objective remain aligned throughout the project lifecycle to achieve project closure on time and keeping stakeholders satisfied with the project outcome.

The dissertation shall contribute to increase rates of right-first-time project closure by implementing framework to improve the team’s and stakeholders’ confidence in achieving project’s strategic business objectives, increasing customers’ satisfaction and attracting more investments and growth for the organization.