Future

This section Future describes a future reality of managing project objectives within the organisation and its project execution practice of a supplier of projects, where projects provide the most possible benefit for its organisation.

Secure the future

How to provide the most possible benefit for the project supplier

To provide the most possible benefit from projects to the organisation of the project supplier requires that all possible and available factors that lead to such achievement are sufficiently present, now and in the future. If instead such factors are not sufficiently present or even absent, for example due to a bias to the customer perspective, not all available business benefits will be achieved. What kind of critical factors if absent or present, have a critical negative or positive impact on the ability of the supplier to achieve all its available and thereby possible business benefits?

• First, without sufficient focus on importance of the future, project objectives connected to future business benefits will get limited attention. Clearly, a strong focus instead on the future is required.
• Next, without urgency within the supplier organisation on such project objectives and business benefits from the supplier perspective (to provide added value from the project to the organisation), and without criticality of such objectives for the project, the day-to-day attention of the project team might remain focused on project controls such as project cost, time and quality only. Instead, such urgency is critical.
• And without pro-active action by the project team, limited additional project objectives might be achieved, besides project objectives that lead to immediate business benefits from the project execution and delivery process, such as profit. Instead, pro-active action by the project team is necessary.
• Without proper follow-up by the organisation, even achieved project objectives might remain within the project itself, and not lead to actual benefits outside the project and within its organisation. Therefore, proper follow-up by the organisation is required.
• And without sufficient focus on continuous progress, project objectives that might lead to benefit for its organisation or a next project, but with no direct benefit to the project itself, will not get sufficient focus as well. A strong sense of urgency for continuous progress is required within the organisation as well. As explained by John Kotter in his book A sense of urgency [1], what is missing and is needed in almost all organisations today, is a real sense of urgency; a distinctive attitude and gut-level feeling that lead people to grab opportunities and avoid hazards, to make something important happen today, and constantly shed low-priority activities to move faster and smarter, now.

A future reality tree of 'process assets' [2]

As an example of 'providing less than possible or even insufficient benefit from the project for the project supplier itself', a worst-case current reality of process assets was analysed in section Now. A study of the opposite however, the best-case reality of process assets, provides an example of where to change with the organisation, to 'provide the most possible benefit from the project for the project supplier itself'. When an organisation has executed several projects during a certain period, usually some experience and lessons learned from those projects might lead to templates, procedures or guidelines (also called process assets) that can be re-used on a next project, instead of starting from nothing. The degree however to which such useful process assets become available can vary from nothing or limited to a very high quantity or quality. Best case, a successful lessons learned process is in place to learn from former projects, and a high quantity and quality of process assets are developed from the project and re-used on a new project.

To study A best case reality of process assets within a project supplier, another one of the Thinking Processes of Goldratt is used, the future reality tree (FRT). [3] The FRT is a similar type of cause-and-effect diagram as the CRT, however instead leading to desirable effect(s) (DEs) in the future of the studied subject. The FRT is constructed by taking one or more desirable effect(s) (DEs) or one main DE at the top of the diagram, with starting points, statements and assumptions combined in 'and' or 'or' links leading to or connecting these DEs. A FRT can also be created from a CRT by implementing injections that invalidate all statements or assumptions that led to the UDEs. An injection is that what is needed to transform all UDEs of the current reality tree into their opposites, the DEs of the strongly desired new future reality. The FRT analysis of 'process assets' is included in Figure 1.

Figure 1 Future reality tree (FRT) analysis of 'process assets' [3] 

Project and organisational culture

Paul Goyette explains that 'whether they know it or not, every company has a culture, and that there are many different types of corporate culture. Some evolve naturally and some are intentional, but all of them fit the same definition. When we look at culture, we are looking at the sum-total of the behaviours of all employees; culture is defined by what the people of the organisation do. Culture is not to be confused with your company mission, vision, and values. The mission of the company sets the direction, whereas culture describes environment around how the mission is achieved, and values define what the culture will be. He next identifies six types of corporate or organisational culture, where in practice an organisation might show a mix of multiple cultures or a strong behaviour of one culture. [4]

