PMcrunch

Innovation is one of those buzz words that evokes positive emotions. It is generally considered a “good” thing, and therefore is something that we want to do. However, there are other things to consider so, lets put innovation into perspective as a project management tool.

Determine your Project’s Relationship to Innovation

Innovation is something that can occur inside your team or outside your team. Your team can produce it and your team can consume it. What you need to determine is what you project charter is and then think about where innovation fits into your project. In some instances, the whole idea of a project is to produce innovation. This is true in an R&D Project, in a marketing project or perhaps a market research project, and certainly in process improvement projects. On the other hand, many times projects are totally implementation oriented. In those cases, the innovation occurs outside the project. The project in essence consumes it, and simply implements a solution that someone else or some other group already developed.

As you think about where innovation fits into your project, take an organizational perspective and think beyond the borders of your project. Maintain a perspective of thinking about if what you are doing fits into the business model of your organization. If your organization is charged with producing innovations, like an R&D Organization, that will influence the resources you have and the focus of those resources. If you are more implementation oriented, then you should be implementing something that relates directly to core competencies within the organization, and plays into the business modell of the company.

Innovation, Project Portfolio Management, and Organizational Strategy

Within the organization’s project portfolio, there is a need for both innovation and implementation. In either case, all of the projects are being driven by organizational strategy. Knowing where your projects fit from an innovations standpoint, and how that fits within the organization’s culture is critical.

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John Reiling, PMP
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