• Empowered culture The embodiment of an empowered culture is when every individual in the organisation feels fully engaged and actively participates in the success of the business. People initiate new activities that will benefit the organisation, take ownership of their work, and are willingly responsible for the outcomes. People that prosper in an empowered corporate culture are those that are not afraid to take initiative and exhibit confidence in their decisions. Some of the benefits of fostering this type of culture include: potential issues are identified and addressed before they become problems; employees feel comfortable coming to superiors with new ideas; individuals are engaged in making the organisation better; people feel accountable for their actions and take ownership of their ideas.
• Innovation culture In some industries, innovation is highly valued and necessary for the ongoing success of the organisation. A culture of innovation focuses not just on coming up with new ideas, but also on following a rigorous process to bring those ideas to fruition. In a culture of innovation, having a diverse set of personalities will enable ideas to percolate more readily. While some people may be better at the creative elements of innovation, others may be more adept at implementing the processes to bring them to life. The benefits of developing this type of culture in an organisation include: a unified commitment to innovation among all members of the organisation; competitive advantage in the marketplace through ongoing innovation; and an environment where everybody feels comfortable communicating their ideas.
• Sales culture Creating a sales culture at your organisation may signal that there is an underlying motivation to support the activities that generate revenue for your company. For companies with a large sales force, undergoing a culture transformation to focus on sales within that group can make them better able to promote new products and services, approach new markets, develop a sales process that is in line with your company's values, and use the tools that will help them maximize sales. The individuals who prosper in a sales culture tend to be focused on delivering the product or service that best meets customers' needs. Implementing a sales culture at your organisation can provide the following benefits: a salesforce that is fully informed about every product and service the company provides; a commitment from all teams to support the salesforce as needed; and accountability in committing to targets and trying to exceed those expectations.
• Customer centric culture A customer-centric culture is all about the consumers who buy your company's products or services. This type of culture permeates your entire organisation, including those who have no interactions with customers at all. Employees in a culture of customer centricity are empowered to see everything through the eyes of the customer and to make appropriate decisions based on their observations. The benefits of a customer-centric culture include: company-wide accountability in all aspects of work; an increase in customer satisfaction; and a workforce committed to delivering an exceptional customer experience every time.
• Leadership excellence culture In a culture of leadership excellence, individuals at every level have confidence that company leaders are committed to continuous improvement. In turn, leaders demonstrate their commitment by participating in ongoing training, leadership development programs, mentoring, and coaching. In this type of culture, individuals who have natural leadership tendencies will readily rise to the top. Perhaps more importantly, those individuals who have inherent leadership skills but are not aware of them will be recognised and nurtured to fill their natural role. A culture of leadership excellence benefits from: a robust leadership base; better employee retention through internal employee development; and strong leaders in every area of the organisation.
• Safety culture In industries that involve physical labour, heavy machinery, or hazardous materials, having a culture of safety means that you are committed to protecting the health and well-being of every individual. This includes having certain safety procedures in place, requiring specific behaviours, and ongoing training to ensure that everybody has all the necessary information to perform their job safely. In a culture of safety, employees inherently protect not just themselves, but also their colleagues. The benefits of a culture of safety include: fewer incidents and associated cost savings; a universal feeling that employee safety is valued by the organisation; and a proactive approach to safety and compliance.

For a project supplier to identify where to change towards with its organisation and its project execution practice and how to secure its future, it needs to be aware of its current organisational culture, how the cultures of its projects relate to its organisational culture, and finally what their desired culture is, if different from its current culture.

Secure the future

The right organisational goal for the project supplier can address the two critical factors: the importance of the future and, a strong sense of urgency within the organization and a proper match between the project culture and the organizational culture.

E.M. Goldratt defines in his book The Goal that the goals of a company is to: [5] 

make money now as well as in the future, with the necessary conditions and boundaries within which the goal can be reached to:

• provide a secure and satisfying environment for employees now as well as in the future;
• provide satisfaction to the market now as well as in the future.

However, he challenges this distinction between the goal to make money and these two necessary conditions by questioning whether these three entities are important to the same degree. Making money, however, is much more tangible than the other two. It's the only one that can be measured. With this statement, the collaborative importance of company owner concerns, as well as employee concerns as well as market concerns are introduced, the concluding statement that "making money is much more tangible than the other two—it's the only one that can be measured" confirms the focus on commercial objectives. 

Youngman further elaborates on Goldratt's goal definition on his website, "A Guide to Implementing the Theory of Constraints" [6] by highlighting the importance of the future, the social conscience, and the customers. Building on the three entities of Goldratt, he elevates the goal definition of a public company traded on the open stock exchange to a full strategic level, to one goal to: (Figure 2)

secure the future of the company, with three conditions that must at least be present:

• Make money now and in the future.
• Provide employees with a secure and satisfying workplace now and in the future.
• Satisfy customers now and in the future.

Figure 2 Three necessary conditions to secure the future of the company [6]

For a non-profit organisation, the goal definition consists of a similar employee condition. However, distinct conditions from the money and customers conditions result in the following: (Figure 3)

secure the future of the organisation with the three conditions that must at least be present: 

• Secure sufficient funding now and in the future.
• Provide employees with a secure and satisfying workplace now and in the future.
• Maximize the outcome now and in the future.

Figure 3 Three necessary conditions to secure the future of the organisation [6]

Another way he looks at this is that to make money, we must have an appropriate process (employees) and an appropriate product or service for an appropriate market (satisfied customers). Youngman refers to this definition as "Thinking about it further, this is really a succinct statement of the loyalty effect (investor, customer, and employee loyalty)."

Project objectives management for the project supplier

Requirements for an effective project objectives management method [2]

Securing the future of the project supplier requires specific project management objectives within the project supplier's organisation that align project management practices with organisational objectives (supplier perspective) to benefit its organization (in addition to the customer). Furthermore, such project management objectives can and should address the critical factors to focus on the importance of the future and urgency for the project objectives and business benefits from the supplier perspective (to provide added value from the project to the organisation) to ensure proactive action by the project team and proper follow-up by the organization as well, and to ensure sufficient focus on continuous progress, now and in the future.

A project supplier should fulfill the following generic project management objectives.

• Focus on overall project success and its criteria, not project management success and its criteria.
• Turn project success criteria back into project success factors for succeeding projects.
• Create a direct link between project success and organisational success.
• Elevate a supplier perspective above a customer perspective.
• Optimise for project suppliers and focus on their organisation; however, do not impair the customer's interests.
• Incorporate an effective main goal for the project supplier.
• Stimulate an urgency-oriented culture.
• Implement continuous follow-up by the organisation on project objectives that might lead to business benefits for its organisation.
• Implement a proactive and continuous productive process, along with continuous improvement.
• Implement a permanent focus on long-term objectives and benefits (future) next to short-term objectives and benefits (now).

Project management objectives for the project supplier will benefit as well from incorporating organisational project management (OPM) principles [7] to consistently and predictably deliver organisational strategy leading to better performance, results, and a sustainable competitive advantage.

These OPM principles consist of the following.

• aligning project management practices with organizational objectives;
• customizing and fitting these practices within the project supplier's context, situation, and structure;
• providing the most benefit to the organisation.

The typical project supplier [2]

The method focuses on a typical project supplier and its organisation, characterised as follows:

• a for-profit (commercial) company or a non-profit (non-commercial) organization (e.g., institute, association);
• a project execution and delivery department delivering the project result to a receiving and using department (the internal customer or user) within one corporate organization; or a corporate organization delivering to another corporate organization (the external customer), or a corporate organization delivering to an (external) private person;
• a multi-project environment with limited resources (e.g., human resources) for all ongoing projects.

Furthermore, the method's focus is on any of the following:

• small to medium-sized organisations;
• without extensive and matured organisational procedures embedded within their organization to manage their projects;
• growing fast (e.g., size or revenue);
• in a turbulent or changing business field;
• has many competitors.

Examples of such typical project suppliers are an IT department developing and implementing new software in the procurement department of a commercial company, a painting company doing all paintwork at an office construction project, or a local house construction company building a new house for a private person; or a steel fabrication company fabricating steelwork for another commercial company. The typical project supplier is an organisation that mainly prepares and delivers its output using projects. With respect to one specific project, we can clearly define a supplier and a customer. However, in the totality of many respective projects, many project suppliers are also project customers, and vice versa.

Conclusions

This section Future described a future reality of managing project objectives within the organisation and its project execution practice of a supplier of projects, where projects provide the most possible benefit for its organisation. Such future requires change toward becoming an organization that is proactively and continuously productive toward the most effective goal for a project supplier: to secure its own future.

The next section Supplier perspective further investigates the customer perspective on project objectives and develops the opposite supplier perspective on project objectives within projects a the supplier of a project. 

Footnotes (see section References)

[1] Kotter, 2008.

[2] van der Wekken, 2024. 

[3] Goldratt, 1994. 

[4] Goyette, 2016. 

[5] Goldratt, 1984.

[6] Youngman, 2021.

[7] PMI, 2014.